''The Outcasts'' is a 2017 American

teen Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age o ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by Peter Hutchings. The film features an ensemble cast, starring

Victoria Justice Victoria Justice (born February 19, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She rose to fame on Nickelodeon, playing Lola Martinez on the comedy drama series '' Zoey 101'' (2005–2008) and Tori Vega on the sitcom '' Victorious'' (2010–20 ...

Eden Sher Eden Rebecca Sher (born December 26, 1991) is an American actress and comedian. The accolades she has received include a Critics' Choice Television Award, alongside a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. In television, Sher is best known for ...

, Ashley Rickards, Claudia Lee and

Katie Chang Katherine "Katie" Chang (born May 3, 1995) is an American former actress. She is known for her roles as Rebecca Ahn in ''The Bling Ring'' (2013) and Maddie Kim in ''Pantheon (TV series), Pantheon'' (2022). Since retiring from acting, Chang has wo ...

. The plot follows a group of misfit teenagers who band together to overthrow the popular clique at their high school. Originally titled ''The Outskirts'', filming took place between July and August 2014. The film was released in limited theaters and through

video-on-demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting ...

on April 14, 2017, by Swen Releasing and Red Granite International.

Plot

Best friends Mindy and Jodi have suffered years of torment under the thumb of the school's mean girls Whitney and Mackenzie. They plan to ride out their senior year under the radar, but when they become the victim of a humiliating prank, the two hatch a plan to unite the outcasts of the school and start a social revolution. They join forces with Dave, an affable slacker, Claire, a Girl Scout with a secret, and Virginia, an overachiever with dirt on everyone.

Cast

as Jodi Schellenberger, a music nerd who is Mindy's best friend. *

as Mindy Lipschitz, a science nerd who is the brains of the revenge operation and is Jodi's best friend. * Ashley Rickards as Virginia Vanderkamp, a depressed loner with money who helps Mindy and Jodi with their plan. * Claudia Lee as Whitney Bennett, a ruthless and cruel popular girl who takes down anyone trying to be her equal. It is revealed that despite her claims of being rich, her parents are just servants in the mansion. *

as Claire Stewart, a Girl Scout who comes out as lesbian. * Jazmyn C. Richardson as Dolores "Sugar" Jones, a young woman who is part of Mindy and Jodi's master plan, and also wants to stand up for black rights and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

. * Peyton List as Mackenzie Smith, the youngest and closest of Whitney's friends. She dumps Whitney to hang out with Mindy. *

Avan Jogia Avan Tudor Jogia (; born February 9, 1992) is a Canadian actor, singer, author and director. He first received recognition for portraying Danny Araujo in the television film '' A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story'' (2006). After moving to the ...

as Dave Quinn, Jodi's boyfriend who used to be one of Whitney's minions. * Harry Katzman as Louie Hammerschmidt, a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

nerd. *

Noah Robbins Noah Robbins is an American actor. Background Robbins is a native of Washington, D.C., and graduated from Georgetown Day School in 2009. Robbins made his Broadway debut in the 2009 production of ''Brighton Beach Memoirs ''Brighton Beach ...

as Martin Vimmel, a

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

nerd. * Alex Shimizu as Howard Chang, a

tech Tech or The Tech may refer to: * An abbreviation of technology or technician A technician is a worker in a field of technology who is proficient in the relevant skill and technique, with a relatively practical understanding of the theoretical ...

nerd. *

Frank Whaley Frank Joseph Whaley (born July 20, 1963) is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, musician and comedian. His roles include Brett in ''Pulp Fiction'', Robby Krieger in ''The Doors'', Jim Dodge in '' Career Opportunities'', young Archie ...

as Herb Schellenberger, Jodi's father. * Brock Yurich as Kyle McDevitt, one of Whitney's popular friends. *

Daniel Eric Gold Daniel Eric Gold (born September 19, 1975 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actor. He attended Lee Strasberg's Theater Institute as a teenager, and went on to graduate from Penn State in 1996, with a degree in Theater Arts. Career ...

as Mr. Samuels, Mindy's teacher with whom she has a close friendship. *

Ted McGinley Theodore Martin McGinley (born May 30, 1958) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jefferson D'Arcy on the television sitcom '' Married... with Children'', Charley Shanowski on the ABC sitcom '' Hope & Faith'', and as Derek on the ...

as Principal Whitmore, a torturous principal. *

Will Peltz William Peltz (born May 30, 1986) is an American actor, known for his roles in the supernatural horror film ''Unfriended'' (2014), the comedy-drama film '' Men, Women & Children'' (2014), and the supernatural drama television series ''Manifest'' ...

as Colin Hackett, one of Whitney's popular friends. * Jeanette Dilone as Paloma Watson, one of Whitney's popular friends.

Production

On May 13, 2014, the cast of the film, originally titled ''The Outskirts'', was announced to include

, Claudia Lee,

, Ashley Rickards, Peyton List,

and

. On August 8,

joined the film to play Herb, the father of Jodi and a postal worker who agrees to start dating once his daughter takes charge of her own life.

and

starred together in the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

movie ''

Spectacular! ''Spectacular!'' is a 2009 musical comedy-drama film that aired on Nickelodeon and YTV. It stars Canadian singer Nolan Gerard Funk, Australian singer Tammin Sursok, Victoria Justice and Simon Curtis with Matthew Bennett, Andrea Lewis, Shan ...

'' and television show ''

Victorious ''Victorious'' (stylized as ''VICTORiOUS'') is an American sitcom created by Dan Schneider that originally aired on Nickelodeon, debuting on March 27, 2010, and concluding on February 2, 2013 after four seasons. The series revolves around aspi ...

''.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began on July 2, 2014, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In August, filming occurred at

John L. Miller Great Neck North High School John L. Miller Great Neck North High School or simply "Great Neck North," is a public high school, including grades 9 through 12, in the village of Great Neck (village), New York, Great Neck, New York, operated by the Great Neck School District. ...

and other locations around

Great Neck Great Neck is a region contained within Nassau County, New York, on Long Island, which covers a peninsula on the North Shore and includes nine incorporated villages, among them Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kings Poin ...

and Port Washington.

Marketing

On July 29, 2014, two images from the film were revealed by ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

''. On May 14, 2015, the official poster was revealed through the cast members official social media accounts.

Release

In March 2017, Swen Group acquired distribution rights to the film. On April 14, 2017, ''The Outcasts'' was given a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

and made available through

. On August 14, 2017, it was released on Netflix.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

the film has an approval rating of 63% based on 8 reviews. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100 based on 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Outcasts, The (2017 film) 2010s American films 2010s English-language films 2010s high school films 2010s teen comedy films 2017 comedy films 2017 films American films about revenge American high school films American teen comedy films Films about school bullying Films directed by Peter Hutchings Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City