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John (John Robinson) is a cute nice blonde burdened with an alcoholic father (Timothy Bottoms). Elias (Elias McConnell) is tall, pleasant, brunette, and an enthusiastic photographer. Nathan (Nathan Tyson) has an athletic build, and a devoted hottie girlfriend, Carrie (Carrie Finklea). Acadia (Alicia Miles) is a tall, nice, and slender brunette. Michelle (Kristen Hicks) is an introverted brunette with curly hair. Brittany (Brittany Mountain), Jordan (Jordan Taylor), and Nicole (Nicole George), are three inseparable, shallow, and gossipy friends, two of whom are highly attractive while the third girl is merely attractive.
It's all normal so far, but then there's Alex (Alex Frost) and Eric (Eric Deulen), the creepy outcasts with mail-order heavy artillery who plan a school shooting. Benny (Bennie Dixon) is a black male who wanders the halls after Alex and Eric have begun their carnage. Benny is either clueless or heroic, probably the former.
How I felt about it. At first, this is a slow-moving film where nothing much happens. Interest is sustained primarily by knowing what is to come. Even when two students walk in wearing camouflage and carrying duffel bags, shades of Columbine, still not much happens. Slowly, it becomes apparent that these two students are the psychopaths about to arbitrarily shoot people, presumably out of revenge for not being considered as cool as all the other characters. But while their actions are hardly normal, Alex and Eric also have a normal high school appearance.
In other words, the first three-quarters of the movie is decidedly different in tone from how it ends. Yet the long tracking shots and minimalist dialogue continue throughout. And Alex remains oddly placid, whether he is getting flecked with spitwads or picking off near strangers with his imported rifle.
Of the various characters, Michelle is the most unlikely choice for study. She appears to have no friends, no sense of humor, and goes through the motions of life on autopilot. Benny is even more somnolent, and seems unaware of the rampage around him during his walking tour of the school until he finally manages to stumble upon one of the shooters.
The director's message is that even the most ordinary environment can breed (and fall victim to) mass murderers. These killers cannot be identified before the fact. Perhaps metal detectors, gun control, and even censorship of depictions of gun violence aren't such bad ideas after all. Why not make it harder for people to kill?
How others will see it. This well known movie picked up two major awards at the Cannes Film Festival, best director and the golden palm. Maybe the awards reflect French appreciation for lengthy tracking shots of walking teenagers' backsides. More likely, the French believed Elephant (as in, the elephant in the room that no one discusses) was an important commentary of America's problems with episodic gun violence. In either event, it is a mildly disturbing movie that shows how our peaceful existence is highly vulnerable to random terror.