Honor Society

If you were to take the DNA of Election’s Tracy Flick, sprinkle in a bit of Ferris Bueller’s fourth-wall-breaking charisma, and douse the whole thing in the high-stakes anxiety of the modern college admissions arms race, you’d get Honor Rose. She is the protagonist of Honor Society, a film that arrived on Paramount+ in 2022 and promptly vanished into the digital ether like a Snapchat message. It’s a shame, really, because while the streaming era is currently a graveyard of mediocre "content," this movie actually has a pulse—and a sharp set of teeth.

I watched this on a Tuesday night while my neighbor was practicing the bagpipes upstairs, and honestly, the sheer auditory chaos of the pipes matched the frantic, Machiavellian energy of the opening ten minutes perfectly.

The Art of the Teenage Takedown

The premise is deceptively simple. Angourie Rice (who was so good as the "smart one" in the MCU Spider-Man trilogy and The Nice Guys) plays Honor, a high school senior who has spent four years treating her life like a strategic military campaign. Her target? Harvard. To get there, she needs a recommendation from her guidance counselor, Mr. Calvin—played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse with a "divorced dad who owns a light-up keyboard" energy that is deeply unsettling.

When Calvin tells her she’s in a four-way tie for the spot, Honor decides to stop being a student and start being a saboteur. What follows isn't just a series of mean-girl pranks; it’s a calculated effort to dismantle her peers' lives by "helping" them. She pushes a closeted jock into the theater department and encourages a brilliant loner to pursue her poetry, all while smirking at the camera like a young Frank Underwood in a pleated skirt.

Angourie Rice is the engine here. She has this incredible ability to look wholesome while her internal monologue is plotting a coup d’état. She makes Honor likable even when she’s being a total sociopath, which is a tightrope walk most actors would fall off of by the first act.

Streaming’s Best Kept Secret

One of the reasons Honor Society feels like a "forgotten" film despite being only a couple of years old is the current state of the "Streaming Wars." Released during a period where Paramount+ was desperately trying to find an identity, it suffered from a lack of theatrical prestige. In another era—say, the late 90s—this would have been a cult hit on DVD, passed around by high schoolers who felt the crushing weight of GPA pressure.

Now, it’s just another thumbnail in an endless scroll. But it deserves better than the "skip" button. The screenplay by David A. Goodman (a Family Guy veteran) understands the specific, terrifying intensity of Gen Z ambition. These kids aren't just trying to get a job; they’re trying to build a brand before they can legally buy a beer.

Then there’s Gaten Matarazzo. We all know him as Dustin from Stranger Things, but here he plays Michael, the nerdy underdog who becomes Honor’s biggest obstacle and her unexpected romantic interest. The chemistry between him and Rice is surprisingly grounded. Matarazzo plays the "smart kid" without any of the "adorkable" tropes, making Michael feel like a real person rather than a plot device meant to soften the protagonist.

A Twist with Actual Teeth

Most modern teen comedies tend to go soft in the third act. They get scared of their own cynicism and pivot to a "we all learned a lesson" finale that feels like a warm glass of milk. Honor Society does not do that. Without spoiling the specifics, the film pulls a rug-pull that recontextualizes everything you’ve been watching. It shifts from a lighthearted heist-style comedy into something much darker and more poignant about how we commodify ourselves for "success."

Director Oran Zegman keeps the pacing brisk, using the 98-minute runtime to ensure the jokes land with a high frequency. Some of the visual gags, particularly involving Christopher Mintz-Plasse’s character's pathetic home life, are pure cringe-comedy gold that made me want to hide under my blanket. It’s also one of the few movies that uses social media and modern technology without looking like it was written by a committee of 60-year-olds trying to "relate to the youth."

The film isn't a masterpiece—some of the supporting characters, like the rival students played by Armani Jackson and Amy Keum, could have used another ten minutes of screentime to breathe—but it is a sharp, witty, and surprisingly cynical look at the "hustle culture" that has infected the American education system. It’s a movie that knows exactly what it’s like to feel like your entire future depends on a single sheet of paper, and it’s willing to laugh at how ridiculous that reality actually is.

Honor Society is a reminder that there are still gems hidden in the cracks of the streaming landscape if you're willing to look past the blockbusters. It's a smart, occasionally mean-spirited, and ultimately rewarding comedy that showcases Angourie Rice as a major talent. If you have 98 minutes and a lingering resentment toward your high school guidance counselor, this is the one to watch. Just don't let it give you any ideas about your own career advancement.