Prom Dates review: A lively entry into the raunchy teen buddy comedy subgenre

As far back as they can remember, Prom Dates’ Hannah (Julia Lester) and Jess (Ginny & Georgia’s Antonia Gentry) always wanted to have a spectacular senior prom. At 13, the two even went as far as to make a blood pact, swearing that they would do whatever it took to make the fateful night one to remember.

Flash forward a couple of years and the duo seem to be on the right track. They each have dates lined up. Neither date is perfect. Jess’s Luka (Jordan Buhat) has a license plate that reads “RICH BOI” and Greg (Kenny Ridwan) is obsessed with Hannah to the point where he probably keeps a box of her stray hairs hidden in his closet (not to mention Hannah actually likes girls). But a date is a date, right? Things get a little complicated, however, when, the night before prom, Jess catches Luka cheating and Hannah finally reaches her wit’s end and breaks things off with Greg, leaving the two with less than 24 hours to find suitable new dates. And thus, the perfect teenage girl buddy-comedy plot begins to wittily unravel.

Directed by Kim Nguyen, Prom Dates mostly makes good on its promise to honor this delightful subgenre. Admittedly, the implausible situations that the duo find themselves in sometimes feel like a result of Nguyen trying a little too hard to be shocking, and you won’t find much to be surprised by during your viewing experience. Don’t put on Booksmart or Superbad directly afterwards or you might end up with a bad case of déjà vu. But when watching a comedy of errors that is so consistently energetic and committed to having a good time, it’s hard to care too much about all of that.

And besides, Prom Dates actually has a sense of humor, which oddly isn’t a given in comedies these days. The film is filled with genuine laugh-out-loud moments, one of which includes John Michael Higgins fitting an entire condom over his head. And while both Lester and Gentry flaunt impressive comedic timing, it’s Lester that carries Prom Dates’ comic throughline. Perpetually flustered, she turns every small moment into a raucous catastrophe, making for an undeniably uproarious watch.

What’s also refreshing about watching Lester in action is that her character is really well-written by screenwriter D.J. Mausner (Baroness Von Sketch Show). At first, she veers dangerously close to serving no other purpose than the comic relief bestie (one of her first scenes shows her simultaneously farting and choking in front of her crush), but later on she becomes much more interesting. As Prom Dates unravels into chaos, Hannah’s character becomes a moving exploration of confidence and identity—and Lester navigates it all with subtle grace. Jess is fun to watch, too, if not a little less plausible, seeing as she inexplicably has the confidence of a 40-year-old CEO.

That all said, it’s hard not to wonder if Prom Dates would have been more engaging if the stakes had felt a little higher. Sure, it’s vital for Jess and Hannah to have a great prom night…but why? It often feels like the answer to that question was, “Because this movie needed a plot.”

Prom Dates’ high-concept plot is simply a vehicle for two things: a succession of funny sequences (who can really be mad at that?) and a handful of touchy-feely self-discoveries. It won’t come as a surprise when Jess and Hannah’s night of trials and tribulations culminates in a long-time-coming rift in their friendship, and, ultimately, some pretty poignant look inward. Of course, it’s always great to see a character undergo some positive changes, but most things in movies are better shown than said, and that includes two teenagers describing their flaws in an in-depth way that most people will never have the wherewithal or self-reflection capabilities to do over the course of their lifetime.

But despite its insistence on walking away with a moral, Prom Dates succeeds in being what it set out to be: a neatly-packaged, highly entertaining comedy. Not many modern comedies boast the ability to make you laugh more than cringe, but I’m more than happy to give Prom Dates that trophy.