Niki Cruz
The Prank from director Maureen Bharoocha is a fun teen thriller that dives into the world of conspiracy theory and the rapid consumption of online media. For the most part, the movie made me think of the teen movies of the late 1990s, specifically the 1999 film Teaching Mrs. Tingle. It also has Hitchcock elements in its exposition of Rita Moreno‘s villainous Mrs. Wheeler, a tough-as-nails physics teacher who tortures her students in unimaginable ways.
The Prank stars Connor Kalpopsis as Ben, an A-type student who wants to maintain his grades, and his tech-savvy hacker friend Tanner (Ramona Young). Mrs. Wheeler, played by a scene-stealing Rita Moreno, fails her whole class after she finds out someone has cheated. Ben and Tanner decide to use her horrible reputation to concoct the ultimate prank, but they soon find out they messed with the wrong teacher.
The highlight of The Prank is undoubtedly Rita Moreno’s performance. She commits to playing a villain like no other and goes to some dark places. The 92-year-old actress was thrilled to take on the challenge:
“I love the idea of playing this snake of a woman. I’ve never seen such an evil character in my life…I loved it. I had the time of my life. I never played a snake like that. It was so much fun.”
Awards Radar sat down with director Maureen Bharoocha, the legendary Rita Moreno, Ramona Young, and Connor Kalpopsis to discuss The Prank. You can watch the conversation below:
Catch The Prank in theaters on March 15th.
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