Bindlestiffs 2012

On a normal day at a private high school, three teenagers — Andrew Edwards [Andrew Edison], John Woo [John Karna], and Luke Locktin [Luke Loftin] — find themselves suspended from school after graffitiing a bathroom stall in response to The Catcher in the Rye being banned at the school, a book Andrew favors. After being suspended for the rest of the week, Andrew calls up Luke and John and shares a plan to hit the city and live a life reminiscent of Holden Caulfield. What starts as a bold escape quickly spirals into a week of reckless choices, testing friendships and pushing the boundaries of what they think they want from life.

Throughout the week, a string of provocative events unfolds. John, overwhelmed by an unsettling revelation about a teacher he idolized—whose sexual orientation he discovers differs from his expectations—drinks too much and ends up engaging in sex with a homeless woman. Meanwhile, Andrew pursues a bolder persona by hiring a prostitute named Caramel, who has a tense first encounter with Luke as he grows nervous, though they later share a more straightforward, consensual moment. The trio’s mood swings between bravado and vulnerability, painting a portrait of adolescents learning hard truths about desire, power, and consequences.

Tensions peak when they decide to remove the homeless woman, who has been staying with them in a motel, and take her to the woods behind the school. There, Charlie Sanderson [Will Fordyce], the school security guard who had tailed them all week, confronts them and shoots the homeless woman in a panic. John pursues Charlie, administers a brutal beating, and tases him, leaving his fate ambiguous and casting a long shadow over the group’s actions.

Weeks pass and the trio stages a makeshift funeral. Luke opens up about his romantic escapades and what he’s learned about himself, while Andrew reveals the grim reality of his circumstances, confessing that he has had to perform sex to pay for crack. The service is punctuated by a nearly somber rendition of a hymn, and as the ceremony ends, Andrew and Luke walk away with John lingering behind, the weight of the week lingering as the screen fades to black.