The Graduates (2023 film)

The Graduates is an 2023 American drama film, written, directed, and edited by Hannah Peterson, in her directorial debut. It stars Mina Sundwall, Alex R. Hibbert, Yasmeen Fletcher, Ewan Manley, John Cho, Maria Dizzia and Kelly O'Sullivan. Chloé Zhao serves as an executive producer.

It had its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival on June 10, 2023.

Premise
A young woman prepares to graduate high school following the death of her boyfriend to gun violence, a year prior.

Cast

 * Mina Sundwall as Genevieve
 * Alex R. Hibbert as Ben
 * Yasmeen Fletcher as Romie
 * Ewan Manley as Becker
 * John Cho as John
 * Maria Dizzia as Maggie
 * Kelly O'Sullivan as Vicki
 * Augustina Tang as Jazell

Production
Hannah Peterson was interested in telling a coming-of-age story set in the public school system, when Peterson began speaking to current and former high school students, the same anxiety of safety in schools kept popping up. Peterson chose to keep gun violence off-screen in order to situate the plot on grief. The script was initially written in chapters, but during post-production, the film was re-ordered.

Release
The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival on June 10, 2023. It went onto screen at the Deauville American Film Festival on September 5, 2023.