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Try Harder!

Play trailer 1:49 Poster for Try Harder! 2021 1h 25m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
97% Tomatometer 39 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
At Lowell High School, the top public high school in San Francisco, the seniors are stressed out. As they prepare for the emotionally draining college application process, students are keenly aware of the intense competition for the few open spots in their dream colleges. At Lowell -- where cool kids are nerds, nearly everyone has an amazing talent, and most of the student body is Asian American -- the things that usually make a person stand out can feel commonplace. With humor and heart, director Debbie Lum captures the reality of the American college application process and the intersection of class, race, and educational opportunity as young adults navigate a quintessential rite of passage.
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Try Harder!

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Critics Consensus

Straightforward and disarmingly, charmingly sincere, Try Harder! follows college-bound students through their final year of high school.

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Critics Reviews

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Kathleen Sachs Chicago Reader 04/08/2022
Set at a top-ranked public high school in San Francisco, the film explores such issues as the stress put on students during said process and the intersectionality of how this affects kids from different backgrounds, including the children of immigrants... Go to Full Review Amy Nicholson FilmWeek (LAist) 12/07/2021
It's a really well-crafted mix of the specific and the particular of the individual, and the larger. universal story of how screwed up the college admissions system have gotten. Go to Full Review Nick Allen RogerEbert.com 12/03/2021
3/4
This smart, savvy documentary does a great job in putting faces and stories behind students who are seen as computers. Go to Full Review Ally Ham Video Librarian Magazine 07/21/2024
This documentary doesn’t convey any tidy life lesson or solid solution. It does however humanize these students who are each 1 in 100,000 to universities. Go to Full Review Cody Dericks Next Best Picture 07/08/2022
8/10
"Try Harder!" is a funny, moving, and surprisingly joyful look at that moment in your life where the world seems both terrifying and full of possibilities. It may even help its audience to look back on that period with more affection. Go to Full Review Sandie Angulo Chen Common Sense Media 02/01/2022
4/5
Parents and teens should watch this film together, encourage their PTSAs to host screenings and discussions, and internalize the messages about the ludicrous amount of pressure that so many high achieving students feel to go to the same 20 colleges. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Linda 12/04/2021 An amazing, but true to life picture of life for ambitious, driven, and hardworking high school students. See more Baldwin C @RT09069380 12/06/2023 Loved this film. I related to it so much. There is so much pressure on our students. See more dave d @RT34924333 01/28/2022 Debbie Lum's documentary feature 'Try Harder' spotlights the highly competitive Lowell High School in San Francisco and follows several students in their quest to be accepted to ultra elite universities. Lum builds tension as we track the progress of several seniors and one junior. What we learn is, the system is designed to reject kids like these from their desired schools. Many want to go to the best of the best, but only a few, if any are chosen. I found the movie to be depressing at times, but it is without a doubt enlightening and a sobering reminder of the pressure put on talented kids at gifted schools and how one rejection could turn their individual life in an entirely different direction in their mind at that time. The reality is, the last school you go to is the most important so they shouldn't give up hope. A well-made and important film for anyone going to college in the next couple years or any parent of a child who is. Final Score: 8.2/10 See more 12/23/2021 Não param de fazer filmes mediocres, gasto de tempo pra quem faz e pra quem assiste... Não adiante sites como rotten tomatoes manipular notas em mediocridade, não vai fazer com que lixo se torne algo bom. See more 12/22/2021 Really well-balanced documentary about the pressure that students at Lowell High School in San Francisco place upon themselves to get into college. I'm so glad I graduated from high school in the 80s, when there was less craziness about college. See more 12/12/2021 A fascinating look into the pressure, hopes, dreams and frustrations high-school students at a school such as Lowell go through in the process of preparing to apply to college. Amidst all the stress and pressure the director let these students personalities shine through. Great work! See more Read all reviews
Try Harder!

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Cast & Crew

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Debbie Lum

Director

Sophia Wu

Self

Ian Wang

Self

Rachael Schmidt

Self

Alvan Cai

Self

Shealand Fairchild

Self

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Try Harder!

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Movie Info

Synopsis At Lowell High School, the top public high school in San Francisco, the seniors are stressed out. As they prepare for the emotionally draining college application process, students are keenly aware of the intense competition for the few open spots in their dream colleges. At Lowell -- where cool kids are nerds, nearly everyone has an amazing talent, and most of the student body is Asian American -- the things that usually make a person stand out can feel commonplace. With humor and heart, director Debbie Lum captures the reality of the American college application process and the intersection of class, race, and educational opportunity as young adults navigate a quintessential rite of passage.
Director
Debbie Lum
Producer
Debbie Lum, Lou Nakasako, Nico Opper
Distributor
Greenwich Entertainment
Production Co
Independent Lens, ITVS, California Council for the Humanities, XTR
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 3, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 24, 2021
Runtime
1h 25m
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