We are treated to some 80s montages, and Claire then gives away some fun things. Brian’s parents put extreme pressure on him to keep up his high grades to the point he wants to ill himself over a bad grade. Andrew thinks he can’t think for himself, and his dad, reliving his past through his son, pushes him beyond his limits. Allison’s parents ignore her so she lies and steals any chance she gets. Bender’s dad is a raging drunk who abuses him physically and emotionally. Claire, while popular, has trouble coping with peer pressure, and her parents use her to get back at one another when they argue. They slowly open up to one another to find they really aren’t that different. The five pass the day arguing, smoking pot, and bonding. Eventually, Vernon locks Bender in a closet until he escapes, and returns to the library. This gets him in trouble with Vernon who gives him more weeks of detention, but that’s probably better than being as home with his deadbeat father anyhow. He harasses the other students to rile them up. He then leaves them, and only comes back in for lunch, or when he hears a ruckus…and he will hear a ruckus with these kids.īender and Vernon hate each other, so Bender, of course, ignores all his rules. He assigns them a 1000 word essay telling him who exactly they think they are. They head to the school’s library where Assistant Principal Richard Vernon tells them they are not allowed to talk, leave their seats, or sleep until they leave at 4:00pm. Claire Standish is super popular, and John Bender is the juvenile delinquent. Allison Reynolds is the 80s alternative girl. Before the day is over, they will break the rules, bare their souls, and touch each other in a way they never dreamed possible.īrian Johnson is the geek. They are five total strangers, with nothing in common meeting for the first time-a brain, a beauty, a jock, a rebel, and a recluse. On Saturday March 24, 1984, five high school students in a Chicago suburb arrive for an all-day detention.