The Prank (2024)

1 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Teacher Breacher

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Maureen Bharoocha's The Prank didn't work back when it was called Teaching Mrs. Tingle, and it doesn't work now, relying on flat characters and failing to say much of anything about social media ills or nasty behavior.

Ben Palmer (Connor Kalopsis) is an overachieving high school senior, looking to apply for a scholarship to the same college his late father attended. All he needs is his midterm grade from his AP Physics class, taught by the sadistically strict Mrs. Wheeler (Rita Moreno).

In her class, she announces that someone cheated on the test, and therefore — unless the cheater is revealed — everyone fails. Ben's misfit best friend Tanner (Ramona Young) comes up with a plan to trash Mrs. Wheeler's reputation on social media by making it look as if she's responsible for the death of a missing student.

The plan works, becoming a local media sensation, and threatening Mrs. Wheeler's job. A guilty Ben goes to Mrs. Wheeler's house to talk and makes a discovery that changes the whole story.

It's notoriously difficult to visually depict a social media storm, since everyone sees it from a different perspective; a few movies pull it off in clever ways, but The Prank does not. It's as lazy and shallow as they come, merely copying the motions of a media storm, without understanding what emotions might be driving it.

If it fails as a satire, it also fails as a comedy, relying on half-drawn (if still somewhat likable) characters. Ben is a pretty typical nebbish, and Tanner is rather spunky and sometimes even funny (she eats ketchup-smothered fries on top of a brownie, claiming, "it's umami!"); it's almost possible to overlook just how mean-spirited her scheme really is.

Mrs. Wheeler is a sadder case, since we're watching the legendary Rita Moreno try to bring the character to life. There's no humanity to it, just a series of behaviors (such as the signature black gloves). But Moreno shouldn't feel too bad; no less a performer than Helen Mirren couldn't do it in Teaching Mrs. Tingle either. Perhaps nobody can. The Prank is a misfire that will likely end up as forgotten as its spiritual predecessor.