"We're Not Alone"

Rating: 9/10 (12 January 2018)

What happens when you put 5 high school stereotypes together? You get The Breakfast Club. Directed by John Hughes this film follows 5 teenagers who have to serve a Saturday detention and write a report about "who they are''. We discover the 5 personalities "The Jock - Andrew", "The Criminal - Bender", "The Princess - Claire", "The Nerd - Brian" and "The Basket Case - Allison". The characters are set up as stereotypes in the beginning but as the film progresses we see ''they're are not so different after all".
The film while slower in pace doesn't drag and kept my attention for the run time. The comedy from Bender, the awkwardness of Brian, The tough guy attitude of Andrew ,the snobbery of Claire and the weirdness of Allison keeps the film entertaining. The personalities of the 5 work well together and this allows for some great scenes.
Their are also two other players in this story,Vernon and Carl. Vernon is the authoritarian figure and Carl is the laid back janitor. These two represents the different perspectives of the previous generation. Vernon is pessimistic and aggressive towards the current generation while Carl is more optimistic and empathetic towards the current generation. This conveys the theme of the generational gap and this allows for the audience to see different perspectives. Vernon and Carl are less developed than the 5 main characters and as such are more one dimensional. This is one of the few criticisms of the film aside from some questionable 80s dance scenes (although they are fun as hell).
The most beautiful thing about this film is the theme of similarity and difference. This is conveyed in the group therapy scene where each of them reveal secrets about themselves. This shows the audience that each of the 5 characters problems are different but they're all going through a similar struggle. The struggle of being accepted by parents, peers, teachers and society at large. This is something that a lot of people can relate to including myself. I tend to identify with Brian's character the most.
Give this film a try, you just might discover that "we're not so different after all"