Relive your high school life with 'Senior Year'

We've seen it all before: the shy but pretty girl in the corner, the rich girl who seems to have it all, the mysterious girl who's neither cool nor uncool, the good girl who is the current object of affection of the playboy who dates half the girls in the batch. Family, friends, exams, canteen food, grades, curfews, goals, dreams, hopes. School intrams, the graduation ball, college entrance exams. Trying to be different but wanting desperately to fit in. Endless pressure from your parents, teachers, peers, and even from yourself. First love, first heartbreak. The ups and downs of high school life. You can relive it all with Jerrold Tarog's "Senior Year," a Filipino film about the last year in high school. Reminiscing about your high school experiences is the inevitable effect of "Senior Year." All the staple characters are in "Senior Year," played by real high school students from Elizabeth Seton School in Las Piñas, where most of the film was shot.

"Senior Year" also features LJ Moreno, Ramon Bautista, and Che Ramos as the teachers. Ina Feleo, Arnold Reyes, Dimples Romana, and RJ Ledesma essay the roles of the students 10 years later. Thanks to the honest portrayal of the senior students, there is no far-fetched drama in "Senior Year." There is only the raw teenage angst that every high school student experiences to a certain extent. What might seem trivial for many people now, like winning the school intramurals, is definitely a major event in high school. The students do a good job of making the audience feel the weight of loss, inconsequential as it may be in the future. At times, the scenes seem ordinary, and almost boring. Still, the movie accurately reflects what high school was like. As the characters' lives are revealed, the audience sees that "Senior Year" is indeed like a short version of life itself, with all its ups and downs. Like a rollercoaster ride, the characters have their high points and low points, the plot twists and turns, and the audience is taken along on the sometimes terrifying, but still exhilarating ride. Perhaps because the actors are high school students themselves, the dialogue is very natural. It may even be said that they are doing little acting and simply being themselves. There is plenty of humor in "Senior Year." After all, kids are supposed to have fun. But "Senior Year" is a serious film, too. Even though there is nothing earth-shaking about the issues of the characters in the movie, the audience can empathize with them as they prepare to leave the confines of high school and move closer to adulthood. There are plenty of tender moments as well, making "Senior Year" an easily likable film. Ten years after their senior year, the already grown-up students meet again at their high school reunion. As reunions go, they catch up on each other's lives and recall their high school years. Life has not turned out as everyone expected, but as they reminisce, there are plenty of reasons to smile at what was and how far they have come. The film prompted even the cast to reminisce their high school years. FAMAS nominee Dimples Romana remembers that as a home-schooled teenager, she would meet one-on-one with her teacher every week. "But when I had to take the NSAT, I had to take it like everybody else - in a room full of other students. That was my taste of having 'classmates' in my high school life," Romana said. Cinemalaya Best Supporting Actor Arnold Reyes remembers becoming an accidental representative for his Physics Quiz Bee after scoring the highest in an open book exam. "Wala talaga akong alam sa Physics. Sa sobrang takot ko na matalo, napilitan akong mag-aral," he recalls. Host and magazine editor RJ Ledesma says the most memorable thing from his high school years was graduating at the time of the multinational war against Iraq and the 1990 earthquake. "Both of these events affected the national life of the country," he says. Urian nominee Che Ramos says the most unforgettable thing about high school was not winning the Senior Year Graduation Song competition, where each section composes and sings an original graduation song. "We really thought our section would win! Masaya kasi yung amin - the only song with drums!" she says. Comedian Ramon Bautista says he can't forget the college entrance exams because at 16 years old, senior students were already expected to set their direction in life. "If grownups have a hard time finding out what to do with their lives, what more teenagers in the middle of a life based on fun, friendship and growing up anxiety?" Apart from being a good picture of high school life, "Senior Year" is proof of Tarog's many talents. A man of many hats, Tarog is the director, screenwriter, editor, musical director and sound designer of "Senior Year," his third full-length feature. “How does one sum up the end of high school? Is it really the end of childish ways and the beginning of maturity? Or is it the start of a bumpy ride towards the crazy mess of real life?" asks Tarog. Depending on your own experience, the end of high school could be both. It could also be neither, but the audience can definitely find a bit of their own high school memories in "Senior Year." The students of the fictitious St. Frederick’s Academy are played by Daniel Clavecilla Medrana, Aaron John Tan Balana, Rosanne de Boda, Franzes Bunda, Mary Amyrose Lojo, Daniel Lumain, Celina Penaflorida, Nikita Conwi, Eric Marquez, and Sheila Marie Bulanhagui. Crisp editing and a moving musical score highlight the film's scenes, set perfectly to songs by Johnoy Danao, who also took a trip down memory lane to make music for the film. Just like its theme song "Kahapon," the film is simple yet meaningful, sincere and very refreshing. – VVP, GMA News "Senior Year" opens March 9 at the following SM cinemas: Megamall, North Edsa, Mall of Asia, Southmall, Bacoor, Manila, Fairview, Cebu, Davao, Sta. Mesa, Pampanga and Clark. The film's producer Digitank Studios is giving tribute to the film's inspiration by offering a discounted price of 100 pesos per ticket for students and teachers who show their official school ID at the ticket booth.