Senior Year Proves Hollywood's Millennial Nostalgia Obsession Has To End
Warning: Minor spoilers ahead for Senior Year
Senior Year proves Hollywood’s millennial nostalgia obsession has to end. A plethora of movies of late have attempted to capitalize on nostalgia. Reboots, remakes, and sequels to films from the 1990s or early aughts — including She’s All That, Charmed, Bel-Air, and Hocus Pocus sequel — are a dime a dozen lately.
Senior Year stars Rebel Wilson as Stephanie Conway, who lands in a 20-year coma after a cheerleading accident and wishes to relive her time as a high school senior after waking up. Stephanie was a senior in the early aughts — circa 2001-2002 — and the film is littered with reminders of that time period throughout. Even after Stephanie wakes up from her come, audiences are reminded of the era, especially in a scene that recreates Britney Spears’ music video for “(You Drive Me) Crazy.” Song choices, including Mandy Moore’s “Candy” and Nelly’s “Hot in Herre,” as well as the premise recall several fan-favorites like Bring It On, Never Been Kissed, and 13 Going on 30. Stephanie’s rival and mean girl Tiffany reminds everyone that she is MTV while Stephanie is VH1, once considered the inferior music channel.
Related: Senior Year Cast & Character Guide
The issue is Senior Year gets so caught up with referencing the early aughts that it forgets to have any depth to its story. Hollywood has been banking on nostalgia for a long time, but any millennial can simply play a song or turn on a streamer to watch shows from that time period. Turning nostalgia into an entire film’s personality is detrimental and stymies creativity. Such is the case with Senior Year, which directs a lot of energy towards reminding the audience what was once considered cool, but establishing a specific era
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