• Director: Ben C. Lucas
• Writer: Ben C. Lucas
• Cast: Oliver Ackland, Adelaide Clemens, Alex Russell
• Theatrical Release Date:
• Criticwire: C-
• On The Web IMDB Entry

Synopsis: "Wasted on the Young" plays like a cross between Gus Van Sant’s "Elephant" and the upper-crust teen drama of "Gossip Girl." Visually innovative, deeply disturbing and boundary-pushing in both content and form, Ben C. Lucas’s debut feature explores the dangerous possibilities of social networking, as practiced with both cruelty and cunning by high schoolers on the verge of adulthood.

In a high-end cliquey private school where kids want for nothing, handsome and vicious Zack (Alex Russell) rules the school with a manipulatively smooth touch. His menacing lieutenants, Brook (T.J. Power) and Jonathan (Tom Stokes), serve as his muscle, and together the three are high school royalty. When Zack’s attempts at flirtation are dismissed by smart, self-assured Xandrie (Adelaide Clemens), he’s more than miffed by the rejection. Xandrie is far more interested in Darren (Oliver Ackland), Zack’s shy step-brother. When Zack throws one of his famous parties in his family’s high-tech minimalist mansion, he decides to get revenge for being slighted. Xandrie is drugged and locked in the basement with Zack and his boys, only to wake up the next day bloody and abandoned on a beach. What happened to her? Why are Zack and his friends texting cruel rumors about her? When the gossip escalates to violence, it draws Darren deeper into Xandrie’s world.

With its ruthless teen characters and pulsing electronic score, "Wasted on the Young" carries the urgency of right now. Lucas slips between real and illusory dangers, notably in jarringly effective scenes of Xandrie and Darren in an imaginary school shooting. Here, the footage is degraded into pixels and digital remnants, emphasizing the theme of technology as a driving force in their lives.

One of the bravest and most stylistically innovative films to come out of Australia in years, "Wasted on the Young" is sure to provoke spirited and sustained debate. [Synopsis by Jane Schoettle/Toronto International Film Festival]