Heart of America 2002

The last day of school at Riverside High unfolds as a tuse of interwoven troubles for both teachers and students, where each hallway and classroom hides its own pressure points and temptations. The principal, Harold Lewis, [Jürgen Prochnow] must discipline English teacher William Pratt [Michael Paré], whose mounting frustration has started to fracture his professionalism and blur the lines between authority and abuse. This conflict threads through the morning as staff and students circle unresolved resentments, setting a tense tone for what’s to come.

In the guidance office, Vanessa Jones tries to reach out to the troubled Wex Presley [G. Michael Gray], a drug dealer whose presence gnaws at the school’s fragile atmosphere and tests the counselor’s commitment to help her students. The day’s personal dramas multiply as Harold Lewis’s daughter, Karen (Karyn Lewis), [Stephanie McGillivray], confront relationship trouble with her boyfriend Tommy Bruno [Kevin Mundy], while Dara McDermott [Elisabeth Rosen], an outcast who craves drugs, navigates her own fragile line between wanting attention and danger. Nearby, Robin Walters [Elisabeth Moss], who is pregnant, debates her future options with her boyfriend Kevin Rhodes [Miles Meadows], a conversation shaded by uncertainty and fear about what lies ahead.

Amid these escalating pressures, Ricky Herman, a bully [Brendan Fletcher], begins to sense the consequences of his actions, and two bullied students—Daniel Lynne [Birkett Turton] and Barry Schultz [Michael Belyea]—are quietly formulating a plan to strike back against their tormentors. Barry teeters on backing out, while Daniel stews with a growing conviction that the only way to end the cruelty is through a violent act. The tension thickens as Dara spontaneously joins Daniel, drawn into the plan by a shared sense of grievance and anger.

Daniel makes his move, aiming at those he holds responsible for years of pain: Paul [Alejandro Rae], Ricky [Brendan Fletcher], and Jeff [Steve Byers] all confront his calculated rage, and Daniel’s execution of the plan leaves Kevin Rhodes mortally wounded and Robin Walters spared in the crossfire. The violence then shifts to an even more intimate betrayal as Dara walks into her English class and kills Mr. Pratt [Michael Paré], a blow that rattles the school’s already frayed nerves. Dara is quickly subdued by Donny Pritzee [Matthew McCaull] and handed over to the police, while Barry withdraws from the chaos and walks away from the school’s shattered scene. The film’s darkest moment arrives when Daniel, overwhelmed by the culmination of his rage, ends his own life.

As the news breaks, a reporter [Lochlyn Munro] informs the public of the school shooting, and the scene lingers on the uneasy aftermath—the camera turning away from the TV to reveal the shocked expressions of Barry’s and Daniel’s parents. At Daniel’s home, a phone rings but Artie Lynne [Clint Howard] cannot bring himself to answer, the moment punctuating a broader, grim catalog of violence that the film repeats in its closing voiceover—an inventory of major incidents of violence by minors. The last day at Riverside High thus closes not with clear resolutions, but with a sobering snapshot of the harms that fester beneath adolescence, leaving viewers to ponder what comes after the final bell.