Reminiscent of many of the classic rom-coms, the 2023 release Prom Pact follows senior Mandy Yang as she navigates the coming-of-age journey that is one’s senior year of high school. Unlike its counterparts, however, Prom Pact aims a magnifying lens at the college admissions process, providing insight into the uncertainty that comes with taking a leap into adulthood. The three characters at the movie’s focus have significantly different approaches to college; nevertheless, all three are negatively impacted by the college admissions process that seems to have enveloped their lives. Ultimately, amidst its cute romance, Prom Pact sheds light on the overwhelming nature of the current pre-college experience.
The film’s main character, Mandy Yang, is an ambitious teen with goals beyond what she perceives as the confines of high school. A passionate advocate for various social justice causes with a goal to go to Harvard, Mandy shows the viewers from the beginning that she will stop at nothing to earn her admission. With the possibility of a future at Harvard, all other present experiences fade in comparison. In fact, the opening scenes of Prom Pact show Mandy skipping the school pep rally, instead furiously refreshing her Harvard admissions page, hoping to see a green message of acceptance. Her relentless chase after Harvard influences people around her to view her as “tightly wound”; this single-minded focus chips into her social life, leaving her one of the two students who have not attended many common high school events, like parties.
When Mandy gets waitlisted from Harvard, the world she envisioned for years crumbles. Her reaction resembles a nervous breakdown—her mood immediately drops, and she can’t identify any purpose in her day-to-day life anymore. Yet minutes later, that stubborn determination returns, and she searches for all the avenues through which she can convince the Harvard admissions officers of her credibility, refusing the possibility of seeking out alternate, back-up universities. Eventually, with some inspiration from her college counselor, Mandy lands on finding someone to write her a letter of recommendation. But just an ordinary teacher recommendation won’t do—Mandy has her sights set on Senator Lansing, Harvard alum and father to the most popular guy at her high school, Graham Lansing. Graham Lansing, the school basketball star whom Mandy has spent her high school years ridiculing from afar. Her subsequent journey attempting to become friends with Graham to score a letter of recommendation brings about dilemmas regarding her ethics and relationships.
Mandy successfully becomes Graham’s tutor in AP Psychology but fails to mention her ulterior motive, even as their relationship evolves from a mutual agreement to more than friends. Along with lying to Graham, Mandy also puts her friendship with her best friend Ben on the back burner as she weasels her way into Senator Lansing’s favor. She deserts Ben at their weekly Friday hang out in order to spend dinner at the Lansings’, hoping to meet Senator Lansing. Later, Mandy forgoes spending time with Ben on his birthday so that she can attend a fundraiser event with Graham, once again with the purpose of meeting Senator Lansing. Eventually, when Mandy’s true intentions with her tutoring for Graham are revealed, her pseudo-relationship with him falls apart as well. She places this letter of recommendation on such a high pedestal that it motivates her deceptive actions and overshadows her multi-year relationships. Throughout this all, Ben acts as a point of comparison that emphasizes the negative impacts of Mandy’s single-minded focus on Senator Lansing’s letter of recommendation and Harvard. He is steadfast in his support for Mandy’s future. He leaves the girl he likes at his birthday dinner to pick Mandy up early from the fundraiser because she heard Graham and his brothers speak badly of her. Later, he refuses the same girl’s prom-posal because he and Mandy promised they would go together as friends, even as Mandy accepts Graham’s prom-posal.
Mandy’s constant fight for Harvard, a prestigious school, and her undoubtable intelligence also lead her to look down upon other students. She repeatedly calls Graham an “entitled dumbass” and a “Neanderthal” for being a basketball player, and refers to the entire popular group as “Everests,” insinuating that they will experience their life’s peak in high school. She makes all these assumptions while knowing little to nothing about them. For instance, she is shocked when she learns that Graham spends his free time coaching a kids’ basketball team. She views these people as one-dimensional and plays into the stereotypes assigned to them, simply because she regards her life goals as more worthy than theirs. She reserves the same superiority over other universities, and indirectly, the students who attend them. She portrays visible revulsion at the possibility of going to Brown or Dartmouth, two undeniably selective and prestigious schools that are still not enough for her. Prom Pact uses Mandy’s story to display how cutthroat students can become through the college admissions process, sacrificing their morals and relationships along the way.
Mandy has supportive parents who encourage her to leave her academia-focused bubble and experience high school; Graham, on the other hand, faces parental pressure from his father and struggles with the familial tensions that sprout as a result of college admissions. At multiple points throughout the film, Graham comments that his father never values his athletic achievements and always attacks his academic performance. No matter how hard he tries, he feels that he will never be enough for his father. Senator Lansing even forbids Graham from applying to Harvard in order to “minimize potential embarrassment,” expecting his rejection and treating his son’s college decision as nothing other than a facet of his reputation. This reaction introduces the unique part that college admissions plays in a parent’s life—the incorrect and harmful assumption that a college a child goes to reflects directly on the quality of the parenting they received. The competition of college admissions leads to even parents ranking their own child’s intelligence relative to the students around them, reducing their intelligence to a letter grade. The resulting resentment curdles between a relationship, weakening familial bonds
Finally, Prom Pact also focuses on Mandy’s best friend Ben, who more than just juxtaposes Mandy’s disloyal actions as a friend; he also represents the uncertainty of finishing high school and being at the precipice of adulthood. Especially in comparison to Mandy’s determined and confident goals, Ben tells the viewers that it is okay to not know every detail of your plan for life at eighteen. He spends the grand majority of the movie contemplating his days of high school, regretting the fact that he did not participate in many school activities. He fears that the best days of his life have already occurred. However, by the end of the film, he learns to live his life the way in which he enjoys, instead of comparing his experience to that of his peers.
All in all, Prom Pact performs a thorough investigation of the college admissions process while also portraying a sweet love story. Through exploring the perspectives of three very different students, the film shows that there is no right or wrong way to handle college admissions. At its finish, Prom Pact encourages finding your own path and being true to yourself, even amongst the pressures of college admissions.
