Making her feature film directorial debut, Hannah Peterson ‘The Graduates,’ is a coming-of-age drama film exploring the theme of trauma and its impact on growing up. The film world premiered last year at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the Best Cinematography for U.S. Narrative Feature award. The film was also screened at the 2023 Deauville American Film Festival.
‘The Graduates’ stars Mina Sundwall, Alex Hibbert, Yasmeen Fletcher, Ewan Manley, John Cho, Maria Dizzia, and Kelly O’Sullivan.
Release Date
Directed by Hannah Peterson, ‘The Graduates’ opens in select US theaters on November 1, 2024.
Synopsis
A powerful and sharply introspective coming-of-age drama, ‘The Graduates’ follows a young woman, Genevieve (Mina Sundwall), as she prepares to graduate high school after a tragic event. As she navigates an uncertain future alongside a community searching for ways to heal, they turn to each other to find hope and a way forward.
“While I was really interested in telling a contemporary, coming-of-age story in the American public school system, I didn’t know exactly what that would look like,” said director Hannah Peterson on her inspiration for the film in a Filmmaker Magazine interview. “so I set about speaking to high schoolers and recent graduates about their experiences: “What’s it like to go to high school today? What are your fears? What are your anxieties? What are the highs and lows?” The thing that kept coming up again and again was everyone mentioning [their] anxiety pertaining to safety in their schools.”
Reviews
Sara Clements in a Next Best Picture review gave the film a score of 8/10, writing, “The Graduates is a quiet, heartwrenching journey of healing that’s also the discovery and wounded adjustment to a new normal and a journey to rebuilding a sense of self.”
Mae Abdulbaki in a ScreenRant review also gave the film a score of 8/10, writing, “If there was ever a film to watch about mourning and learning to adjust to a new normal, it’s writer-director Hannah Peterson’s poignant masterpiece.”
Official Trailer
Watch the official trailer for ‘The Graduates.’