Story Lessons: Big Time Adolescence (2020)
The movie with Pete Davidson’s breakout role has a few a-ha moments for writers
Big Time Adolescence is a coming of age story that follows 16-year-old, Mo; a shy kid who idolizes his best friend, Zeke, a college burnout. It charts their relationship as Zeke gets Mo mixed up selling drugs at high school parties.
The movie was recently released on Hulu and gives a starring role to SNL cast member, Pete Davidson, as the charismatic but fucked-up, Zeke. The film has earned some solid reviews with Davidson lauded for a breakout performance and the story celebrated for its fresh take on the high school movie.
Adolescence is Writer/Director Jason Orley’s feature debut and, not only that, it was the first full screenplay that he wrote (which is simultaneously impressive and soul-destroying for aspiring screenwriters out there).
Orley wrote it while working as an assistant and it landed on the Blacklist in 2014; earning him representation and the reputation as a writer to watch.
Aside from wanting to see how Orley managed to hit it out of the park first time around, I was also interested in comparing it to the other recent hit high school movie: Booksmart.
