“Debbie Lum’s doc has the warmth and heart of a film like ‘Spellbound,’ but also manages to be fitfully triggering for anyone who's gone through the senior year rigamarole.”

— Ryan Lattanzio,

“Debbie Lum’s simultaneously charming and chastening documentary on the senior class in Lowell High...takes its cue from its lovable, dorky, high-achieving subjects... But underneath ...there is a darker point being made about the impossible cycle of heightened expectations, cultural stereotyping and ever-shrinking admissions quotas for top-flight colleges. The racial profile of the high-performance Lowell is not a coincidence, but nor is it an uncomplicated advantage for any attendee, Asian or otherwise.”

— Jessica Kiang,

“The best of the three [high school films at Sundance 2021]…Director Debbie Lum... allows their personalities to shine through, revealing how much a process that often turns kids into numbers and demographics can miss the true stories underneath… All of them are likable and open with Lum, a testament to her skill as a filmmaker and interviewer.”

— Brian Tallerico,

“The bewildering issue of race in majority-minority schools, the cocooned bliss of being a nerd among nerds, the college-admissions beauty-pageant-cum-deathmatch, and what it takes to endure the self-esteem-decimating academic pressure cooker that is San Francisco’s top public high school are all interrogated. With humor and heart, the film brings you into the reality of the American college application process today through the lives of students surviving this archetypal rite of passage.”

— Lisa Macabasco,