'Plan B' is a comedy that follows two high school best friends Sunny and Lupe who, after throwing a party go on a wild goose chase to get Sunny the morning after pill. The film starts out with the two deciding to throw a house party after Sunny's mom goes out of town for a realtor convention. The main reason behind the house party is Sunny's interest in Hunter - a classmate that she's attracted to. At the party the girls enjoy their time, however, after seeing Hunter leave with another girl, Sunny has sex with Kyle, another classmate of hers. The following morning the girls realise that they need to get Sunny the morning after pill. After being turned away at their towns pharmacy, they end up taking Sunny's mom's car to get to the nearest planned parenthood that is a 3 hour drive away. On the road the girls encounter a quirky gas station attendant, a tweaked out drug dealer, and find themselves in a drug den of a party after encountering their respective crushes along the way. Eventually, after reaching planned parenthood, they discover the centre has been shut down, and Sunny resorts to asking her mother Rosie for help. Prior to that Lupe has a hear to heart with her father and Sunny faces her mother about her expectations towards the girls education and future, as she is experiencing a lot of pressure to excel at her schoolwork and exams. In closing, Sunny and Lupe are accompanied by Rosie to the pharmacist that previously turned them away, securing the pill for Sunny.
'Plan B' stands in a long line of teen comedies, with a standard blueprint as its set-up - a couple of teens looking to achieve or overcome a major issue that takes them on a crazy trip. Going into the film aware of where the trip will take us, and the predictable stops along the way, the feature manages to be surprising in the shock value and genuinely memorable comedic scenes it delivers. The two leads of the film stand out in inviting the viewer into their genuine friendship that only grows stronger as the story progresses, delivering both heartfelt expressions of their strong bond and establishing that they are both real and flawed individuals, providing a strong foundation for the audience to relate to them. When the girls discuss their crushes or when dealing with each of the hurdles that come their way, 'Plan B' abstains from clichéd tropes and provides real insights to the girls personalities, delivering genuine and a lived-in feeling to their relationship, putting the viewers in a comfortable position to relate to and laugh along with the girls doings.
As most teen comedies, there are moments that may be anticipated, namely that things will not go the way that they intend, yet the film is unique in presenting their obstacles in a hilarious manner. For example, when the two of them are harassed at a gas station by a couple of hicks, they are saved by the quirky and seemingly innocuous gas station attendant that has her way with a baseball bat on their truck. Later on, as the girls have their encounter with the drug dealer, the film takes a hard left turn and leans into the reality of one of the girls agreeing to blow the dealer in order to get the pill from him. Without Sunny actually going through with it, the scene concludes with the dealers genital piercing being accidentally ripped out and the girls fleeing the scene in fear. Without anticipating such a turn, the film exceeds the viewer expectations and successfully manages to pull off a handful more of such unforgettable scenes.
Sunny and Lupe are played by Kuhoo Verma and Victoria Moroles respectively and portray the two best friends with a truly authentic feel of a deep and close connection between the two characters. Even though the majority of the film presents the two together, as they go through their ups and downs, both Verma and Moroles also display their unique individuality when interacting with the supporting cast, delving ever deeper into their individual thoughts and insecurities as it is revealed that even they are afraid to disclose some of their innermost thoughts with each other, until ultimately rejoicing in the fact that they can share in everything amongst themselves without being judged.
The film is written by Prathi Srinivasan and Joshua Levy and directed by Natalie Morales in her directorial debut. The creators of the film have made a fine addition to the extensive catalogue of teen-centric comedies by producing a genuinely hilarious and sometimes cringe-inducing film as the two teens make their way forward in discovering the physical and emotional extremes they are capable of going to. In her directorial debut, Morales has created a distinctive comedy both in its approach to focusing on female leads and exploring their personalities and activities unashamedly, uncompromising in the representation of how teen girls deal with their wants and needs, all the while overcoming silly and outlandish incidents.
By framing the film on the background of the relationship between Sunny and Lupe, 'Plan B' is a worth-while comedy that incorporates a number of teen comedy tropes whilst also providing a platform for less seen individuals, covering issues related to race, sexuality and the pressure on high-schoolers to excel in their studies.
Score: 4/4
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