Wasted on the young

Drama Thriller 
Written and Directed by Ben C Lucas 
Starring Oliver Ackland,Adelaide Clemens  and Alex Russell (2010) Australia                              

I have a love for Australian films and I am constantly yearning for new ones to see. There is just something about Australian films that I just can't put my finger on. There is a sense of rawness and realness that they possess while at the same time are so visually stunning. When I first saw the trailer for wasted on the young I was overwhelmed by the tiny snippet of the film and was dying to see it from than on. After waiting ages for it to finally be released in Canada I was ecstatic that I was finally able to watch the full thing and braced myself for disappointment since trailers are not always the best indicators of whether or not a movie is good or not.

However from the beginning of the film to the very end I was completely in awe with the perfection that this movie possessed, the cinematography was sublime it truly encapsulated beauty in every scene, whether it was the stylishly edited competitive swimming scenes that portrayed the sport as more of an art form, the dramatic party scenes with multi colored lighting that emphasizse the confusion and hopelessness of being a teenager, or the scenes between Xandrie and Darren that illustrated the utter enchantment between the two.

The film paints a cautionary tale of the dangers that are presented amidst a highschool social structure constructed upon sex,lies, and drugs.

A great emphasis is placed upon the influence that social networking has upon the intricate social lives of teenagers in this day and age.The film's protaganist Darren played by Oliver Ackland who's sincerity and honest nature are a refreshing change from the majority of the shallow conniving  characters that inhibit the movie (much like high school itself). Is a genuine nice kid who doesn't care about in significant things and merely just does what he likes, he has an advantage as he was dropped into the center of this world.

 

The sweet,beautiful and charismatic  Xandrie played by Adelaide Clemens recognizes the rarity of the qualities that Darren  possesses , on one fateful evening she decides to attend a party hosted by Darren's step brother Zack clearly with the hopes of seeing Darren, but unfortunately the modernized mansion in which the boys live in becomes a maze and despite texts the two are unable to find each other which is made even more unfortunate by the events that follow when Zack becomes jealous of his lowly step brothers ability to attract a girl (that he seems to like) and he ends up committing an unthinkable crime.

 Alex Russell plays Zack the king of his high school who manipulates his fellow classmates like pawns in a chess game, a character that you are probably quite familiar with from your own high school days, Zack is a cocky jock that lives life on full throttle without many consequences,even when he decides to commit a crime that not many would be immune from the consequences of.

The film follows the endearing love story between  Xandrie and Darren which develops as the movie progresses and events take place which in turn pushes Darren to try to protect her from the wrath of his evil stepbrother and seek vigilante justice so that Zack is punished for his wrong doings.

 Wasted on the young shows the dark side of high school politics, the sickeningly strong influence that it can have amongst the student body , and the pureness of young love and the ability that alliances have fight issues.


The whole movie is a masterpiece of perfectly fitting music, breath taking cinematography and incredible acting , that really captures the story of innocence lost and takes you back to a time where you walk around  completely  starry eyed and yet at the same time  the world can somehow seem so infinitely full of possibilities and yet so ominous and oppressive, its a time when we do things we wish we hadn't, things we wish we had, and things we wish we could do all over again.