I've always been curious in seeing this short since it's Dane DeHaan's oldest credit here and hearing about the story it'd make it even more interesting. Finally made it and
the short was filled with great surprises and it became one of the favorite I've seen in recent years.
In order to help the awkward and unpopular Teddy (DeHaan) to achieve some popularity in school, two friends (Sterling Hurst and Brian O'Sullivan) decide to make a fake
drug of which Teddy will be the main supplier at school in order to get some clout and make new friends. What the friends couldn't predict is that Teddy would get so popular
just as much as the drug which end up "existing" due to the power of suggestion. The friend played by Hurst keeps observing things from distance, trying to figure out how to stop
the events to unfold and each day goes by the school changes drastically, going from a positive environment brought by the drug to certain little tragedies that began to take
place. Ah, the drug's name is "Woodrow Wilson".
The majority of the cast is formed by fresh names, I think it's sort of like a film school or local project, with some veterans but the movie succeeds big time since
everyone's talented enough despite never appearing in front of a camera before. Another current big name started here and I was spooked when he popped in to play one hilarious
classmate and that is Billy Magnussen - along with his buddy they're the ones deeply hooked on Woodrow to the point they can't stop asking for more.
As for a higher relevance of the story, I guess it tells a lot about the pressures faced by some students during the high school years where they feel need to be part of
something, otherwise they'll be missing out the fun and action from the final teenage/school years. The film address those themes without being the excessive Hollywood cliche
that sometimes manage to cause more damage than actually present a fun view of such world. I kept laughing through the whole film, got involved with every character including
the school principal (Ted Johnson) who accepts the drug as part of the school environment in order to motivate the students. Hilarious and obviously that DeHaan steals the show. 10/10.
