Tragedy Girls

Tragedy Girls
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tyler MacIntyre
Screenplay by	Chris Lee Hill Tyler MacIntyre
Produced by	Anthony Holt Armen Aghaeian Edward Mokhtarian Cameron Van Hoy Tara Ansley Craig Robinson
Starring	Alexandra Shipp Brianna Hildebrand Josh Hutcherson Craig Robinson Kevin Durand Jack Quaid
Cinematography	Pawel Pogorzelski
Edited by	Martin Pensa
Music by	Russ Howard III
Production companies	It's The Comeback Kids New Artist Pictures
Distributed by	Gunpowder & Sky
Release dates	March 12, 2017 (2017-03-12) (SXSW) October 20, 2017 (2017-10-20) (United States)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Tragedy Girls is a 2017 American comedy horror film directed by Tyler MacIntyre and written by Chris Lee Hill and Tyler MacIntyre. The film stars Alexandra Shipp, Brianna Hildebrand, Josh Hutcherson, Craig Robinson, Kevin Durand and Jack Quaid. The film was released on October 20, 2017, by Gunpowder & Sky.

Plot

High school seniors McKayla Hooper (Alexandra Shipp) and Sadie Cunningham (Brianna Hildebrand) live in the town of Rosedale and run a true crime blog called Tragedy Girls. They are willing to do anything to get more followers. They use their friend Craig (Austin Abrams) as bait to capture serial killer Lowell Orson Lehmann (Kevin Durand) and ask him to aid them, but he refuses. The two decide to keep him captive, commit murders themselves, and use him as a fall guy. The next day, Craig is presumed to have run away. McKayla, Sadie, and their friend Jordan (Jack Quaid) attempt to convince Rosedale that there is a serial killer running loose, but they only earn the ire of Jordan's father, Sheriff Welch (Timothy V. Murphy). When McKayla's ex-boyfriend Toby (Josh Hutcherson) amasses more followers on Twitter than them, McKayla and Sadie kill him. His death is ruled an accident, enraging the two girls. They next kill cheerleading captain Syl and cut her body into pieces in order to ensure that her death is ruled a homicide.

At Syl's memorial service, local firefighter Big Al (Craig Robinson) vows to catch the killer. Meanwhile, Lehmann attempts to turn McKayla against Sadie by convincing her that Sadie will use her to do the dirty work and take all of the credit. The girls plot to poison Big Al while he works out at the gym. Big Al fights back but the two narrowly manage to stab him and decapitate him with a bench press. Afterwards, Jordan arrives and reveals he has stolen the case files from his father.

Mayor Campbell (Rosalind Chao) calls an emergency town meeting, and McKayla and Sadie rile the townspeople into turning against the local law enforcement by painting them as incompetent. They hold a march in defiance of the killer. However, Lehmann escapes and murders Campbell. Jordan has a falling out with McKayla and Sadie and leaves them to support his father. An enraged McKayla discovers he has stolen a phone belonging to her that has videos of their murders, and goads Sadie into heading to his house to kill him. Jordan reveals that he broke into the school and stole McKayla's psych profile; he suspects her of being the killer. They are interrupted when Lehmann breaks into the Welch residence and brutally stabs Jordan. McKayla awakens the sleeping Welch by breaking his window, and he drives Lehmann off before saving Jordan. Sadie takes the opportunity to destroy McKayla's stolen phone.

Two weeks later, Sadie is publicly honored by Welch, and she does not acknowledge McKayla in her speech. The two have a falling out. Prom arrives, and Sadie goes with Jordan as her date while McKayla teams up with Lehmann. After killing their teacher, McKayla confronts Sadie. Unaware that Jordan is listening, she recounts how they murdered Jordan's mother as children. Jordan attempts to flee with Sadie to safety, but they are cornered by Lehmann and McKayla. Lehmann attempts to attack Sadie, but is stopped by McKayla. He turns on her, and McKayla pulls out a gun and shoots Lehmann dead. The girls reconcile, hang Jordan, and burn the prom down, killing 124 students. In the aftermath, Lehmann takes the fall for the murders. A grieving Welch resigns as sheriff to focus on charity work, while McKayla and Sadie head off to college to start a new chapter in their lives.

Cast

• Alexandra Shipp as McKayla Hooper
• Brianna Hildebrand as Sadie Cunningham
• Josh Hutcherson as Toby Mitchell
• Craig Robinson as Albert "Big Al" Hill
• Kevin Durand as Lowell Orson Lehmann
• Jack Quaid as Jordan Welch
• Timothy V. Murphy as Sheriff Blane Welch
• Nicky Whelan as Mrs. Kent
• Kerry Rhodes as Drew
• Austin Abrams as Craig Thompson
• Andy Bethea as Mr. Hooper
• Rosalind Chao as Mayor Campbell
• Keith Hudson as Chuck Cunningham
• Savannah Jayde as Syl
• Loren Lester as Principal Reid
• Marycarmen Lopez as Trish
• Sophia Mitchell as Tracy
• Elise Neal as Mrs. Hooper
• Tory Stolper as Alice Wade
• William Tokarsky as Mr. Gordon

Release

The film premiered at South by Southwest on March 12, 2017. On July 31, 2017, Gunpowder & Sky acquired distribution rights to the film. The film was released on October 20, 2017, by Gunpowder & Sky.

Reception

The film has received positive reviews. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 80% based on 55 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Tragedy Girls injects familiar teen tropes with just enough up-to-the-minute commentary — and pitch-black humor — to work as an irreverently entertaining diversion."

External links

• Tragedy Girls at IMDb
• Template:AllMovie title
• Tragedy Girls at Box Office Mojo
• Tragedy Girls at Rotten Tomatoes
• Tragedy Girls at Metacritic