BACKGROUND
The 80s are having a bit of a moment right now. Whether that’s in movies, music, fashion, whatever, the 80s are back and people are loving it, both young and old-er.
I don’t know what caused this resurgence initially. Perhaps it was the series Stranger Things (2016-present). That’s set in the 80s, isn’t it? I wouldn’t know, I’ve never seen it. Much too scary for me. Or maybe it’s just the right time. Every decade seems to become fashionable again at one time or another.
I’ve had my own “journey through the 80s”. It started with music and my dad’s CDs, then I moved over to movies, starting with comedies like ¡Three Amigos! (1986) and Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), before going over to some of the teen movies like The Breakfast Club (1985) and Pretty in Pink (1986). I’ll just ignore the fashion; it’s not for me.
Once there’s a new trend afoot, everyone wants a piece of the pie – and that includes Disney. Prom Pact is their tribute to the iconic movies of the 1980s.
Prom Pact was released to Disney+ just a day later than its Disney Channel premiere. It is labelled a Disney Original Movie, and not a Disney Channel Original Movie. Now that many international Disney Channels have since shut down, the humble DCOM title has become something a little bit different as the majority of us have to rely on Disney+ for all our Disney Channel content, making the DCOM name redundant and inaccurate.
Surprisingly, I did watch Prom Pact very soon after its Disney+ release, which is odd for me as most of the time new films just sit on my watchlist and are normally removed a few months later, unwatched. A big draw for me watching Prom Pact was the two lead actors: Milo Manheim and Peyton Elizabeth Lee; both Disney alumni that I know and like. But that wasn’t all. I was also taken in by its 80s references, hoping to see nods to some of the best 80s movies as well as hear some great music. I wasn’t disappointed. I also find the whole American concept of prom fascinating, so over-the-top and everyone’s way too over-excited about it. I’m probably jealous. My prom here in Britain was terrible. My school didn’t even organise it, so everyone ended up at a village hall and just got drunk. Such a waste of time.
Prom Pact happens to be a very funny movie too, and a more adult one from Disney, moving into rom-com territory at times, alongside the usual teenage coming-of-age material. It was so grown-up that two different versions of the film actually exist: one for Disney+, and one for its original Disney Channel premiere, which edits out some dialogue.
PLOT
Prom Pact begins like so many teen-centric movies: in a high school gym, at a pep rally. Except our main character is not at the pep rally. No, Mandy is sat outside, refreshing her college application status, hoping that Harvard, her top choice school, has accepted her. She is disheartened to find it has not changed and instead turns her attentions to helping those less fortunate, by attempting to take the contents of the Lost and Found bin to donate to the homeless. The school guidance counsellor, Ms. Chen, tells Mandy to stop what she’s doing and orders her to go to the pep rally. Begrudgingly, Mandy does as she’s told.
Inside, she attempts to vent to her best friend, Ben, about how all these basketball jocks are dumb and will never succeed in later life, but Ben actually wants to focus on the pep rally as they are about to announce the theme for their senior prom. Mandy isn’t at all bothered by this, but shuts up so Ben can listen. The theme is announced to be – drum roll, please – the 80s! Almost immediately after this, the student body hears the Ghostbusters theme start up. Oh yes, it’s time for the first promposal of the year. Mandy doesn’t find this at all sweet or cute and basically rolls her eyes at it. I am with you there, Mandy! I don’t like that sort of thing in marriage proposals, let alone promposals. Since when did all special life moments have to be so elaborate and public, full of props and prying eyes? Ugh.
Ben is struggling to accept that he and Mandy have spent so much of their time in high school missing out on big events and opportunities to mix with others who aren’t just each other, with the two of them spending every Friday at the bookstore, then the movies, then the waffle house. Sounds pretty good to me – apart from the waffles, I’m not much of a dessert person – so I don’t know what Ben is complaining about. Nor does Mandy but she can see how much missing out on parties is bothering Ben so she does something corny that she never expected to do. She writes “PROM?” in ketchup on the restaurant placemat and asks Ben to go to prom with her, as friends. There are some rules though: no limos, no slow dances, none of that naff stuff. Ben accepts the conditions of this “prom pact”.
The next day at school, disaster strikes. Mandy finds she has been waitlisted by Harvard. Distraught, she goes to Ms. Chen and declares that her life is over. Ms. Chen tells Mandy it’s time to think about back-up schools. This is answered with a flat “no”. So, the only other route is to get a really good letter of recommendation from someone. Mandy suddenly has an idea: the basketball captain’s father is a senator, and he also went to Harvard. If she can get a recommendation from him, then Harvard will have to accept her. The only problem is, she’s never actually talked to Graham Lansing before…
With their two friends, Zenobia and Charles, who are much more socially mobile than Ben and Mandy, they discuss how Mandy can get close to Graham. Mandy is told that Graham should be at a party tonight and is currently failing his psychology class, so a plan is enacted. Mandy and Ben go to this high school party to find Graham so Mandy can offer to tutor him, since she did that class last year. The two split up to find Graham, with Ben stumbling upon a conversation with cheerleaders. He happens to have a crush on one of them, LaToya Reynolds, and Ben being the socially awkward person he is tries to include himself in the conversation, only to get nervous and start cleaning up all the empty cups around them. Mandy doesn’t have any luck either, and only finds Graham standing behind her after she basically calls him a grunting neanderthal. They make a quick exit.
Luckily, Ben did overhear that Graham is meant to be going to a community garden project tomorrow so Mandy knows she’ll have to go too. At the community garden, Graham goes over to help Mandy use a nail gun, and she apologises for what she said to him. She then offers to tutor him in his class. Graham is uncertain why a girl he’s never spoken to would want to help him, but he agrees to tutoring sessions.
At their first session, Graham is five minutes late and is too distracted by more promposals going on around him to pay attention. Mandy’s normal teacher approach won’t work on Graham so she uses a language she knows he’ll understand: basketball. This works so well that Graham decides it’s time for him to teach Mandy how to play basketball, with a simple four-letter word: BEEF. Balance, Eyes, Elbows, Follow-Through. It actually works. Graham then takes Mandy to a youth team that he coaches and Mandy learns that she’s the only girl he’s ever brought there, making Mandy feel just a little bit special.
The next Friday night, Mandy tells Ben that she’ll be tutoring Graham at his house so she won’t be able to do their usual Friday night routine, but she’s determined to get there for the movie. However, at Graham’s house, Mandy is invited to stay for dinner and believing that Graham’s father will be there, she stays put, ditching Ben. Ben is about to return her movie ticket when he sees LaToya Reynolds in the queue ahead of him. Ben has recently learned that LaToya does know of his existence and awkwardly invites her to take the spare ticket and watch the movie with him. She happily accepts.
At dinner, Graham’s father is busy with work so isn’t there, but Mandy tells Graham’s mother all about her dreams of attending Harvard. Graham’s mother then invites Mandy to come to a fundraiser event next weekend, so that she can actually talk to Graham’s father about Harvard and get some tips.
But next Saturday starts to roll around and Mandy remembers that Saturday night is supposed to be the night she goes to dinner with Ben for his birthday. Ben is annoyed that Mandy is ditching him yet again, so to soften the blow, Mandy tells Ben he should ask LaToya to go with him. He isn’t sure about that, but he does ask, and she agrees to go out with him. Mandy also tries to make it up to Ben by giving him gifts and balloons whilst at his Saturday job at the grocery store. Everything is still good between them. For now.
At the fundraiser, Graham and Mandy slow dance together and they kiss. Mandy realises that she’s fallen for Graham, so when she gets the chance to talk to Graham’s father and learns that he is disappointed in Graham for being “dumb”, she tells him that Graham is a very special person and that actually she doesn’t need anything in return for her tutoring. But as she’s about to find Graham, she overhears his brothers talking about a girl who was over at their house earlier that day. Graham’s brothers think he’s only brought Mandy here to impress their dad. Mandy is humiliated and runs out of the room. She didn’t bring her phone though so uses the venue’s phone to call Ben, the only number she knows – you don’t know your home landline, Mandy? – and interrupts his date. As she sounds so upset, Ben rushes out of the restaurant, leaving LaToya with the bill and the humiliation of having her date run out on her. What Ben should’ve done here is ask to pay the bill now, and then offered to walk LaToya to her car or take her home first. Come on, Ben – use your brain, dude!
Ben picks Mandy up from the fundraiser and she apologises for ignoring him and missing his birthday. Ben’s ok with it and they still have prom anyway. The next day at school though, things aren’t ok between Mandy and Graham, or Ben and LaToya. Ben says sorry to LaToya and says he shouldn’t have just left her. She forgives him for that and then asks him to go to prom with her. Torn between friendship and the girl he likes, Ben has to refuse LaToya’s invitation and say he’s already going with Mandy. Unsurprisingly, that doesn’t go down too well. Mandy, meanwhile, is asked to prom by Graham, who says that the girl his brothers were talking about was just helping him plan his promposal to her. Mandy seemingly forgets all about her “prom pact” and says she’ll go to prom with Graham. Mandy excitedly tells Ben, but again, unsurprisingly, that news doesn’t go down well with him. Ben angrily calls Mandy out in the school car park, saying she was only using Graham to get that recommendation letter. This bust-up happens to have been recorded by some other student, so naturally, Graham sees the whole argument, and breaks up with Mandy – before handing her the letter of recommendation his dad wrote for her. Ouch.
Mandy doesn’t know what to do with this letter, as it’s exactly what she wanted but now she just feels guilty. She returns the letter back to Graham and knows she has to make things right with everyone. Luckily, it’s prom day. Mandy drives to see Ben first and does a poorly choreographed dance on his driveway, which makes Ben feel uncomfortable enough to accept her apology just to get her to stop! Mandy tells Ben to get dressed because they have some stops to make before prom: the bookstore, the movies, and the waffle house. They eventually make it to prom – and discover that no-one else is dressed in 80s-style prom outfits, making them feel awkward once again. They try to ignore that and enjoy the dancing regardless.
Soon, it’s time for Prom King and Queen to be announced. LaToya is announced as Prom Queen, and Prom King goes to – Ben?! The Prom King and Queen have to dance together but obviously with everything that went down between them, it’s a little awkward. Ben publicly apologises to LaToya once more and they finally kiss.
Mandy catches up with Ms. Chen at prom and thanks her for rigging the vote for Ben to win Prom King. She tells her to never speak of it again. LaToya and Ben then order Mandy to check her Harvard application. Mandy reluctantly does so and is surprised to find she’s been accepted! It turns out Ms. Chen wrote her a letter of recommendation; it might not have been from a fancy Senator but it still worked out.
At graduation, Mandy gives her Valedictorian speech – oh sorry, I mean, Salutatorian speech; Mandy only got a 94 in P.E. so I guess that’s not good enough for Valedictorian? I don’t know; I’m not American. That’s besides the point anyway. Mandy publicly says how much Graham helped her that year and then proceeds to give everyone the same piece of advice he gave her: BEEF. Make sure your life is balanced, you keep your eyes open, keep your elbows safe, and follow through with your actions and promises.
At the end of graduation, Mandy says goodbye to Ben as she will be spending the summer at Harvard, but that’s ok because him and LaToya are now an official couple. Graham also comes to talk to Mandy, telling her he’ll be attending a college chosen for him by his dad. The two leave on good terms.
Some time later, Mandy is in a bar on campus and surprisingly sees Graham there. He tells her he decided to take a year out to do some non-profit work in the city instead of going to college. Mandy is overjoyed to see him and they reconcile with a kiss.
CHARACTERS & CAST
Mandy Yang doesn’t care about high school and spends her senior year only thinking about getting into Harvard, the only college she’ll even think about going to. Mandy doesn’t care about prom, or sports games, or parties. Her focus is on Harvard and only Harvard. Although there’s obviously a determination to achieve a dream here, which is admirable, Mandy’s life is completely out of balance, forgetting that life doesn’t only start when you get to college and that she’s actually missing out on some big life moments during high school in her pursuit of Harvard. It’s not until she discovers that Graham, part of a group Mandy likes to call “The Everests” because their life has supposedly already peaked, is actually a good guy and much more ambitious and kind than she expected does Mandy let her guard down a bit and start to enjoy life. But she only fully accepts that she needs more in life than college after she’s lost all of her friends and has to spend her day at prom making amends with everyone. And then karma strikes in the best way and she gets accepted to Harvard anyway! Mandy’s a tough cookie, and she represents the pressure that so many high schoolers put on themselves to get accepted to “the best” colleges. It’s not worth the stress and there are so many other options. When you’re 17, 18, it’s never the end of the world; it just feels like it.
Peyton Elizabeth Lee was cast as Mandy. Lee said that, since she had been acting since the age of 10, she understood Mandy’s drive to succeed and her ambitious nature, but Lee tries to find a good balance in her life between her career and having fun, so she’s different from Mandy in that way. Lee is well-known for her portrayal of the titular character in the Disney Channel series Andi Mack (2017-19). She also voiced the recurring character of Rani in The Lion Guard (2016-19) and then starred in the Disney Channel-aligned movie Secret Society of Second-Born Royals (2020). Lee also starred as Lahela Kameāloha in the Disney+ series Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. (2021-23).
Ben Plunkett is a bit socially awkward and resentful of the fact he hasn’t been brave enough to experience all that high school has to offer. Ben has felt comfortable and happy in his friendship with Mandy but as the end of senior year approaches, he realises that Mandy will be going off to Harvard and he’ll be left in this town with the fellow high schoolers who either ignore him or vaguely pick on him – he was given the unfortunate nickname of “No Nuts” Plunkett after an allergic reaction on a school trip…Kids can be so cruel. Ben wants to experience the last few moments of high school with everyone else, by going to parties, going to prom, and maybe, just maybe, finally talking to his crush, the popular cheerleader LaToya Reynolds. Luckily, Mandy going off and tutoring Graham gives Ben just the push he needed to get out there and live his own life.
I can totally see Peyton Elizabeth Lee being similar to Mandy – ambitious, driven, strong, and opinionated, just perhaps a bit less judgemental! On the opposite side, Milo Manheim, who played Ben, does not strike me as the awkward and shy type. In fact, Manheim stated that he had first auditioned for Graham, which would have matched Manheim’s previous “leading man” roles, but was cast as the best friend[1]. This didn’t hold him back though, I don’t think, and Ben turned out to be a sweet guy and a loyal friend, as well as the funniest character in the film. I laughed out loud multiple times during Ben’s embarrassing interactions with LaToya. Milo Manheim is best known to Disney fans for playing Zed in the Disney Channel musical franchise ZOMBIES. He also competed in Dancing with the Stars (2005-present) in 2018 and came in second place. Recently, Manheim secured the role of Wally on the Paramount+ series School Spirits (2023-present) and was cast alongside Peyton Elizabeth Lee as Nico in Season 2 of Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. (2021-23), which arrived on Disney+ on the same day as Prom Pact.
Graham Lansing is the “dumb jock” who happens to not be so dumb after all. Mandy judges Graham based on his popularity and his basketball skills, but when she gets to know him properly as she tutors him in psychology, Mandy learns that there’s much more to him. He likes to do basketball coaching for one thing, and he actually struggles to fit in with his academically-focused family. Graham’s father is a senator, and he judges his sons on their academic abilities and nothing else, so for Graham to be the popular, sporty one in the family, that stands for nothing. Graham’s father doesn’t think his son is smart and thinks Mandy is doing a huge favour by taking time out of her day to tutor Graham, as it must be a tough job. This shows how difficult Graham’s home life must be, especially when we learn that Graham’s father has selected an “appropriate” college for Graham to go to, so as not to embarrass the family.
Graham was played by Australian actor Blake Draper in his first major film role, after having smaller roles in series like Clickbait (2021) and the Aussie soap Neighbours (1985-present) in 2018. Draper was recently announced as the star of the upcoming biopic A. Rimbaud about the French poet Arthur Rimbaud.
So that is the three main characters of Prom Pact, but there are definitely some more to mention. One is the school guidance counsellor Ms. Chen, who is less empathetic than you might expect a guidance counsellor to be, being quite direct and blunt with some of her advice! Ms Chen is also quite happy to rig the vote for Prom King just because Mandy asked her to do it to help fix Ben’s relationship with LaToya. Margaret Cho was cast as Ms. Chen. Cho started out her career in stand-up comedy before moving into acting roles. Some of these include All-American Girl (1994-95) as Margaret Kim; Drop Dead Diva (2009-14) as Teri Lee; 30 Rock (2006-13) as Kim Jong II, for which Cho was nominated for the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series; Good on Paper (2021) as Margot; and as Charlie Utada in Season 2 of The Flight Attendant (2020-22).
For the students, LaToya Reynolds, the cheerleader who isn’t snobby and stuck-up like so many are on screen, was played by Monique A. Green. One of Green’s earliest roles was in An American Girl: Summer Camp, Friends for Life (2017) as Jordan. She went on to be cast as Olive Cooper in Season 1 of the Disney+ series Big Shot (2021-22) prior to her casting in Prom Pact. Green also appeared in a few episodes of Black-ish (2014-22) as Niecy. Mandy and Ben’s two other friends at school, Zenobia and Charles, were played by Arica Himmel and Jason Sakaki. Himmel is most known for her role as Rainbow “Bow” Johnson in the Black-ish spin-off Mixed-ish (2019-21).
Finally, I’ll briefly mention Mandy’s supportive but outspoken parents, Tom and Alyssa. David S. Jung was chosen for the part of Tom Yang. He had previously been cast as the recurring character Rip Tide in Doogie Kameāloha, M.D., alongside Peyton Elizabeth Lee. Wendi McLendon-Covey was cast as Alyssa. She is well-known for her roles as Rita in Bridesmaids (2011) and Beverly Goldberg in The Goldbergs (2013-23). I also know her from the sitcom Rules of Engagement (2007-13) where she played Liz, and McLendon-Covey also voices the character of Nancy Green in the Disney Channel series Big City Greens (2018-present) and its subsequent movie.
MUSIC
The soundtrack for Prom Pact consists of a lot of songs, some are modern hits, others are 80s songs and 80s movie themes.
Some of these 80s movie themes were easy to place as they were mostly used for the various promposals that took place throughout Prom Pact. These include the Ghostbusters theme by Ray Parker Jr.; “Old Time Rock and Roll” by Bob Seger from Risky Business (1983); and “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes from Dirty Dancing (1987).
At the prom, we also hear numerous well-known 80s songs, since it is an 80s-themed prom after all. A cover of “Love is a Battlefield” from Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Milo Manheim; “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie; “Mony Mony” by Billy Idol; “Only You” by Yazoo; and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” by Whitney Houston are clearly heard during these scenes. Just before prom, to make amends, Mandy also does a promposal-redo for Ben, whilst dancing awkwardly on his driveway, to the song “Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats.
Another 80s song that is heard briefly is “Addicted to Love” by Robert Palmer. I think a student is singing it as part of a promposal whilst Mandy and Ben are at the waffle house. The final piece of 80s music to make its way into Prom Pact is “The Promise” by When in Rome, used in the final scene of Graham and Mandy reuniting at a bar near Harvard.
Of the more modern tunes, Ben and Mandy can be seen and heard rocking out to “Believer” by Imagine Dragons in Ben’s car. Milo Manheim has confirmed that he was not driving in this scene, but that the car was being towed[2]. That’s good because it’s quite clear that neither of these two are focusing on the road during this scene! Another contemporary music hit played during Prom Pact is “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish which is used during a montage of Mandy’s tutoring sessions with Graham. Just after, when Graham takes Mandy to see the basketball team he coaches, “Shooting Star” by Michelle Lewis, Randall Cooke, and Mia Bojanic can be heard.
At the party that Mandy and Ben attend to try and talk to Graham so Mandy can offer to tutor him, a few modern songs are heard: “Art of the Strike” by Numbs; “Coincidance” by Handsome Dancer; and “Like Dat” performed by Marquise Butcher. The song “Reinvent Urself” by Robbie Nevil features as Mandy and Ben mess about looking for prom outfits. This song is also used in the End Credits of Prom Pact.
You’ll also hear “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction during Graham’s promposal to Mandy, along with the song from Risky Business, as Mandy was a childhood fan of One Direction, though she doesn’t like to admit it. The song “Fall on Me”, performed by Great Big World and Christina Aguilera is used as the slow dance song at Graham’s father’s fundraiser where Mandy and Graham have their first kiss. As Mandy is getting dressed for the fundraiser, “Feeling Butterflies”, by Meaghan Smith is playing. Mandy’s life soon starts to fall apart after the fundraiser, and the song heard as Ben drives her home is “Don’t Cry”, originally performed by Seal, but performed by Alice Lee here. As Mandy realises that Graham and Ben are both annoyed at her and she debates what to do about Harvard, Nazareth’s “Love Hurts” also performed by Alice Lee can be heard.
Then there is the song “Bulldogs United” by The Newton Brothers, which I can only assume is an original song, written to be the school song and used in their pep rally. Only four songs are credited in Prom Pact with “Bulldogs United” being one of those. The other three are the two Alice Lee songs mentioned above and Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Milo Manheim’s cover of Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield”.
There were apparently plans to have many more songs included in Prom Pact, however, there was not enough movie to fit them all in so compromises had to be made[3]. I have probably missed some because there were so many, or ones that I simply couldn’t place – like two pieces of jazz music playing at the fundraiser, for example – but this is the majority of the Prom Pact soundtrack. I am quite disappointed that “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)” by John Parr from St. Elmo’s Fire (1985) didn’t make it though. I love that song.
PRODUCTION
The idea for Prom Pact came from a story written by Anthony Lombardo with input from Julie Bowen and Rachael Field, who were executive producers on this film.
Julie Bowen is well-known for starring as Claire Dunphy in the ABC sitcom Modern Family (2009-20), winning the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in both 2011 and 2012 for this role. Bowen was also Adam Sandler’s “leading lady” in the Halloween comedy film Hubie Halloween (2020) and is set to appear in Happy Gilmore 2 (2025). Bowen had met both writer Lombardo and producer Field whilst working on Modern Family.
They all worked on the premise for Prom Pact together, wanting to make a modern twist on the 80s teen movies. Bowen stated that she had grown up watching John Hughes movies so wanted this to be a tribute to those, whilst also acknowledging the more outdated themes within them and find a way of correcting them in this new movie. Some of these are discussed in one scene where Ben, Mandy, Zenobia, and Charles are talking about the problems with certain 80s movies during lunch. For example, The Breakfast Club (1985) might be about being yourself, but suggests that you have to look a certain way to get a guy to like you, and Weird Science (1985) is about two guys creating the perfect woman on their computer who is basically a pin-up model, showing that 80s movies were very sexist at times. Mandy also mentions how disappointed she is that her parents treasure a picture of her dressed up as Tom Cruise’s character Joel in Risky Business (1983) when she was little, despite that movie being about a teenager running a brothel from his parents’ house, which isn’t exactly inspirational – or shouldn’t be anyway.
Lombardo pitched the idea of a feminist senior being more obsessed with Harvard than prom and parties, so this character would be pushing back against the common 80s movies tropes. It was also important to the group that they showed the importance of purely platonic friendships between girls and boys, instead of just focusing on romance, as many 80s teen movies do.
Prom Pact was first announced by Disney Branded Television in February 2022. Melvin Mar was named as one of the producers, having previously worked on Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. and Fresh Off the Boat (2015-20). Anya Adams was announced as the director, having also worked on Fresh Off the Boat. A brief description of the plot was given, and Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Milo Manheim were listed as the two leads[4].
Bowen stated that she had never been to a prom before, as she went to a small boarding school in Rhode Island which did not have a prom. She was obsessed with the idea of prom being this huge rite of passage because she had never experienced it[5]. But she was certainly not the only one on set who had never been to a “normal” high school prom. Peyton Elizabeth Lee, having worked on Disney projects for so much of her childhood, didn’t get the chance to go a normal prom either. During the premiere of Prom Pact, some of the cast did discuss the “Disney Prom”, which appears to be an annual event held for all those child and teen actors who work for the company. Lee said she went to three or four of these proms but never went to a real one. Milo Manheim said he first met Lee at one of these Disney Proms with the prom that year being named The Emerald Ball[6].
Prom Pact was filmed in Vancouver and there were a variety of different measures taken on set to make this production more sustainable, which would’ve matched Mandy’s environmentalist nature. These included reducing emissions and minimising waste to make a greener production. Electric vehicles were provided for crew and refillable water stations were available for use. Electric generators were used at times instead of just diesel-powered ones too. In catering, plant-based options were available and compostable food ware was provided. Signage across the set detailed small actions that anyone could take to reduce their environmental impact[7].
RECEPTION
After Prom Pact’s initial details and some cast and crew members were announced in February 2022, Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Milo Manheim then attended the 2022 D23 Expo in September of that year to give fans a closer look at the new movie.
The Hollywood premiere was held on 24th March 2023, complete with a pink carpet – not red – to match the Prom Pact movie poster and the 80s movie Pretty in Pink (1986), I presume, before the first five minutes of Prom Pact were revealed on Disney Channel’s YouTube channel early on 30th March.
This led to the official premiere of Prom Pact on Disney Channel on 30th March 2023. 182,000 viewers are said to have tuned in for the actual premiere, which pales in comparison to some of Disney Channel’s other movies, but Prom Pact was still the highest-viewed kids’ television broadcast on that day. It’s likely that more and more people are moving away from cable TV and exclusively using streaming services now so that is potentially why the viewing figures may seem lower than usual.
Because of this, it made good business sense for Disney to release Prom Pact on to Disney+ just a day later on 31st March 2023, to give the movie a much larger audience. However, this did require two different versions of the movie. For anyone who has watched Prom Pact on Disney+, you’ll have noticed that there are some comments made around sex, as well as some scenes of underage drinking and small uses of swear words. This isn’t a big deal for teenagers or adults, obviously, but it’s not exactly child-friendly in places. This is why the Disney Channel version edited out some scenes and dialogue to fit their usual target audience. This “other version” may have come as a surprise to parents who might have only had access to the Disney+ version of Prom Pact but had still expected to see a typical DCOM. Apparently, Prom Pact became Disney Channel’s first TV-14 rated original movie with this Disney+ edit of the film. It is unclear how well Prom Pact did on Disney+ in terms of viewing figures, although some media outlets have stated that Prom Pact was the fifth most-watched film across all platforms in the US during its first week of release. Prom Pact later aired on Freeform on 4th May 2023.
Reviews for Prom Pact were generally positive, although the Disney+ version of the movie was a bit of a shock to some. I was surprised at some of the content, but it didn’t bother me. Prom Pact felt more like a Netflix teen coming-of-age movie, on the lines of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018) or The Kissing Booth (2018) rather than something like High School Musical (2006), which isn’t a bad thing but it did feel different.
Some of the more negative reviews focused on the fact that the character of Mandy was quite off-putting and unlikeable and that the movie itself felt a bit clichéd. Others also said it was odd to be aiming a movie at tweens and teenagers who have probably never seen any of the John Hughes movies it was trying to represent. I don’t think that necessarily matters because the nostalgia of the decade is not being aimed at them; it is being aimed at the adults or parents that may have chosen to watch it. The whole point of Prom Pact was to make a movie that is a tribute to 80s movies but felt contemporary and realistic.
Another big complaint was in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot. Quite close to the beginning of Prom Pact, during the pep rally, rows of students on bleachers can be seen. The front row are real human extras, however, in the row behind, a line of expressionless CGI characters can be spotted clapping. I personally did not see this whilst watching the movie, although looking at it online, these characters do look quite disturbed and some quite rightly likened their appearance to Sims 2 characters. It’s quite funny but probably not for the filmmakers. Many were quick to point the finger at Disney for using AI, but it is actually just low-quality CGI being used here[8]. The AI debate strengthened online though due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes that were ongoing at the time, with just one area of discussion being around the use of AI in the entertainment industry and the lack of protections for actors and writers. This caused many to label Disney as hypocritical. But they weren’t because, again, this was CGI, not AI. Bad CGI characters will always be a thing as long as the technology exists. I’d be more afraid of these CGI babies coming to the new live-action Rugrats film[9]…
On the positive side though, many felt Prom Pact was cute, entertaining, charming, and light-hearted fun. These viewers also liked this more mature movie from Disney. Looking at reviews of other teen-centric Disney Channel Original Movies, teenagers felt that those movies were too sanitised and did not reflect a true high-school experience. No doubt Prom Pact was at least a step closer to creating a more accurate account of school life in the US. The chemistry between the three lead characters also did not go unnoticed.
Prom Pact went on to be nominated for Outstanding Fiction Special at the 2nd Children’s and Family Emmy Awards. It lost to The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022), also from Disney. It’s a shame for Prom Pact but I don’t even like Marvel movies and I liked that Guardians Holiday Special a lot! Prom Pact did, however, win the Best One-Off, Special or TV Movie in the Tweens/Teens Programming category at the Kidscreen Awards.
LEGACY
Since Prom Pact was a standalone story that ended with a definitive conclusion, it should not be a surprise that a sequel has never been released.
But if viewers wanted more from Milo Manheim and Peyton Elizabeth Lee, they didn’t need to look far because they were both in Season 2 of Doogie Kameāloha, M.D., which will suit anyone who was hoping for those two to get together in Prom Pact.
Despite Prom Pact specifically being about platonic friendships and not romance between the two characters, because they arrived to prom looking like Duckie and Andie from Pretty in Pink (1986), some viewers might have been hoping for Mandy and Ben to suddenly end up together – though I accept that this was not the point and wouldn’t have made much sense given the events of Prom Pact.
But I did really want Duckie and Andie to get together in Pretty in Pink and I was so sad when they didn’t. And then I was even more sad when I found out that the original ending had the two together, but then test audiences booed and complained about it, wanting Andie to end up with Blane, so that’s what they got. Way to bow to peer pressure, John Hughes.
Anyway, what was I talking about?
FINAL THOUGHTS
Oh yeah, Prom Pact.
I liked Prom Pact even more the second time I watched it. It was funny, it was sweet, it had some very likeable characters, and everything was tied up nicely in a little bow by the end of the film. Mandy got the guy and the college, and Ben got his girl too.
I also enjoyed the references to 80s movies, which I had thankfully seen so I understood some of the Easter eggs and nods to these films. I don’t think I would’ve felt particularly out-of-the-loop if I hadn’t anyway.
The 80s as a trend are still not going away with many more television and film reboots in the works to keep the masses satisfied. I’m not a fan of reboots so Prom Pact was good because it was a love letter to the 80s without feeling like a rip-off of some other film.
This trend will likely dissipate soon enough, making way for some other decade, but as long as we have high school and prom, the quintessential teen movie will still be around.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Alex Reif, ‘The Making of Disney’s “Prom Pact”’, LaughingPlace.com, 30th March 2023.
[2] Credit: Shine on Media, ‘PROM PACT Cast Share Favorite Memories & Dance Moves at Premiere I Interview’, Shine on Media YouTube Channel, 26th March 2023.
[3] Credit: Rania Aniftos, ‘‘Prom Pact’ Soundtrack Jam-Packed with 80s Hits From David Bowie, Whitney Houston & More: Exclusive’, Billboard.com, 28th March 2023.
[4] Credit: Nellia Andreeva, ‘Peyton Elizabeth Lee & Milo Manheim To Headline Disney+ Movie ‘Prom Pact’ From Julie Bowen & Melvin Mar’, Deadline.com, 6th February 2022.
[5] Credit: Dana Rose Falcone, ‘Julie Bowen Says Disney’s ‘Prom Pact’ Is ‘Not a Movie About Dresses and Limos’ – See the First Trailer’, People.com, 24th February 2023.
[6] Credit: Shelby Stivale, ‘Exclusive: Is Disney Channel Prom Real? Milo Manheim and Peyton Elizabeth Lee Spill the Tea on ‘Great’ Memories’, J-14.com, 28th March 2023.
[7] Credit: Disney, ‘Sustainability on Set: Behind the Scenes with Disney Original Movie “Prom Pact”’, Disney.com, date unknown.
[8] Credit: Inga Parkel, ‘Disney Plus viewers notice ‘horrible CGI’ in new movie Prom Pact: ‘They look like Sims 2 characters’, Independent.co.uk, 5th April 2023.
[9] Credit: Rebecca Rubin, ‘‘Rugrats’ Live-Action Movie in the Works at Paramount With CGI Babies’, Variety.com, 2nd October 2024.