The Rich Kids of Honolulu

***The Rich Kids of Honolulu*** is a 2008 Hawaiian teen-comedy film written and directed by Faye Thompson, starring Queenie Ng, Ashlynn Christian, and Thompson. The film follows a teenage girl (Ng) who moves from a working-class neighborhood of Honolulu to the affluent Kāhala after her family wins the lottery.

*The Rich Kids of Honolulu* premiered in Hawaii on 25 January 2008. It received praise from critics and audiences alike for its writing, directing, performances, and plot that can appeal to both teenagers and adults. It was a box office success, grossing $14.6 million on a $750 thousand budget. The film has since been regarded as a cult classic in Hawaii.

## Plot

Elisa Takanawa (Ng) is a high school junior living with her blue-collar parents Dave (Chen) and Mae (Simon) in the working-class small town of Nanakuli. When Dave spends his paycheck on lottery tickets, the family wins $50 million. They move out of Nanakuli and settle in the affluent Honolulu neighborhood of Kāhala.

Now attending the exclusive fictional private school Kāhala Day School (KDS), Elisa befriends social outcasts Veronica "Ronnie" Paul (Candie), a punk anarchist, and Chris Chu (Guevarra), a flamboyant gay. Ronnie and Chris educate Elisa on the rules of KDS, and teach them about the school's most popular clique – The Barbies, whom both Ronnie and Chris despise. The Barbies consist of Nadia Jennings (Mahelona), a Native Hawaiian adopted out of poverty by wealthy humanitarian parents, Candice Thomas (Santiago), the daughter of a wealthy elderly business executive and his mail-order trophy wife bride from the Philippines, and their leader Leah Grey (Christian), the child of wealthy Californians who retired to Hawaii after their older children went off to college before "accidentally" conceiving her.

One day, Elisa discovers Candice making herself throw up in the bathroom. She comforts Candice for her struggles with bulimia and later helps her get out of trouble with a teacher for skipping class. Candice then introduces her to the rest of The Barbies at lunch that day. While Nadia is initially distant with Elisa, Leah seemingly welcomes her with open arms and invites her to a houseparty that night. At the party, Elisa becomes introduced to Kenny Wu (Constance), a student athlete and one of Leah's ex-boyfriends. He reveals to Elisa that Leah broke up with him after she discovered he attends KDS on a scholarship and grew up in a lower-income family, before they hook-up and Elisa drunkenly loses her virginity to him. After their hook-up, Elisa decides that she must hide her family's economic situation from The Barbies at all costs, in order to prevent herself from being kicked out of the group.

As the school year goes on, Elisa's popularity at KDS grows rapidly due to the help of her newfound best friends The Barbies. Although she attempts to balance her friendship with The Barbies in addition to Ronnie and Chris, she begins to unknowingly prioritize The Barbies, which results in a fight between Elisa and Ronnie. Ronnie reveals to Elisa that she was Leah's best friend before Elisa transferred to KDS, and was the leader of The Barbies. After an argument over Leah's superficiality, she brainwashed Nadia and Candice into kicking Ronnie out of the group, which was when she befriended Chris and began to despise them. Elisa calls Ronnie jealous of her success, and leaves.

By the spring semester, Elisa's popularity has begun to outshine Leah's, causing some tension within The Barbies. Becoming suspicious of Nadia never allowing her friends over her house or to meet her parents, Elisa tracks down her address and discovers that she actually lives in the lower-class town of Waimānalo. After arriving at her house, she realizes that her parents are not wealthy humanitarians, but in fact lower-class Native Hawaiians. Believing that she is not worthy of being in The Barbies, she kicks Nadia out. Nadia goes on to befriend Ronnie and Chris, who inform her that Elisa does not come from a wealthy family, and only was able to afford her Kāhala house and KDS tuition after her family won the lottery. Eager to get back at Elisa for what she did to her, Nadia spreads this information around school, and when Leah finds out she kicks Elisa out of The Barbies, as she was previously looking for a reason to prevent Elisa from completely usurping the throne from her.

Now friendless and alone, Elisa attempts to find comfort in Kenny, although he rejects her for never calling him back after they hooked up the night of her first houseparty. The only person Elisa is able to find solace in is her English teacher Ms. Clarke (Thompson), who tells her that girls must stick together instead of tearing each other apart. Elisa helps Candice overcome her bulimia, rebuilding their friendship and apologizes to Ronnie, Chris, and Nadia who forgive her. After a heart-to-heart with Leah, they determine that Leah was jealous of Elisa's popularity, which led to her ousting from the group. She also reveals that her family is not as wealthy as she lead people to believe, which was a driving force for her insecurities. In a mutual decision, The Barbies end the exclusivity of their clique as it only created jealousy and conflict between its members, and agree that although they may go their separate ways the following school year, they've all been changed for the better.

## Cast

* Queenie Ng as Elisa Takanawa
* Ashlynn Christian as Leah Grey
* Faye Thompson as Ms. Clarke
* Cloe Candie as Veronica "Ronnie" Paul
* Eddison Guevarra as Chris Chu
* Alia Mahelona as Nadia Jennings
* Briela Santiago as Candice Thomas
* Paula Simon as Mae Takanawa
* Joe Chen as Dave Takanawa
* Bernard Constance as Kenny Wu

## Production

Principal photography began in Honolulu in November 2006, and continued until wrapping in April 2007. Most of the film was shot in the Kāhala neighborhood, where the film is set, and the Waikiki neighborhood. Scenes of Nanakuli and Waimānalo were both filmed in various neighborhoods of Honolulu.

## Release

*The Rich Kids of Honolulu* was released on 25 January 2008 in Hawaii after having its Honolulu premiere the night before. It was released in Australia, California, and New Zealand on 25 January as well.

## Reception

### Box office

*The Rich Kids of Honolulu* grossed $8.4 million in Hawaii and $6.2 million internationally for a total gross of $14.6 million on a production budget of $750 thousand, making it a massive box office success and the most commercially successful Hawaiian film of 2008.

The film has further grossed through at-home rentals and streaming services, marking its status as a cult classic.

### Critical

*The Rich Kids of Honolulu* received positive reviews from movie critics. On review aggregator *MovieCritics.com*, the film received an overall ranking of 82% of an "B+". Many critics praised the film's writing, directing, performances, and plot that can appeal to both teenagers and adults.

## Awards and nominations

 Best Actress
 Best Villain
 Best Scene Stealer
 Best Partners in Crime