David Henrie explains how his new movie pays homage to classic coming-of-age films while avoiding overused tropes
- Siblings David and Lorenzo Henrie, who star in "This Is the Year," spoke to Insider about how the film pays homage to classic coming-of-age movies while avoiding overused tropes.
- David, who directed the film, said that it was important to address the theme of "expectation versus reality" and give the female characters strong arcs.
- Their goal was also to show the two main female characters supporting each other, rather than tearing each other down.
Siblings David and Lorenzo Henrie teamed up for a new coming-of-age movie titled "This Is the Year" and spoke to Insider about how the movie pays homage to classic films while avoiding overused and dated tropes.
"I was always a fan, and my brother as well, of a lot of classic '80s coming-of-age films, John Hughes-esque, that kind of era," David, who directed and stars in the movie, told us.
He added: "Some of them I think didn't age as well as they should have. But in general, I like a lot of the fun tones of those movies, so I wanted to make a more modern-day version of that classic coming-of-age-theme and do something more timely."
The feel-good film draws inspiration from beloved movies while giving them a modern upgrade
BOLD Entertainment's "This Is the Year," set for digital release on August 28, marks David's directorial debut. The movie centers on high school senior Josh (played by Lorenzo), who embarks on a road trip with his friends to see lovelytheband perform at a music festival, all in the hopes of impressing a popular girl named Zoey (Alyssa Jirrels).
The actors had a list of films to watch as part of their preparation, including some movies from John Hughes (the director of iconic coming-of-age movies like "Sixteen Candles," 'The Breakfast Club," and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"). The main three movies David had the stars watch were "500 Days of Summer," " Juno," and "Some Kind of Wonderful" (written by Hughes).
"This Is the Year" takes elements of typical teen movies but presents them in a "more modern way" that's also less controversial or problematic, David told Insider.
"Wanting to make the movie feel good was very important because I think in times right now, we could use a little popcorn entertainment and that was always what I was going for," he added.
Addressing the 'very relevant theme of expectation versus reality' was important to David
"I wanted to tackle that expectation-versus-reality theme in high school and show that even if life doesn't go the way you expect it to go based on what you're told through social media and movies, reality can be one of the most beautiful things possible," he told us.
In the same vein, David said he wanted to weave in "the concept of love" compared to what's presented in films and shows.
"I feel like a lot of older movies said that love is one thing and you should expect it to be that," he said. "I wanted to tackle that and show that there are different versions of love than what we've been told in movies that preceded us."
David added: "Sometimes what we expect love to be isn't always the reality, and the reality could be just as beautiful, if not more beautiful, than what you'd expect."
The actor said that being "selfless" rather than "selfish" was also part of their messaging.
"That's kind of why we have this title 'This Is the Year,'" he said. "People might be going, '2020 is not the year.' But what we're trying to say is, this is the year that you could spread selflessness."
The movie subverts the 'blonde stereotype' commonly seen in teen-focused films
David said that one of their "main goals" was to take that kind of character and "give her depth and give her an arc and give her genuine talent," which is what they did with Zoey (Alyssa Jirrels), who appears to be a typical popular girl in the movie, but is shown to have more substance.
David said that executive producer Selena Gomez "gravitated towards" the way the movie portrays Zoey.
"She really loved that Zoey was someone that dealt with a talent that she needed to learn to embrace herself, but also find someone who would support that talent," he said, adding that they also wanted to show viewers the importance of being in a supportive and empowering relationship.
"Her arc is really about self-love and self-acceptance and not being ashamed of [her talent]," David said.
It was just as important to show female characters supporting each other, rather than tearing each other down
"We wanted to show an authentic, encouraging female friendship in the film," David said of the dynamic between Zoey and Molly (Vanessa Marano), Josh's friend and next-door neighbor.
The actor said that often in older movies about teenagers, the girls had poor character development and lacked agency. Plus they were often competing or fighting each other for the attention of a male lead.
"We really wanted to give strong arcs to our female characters and not have guys fix them," David said of Zoey and Molly.
"They really help each other in an encouraging and positive way," he added. "There's no competition, there's no cattiness that I felt like a lot of older movies had."
David and Lorenzo's real-life brotherly bond helped make the filmmaking process more seamless
"When you're working with a director that's not your sibling, it's easier to just shake your head and go, 'Yes, yes, yes.' When it's your brother though, you can be like: 'Let's talk about this,'" Lorenzo, who was also part of the writing stages of the script, said of their collaborative approach.
The actor went on to say that this was the "best-case scenario for me, because David knows how to direct me better than anyone else."
David shared similar sentiments, telling Insider that it was "beneficial" to work with his younger brother because they had a shorthand that helped them work faster on a tight schedule.
"I think Lorenzo was one of the reasons that we were able to pull off a low budget film that I think still feels bigger than the budget is," he said.
The pair agreed that working on "This Is the Year" made them want to develop more projects together.
"We've got a bunch of stuff we're working on and would love to do it again," David said. "We're hoping for that Affleck thing, you know?"
Watch the trailer for "This Is the Year" below.