''Dude'' is a 2018 American

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film directed by Olivia Milch and written by Milch and Kendall McKinnon. The film stars Lucy Hale, Kathryn Prescott,

Alexandra Shipp Alexandra Shipp (born July 16, 1991) is an American actress and singer who rose to prominence for portraying singer Aaliyah in the Lifetime television film '' Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B'' (2014) and Kimberly Woodruff in the film ''Straight Ou ...

Awkwafina Nora Lum (born June 2, 1988), known professionally as Awkwafina (), is an American actress, comedian and rapper. She rose to prominence in 2012 when her rap song "My Vag" became popular on YouTube. She then released her debut album, ''Yellow Ra ...

Austin Butler Austin Robert Butler (born August 17, 1991) is an American actor, singer, and model. Butler began his career on television, first in roles on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, most notably on ''Zoey 101'' (2007–2008), and later on teen dramas, ...

, and Michaela Watkins. It was released on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on April 20, 2018.

Plot

Best friends Lily, Chloe, Amelia, and Rebecca are at junior prom, where Chloe's brother Thomas shares a tender moment with Lily while discussing his upcoming move to college. As they are about to kiss, they are interrupted by their friends. On his way home from prom, Thomas is killed in a car crash. A year later, the girls are in their final two weeks of high school. Chloe and Lily dream of attending college in New York City together, with the former attending NYU and the latter attending Columbia. Rebecca develops a crush on the school librarian, Mr. Bemis, while Amelia navigates her parents' divorce. Despite their challenges, the group decides to go to prom together. While Lily is swamped with planning school celebrations, Chloe struggles with her grief. She is accepted to NYU, but contemplates going to

UCSB The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joine ...

instead to stay close to her family. Her friend Sam consoles her and asks her to prom, which she accepts. Lily begins delegating responsibilities as Noah promposes to her via serenade, which she declines, yet they make out at a party afterwards. At another party, Chloe reveals her intention to attend UCSB, which upsets Lily. She retreats to a bedroom with Mike—whom she met earlier—and he rapes her. Lily confronts the girls for ditching her at the party and keeping Chloe's acceptance into NYU from her, and they reprimand her for her selfishness as they navigate their own struggles. She then complains to Noah over his ex's jealous comments, and he maintains he is solely interested in Lily, which she rebuffs and leaves him. After her brother helps her realize her selfishness, Lily apologizes to the girls. It is revealed in a flashback that Thomas and Lily kissed and professed their mutual love at junior prom. She reconciles with Noah and the group celebrates. Lily successfully gives her

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

speech at graduation, and her and Noah share a kiss. At their graduation party, Mr. Bemis introduces himself to Rebecca as "Immanuel", sharing a name with the

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

they previously joked about, and she introduces him to her parents. The girls enjoy one last

joint A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

together overlooking the city.

Cast

Production

On November 2, 2015, it was announced that Olivia Milch would make her directorial debut with the comedy film, titled ''Dude'', based on her own script about four best high school girlfriends, with Lucy Hale starring. The script was listed in the 2013 Black List of best-unproduced scripts.

Heather Rae Heather Rae (born Heather Rae Bybee in California, October 1966) is an American film and television producer and director. She has worked on documentary and narrative film projects, specializing in those with Native Americans in the United States, ...

, Langley Perer, Jimmy Miller, Andrew Duncan, and Jen Isaacson produced the film. The same month, Kathryn Prescott,

, Alex Wolff,

Satya Bhabha Satya Sorab Bhabha (born 13 December 1983) is a British actor known for his role as Matthew Patel in the 2010 film '' Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'' and the 2023 animated series '' Scott Pilgrim Takes Off'', and for his recurring role as Shivran ...

Ronen Rubinstein Ronen Rubinstein ( , ; born ) is an Israeli-born American actor, environmental activist and lead singer of the rock band Nights in Stereo. He is best known for his roles as T. K. Strand in '' 9-1-1: Lone Star,'' Matt Webb in the spinoff series ...

and

joined the cast of the film. In December 2015,

Austin Abrams Austin Noah Abrams (born September 2, 1996) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as List of The Walking Dead (TV series) characters#Alexandria Safe-Zone, Ron Anderson in the fifth and sixth seasons of the horror television series ''Th ...

and Jerry McKinnon were also added.

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 ...

on the film began on November 30, 2015, in Los Angeles.

Release

In May 2017,

acquired distribution rights to the film. They released the film on their service on April 20, 2018.

References

External links

* * * * {{TCMDb title 2018 films 2018 comedy-drama films 2018 directorial debut films 2018 independent films 2010s American films 2010s buddy comedy-drama films 2010s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 2010s English-language films 2010s female buddy films 2010s high school films 2010s teen comedy-drama films American buddy comedy-drama films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American female buddy films American films about cannabis American high school films American independent films American teen comedy-drama films English-language buddy comedy-drama films English-language independent films Films about proms Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles Netflix original films Stoner films Teen buddy films