I'll Never Forget My High School Friends is a film exploring the way that adolescent bonds dissolve as we enter adulthood. The film does a pitch perfect job of capturing that experience, which feels sad and scary when it's happening, but is ultimately a critical part of growth. The film borrows some techniques from handheld camera/found footage style movies, ones that are typically in the horror genre, but the cinema verite-style approach serves a different purpose here. It allows the complicated mixture of emotions to play out onscreen with minimal filmmaker cues as to how we should feel about it. The cameras capturing the action are diegetic, held by our characters themselves for the purpose of documenting this time in their lives for future posterity. This brings with it some of the clichés we're seen in these types of films, such as arguments about shooting during intimate discussions, and some uncomfortable "hidden camera" exchanges. There are also moments where the teenage drama may feel a bit aimless, particularly for older viewers, but it all works in service of creating a powerful authenticity for the film overall.
I personally walked away with a feeling that this did an excellent job of depicting growing pains on a personal level, reflecting moments that are difficult, but also inevitable, leading the way toward happiness.There are an array of personalities in this group; ones that want to goof off, ones that are more intense, and at least a couple that are an awkward mix. The structure of their friendship has carried them through their high school years, but has served its' purpose, and it's time to move on. It's a highly captivating story that covers a range of emotions, but undercuts your expectations as a viewer. It complicates them, and proves to be a far more mature and insightful document of young adulthood than what you might expect going in. I found myself frequently having to reconsider my attitude towards different characters based on things that they did onscreen. There is a very carefully crafted narrative here that slowly reveals the characters to us, but as it does so, they become less quantifiable.
This in itself makes it compelling, but what makes it a great film is the way that this experience is mirrored by the characters amongst themselves. At the start of the film, the group is entirely carefree, and their discussions and activities are all about having fun. But slowly, as if by one minor obstacle at a time, challenges are thrown into the mix. It's small disagreements or miscommunications at first, but as they begin to accumulate, we see there is a shift happening that is irreversible once begun. They have changed as people, and no amount of hopeful denial can override the inevitable fracturing of relationships. When observed in the straightforward way this film presents it, it's a rather brutal thing to see at times. I was surprised by the emotions that it managed to elicit with its' resolution full of hard, but beautiful truths, and characters full of nuance. It's a highly thoughtful and effective film that looks carefully at a time that is difficult to understand, but vital in shaping who we become. I definitely recommend giving it a watch.
