Two High School Seniors Make a Prom Pact

Prom Pact (2023) is a coming-of-age high school movie released and produced by The Walt Disney Company. The opening scene shows Mandy Coleman (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) skipping the high school pep rally and going through her college application to Harvard on her phone. Ms. Chen (Margaret Cho), the school’s guidance counselor, is concerned about Mandy’s feelings through the college application process. She believes that Mandy is becoming too obsessed with her college application and is missing out on other important things in life such as having fun with friends. Mandy’s feelings spiral out of control when she learns she is waitlisted from Harvard.

The movie title, Prom Pact, is formatted with neon colors, immersing viewers in the style of the 1980s. The 1980s is also the theme for the high school prom. We follow two high school seniors: Mandy and Ben. Ben is considered an outcast and looked down on by the other students, while Mandy is someone who is too stressed out about her application to Harvard. Occasionally, there are scenes where Mandy and Ben are together, but only for a short time. The duo are best friends. However, their friendship does have problems. The climax is when Ben is feeling hurt after finding out that Mandy is spending time away from him. They do reconcile over a prom proposal.

Mandy eventually learns there is more in the world than just Harvard; she goes to college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as shown in the neon subtitle after high school graduation. But also enjoys the prom, graduation, and everything life has to offer.

Viewers see some representation of women of color in Prom Pact. Peyton Elizabeth Lee is an Asian actress playing the main female role, and Margaret Cho is an Asian actress playing the supporting role. In addition, there is some representation of Black women, as there are two Black actresses playing supporting roles.

Overall, Prom Pact shows viewers the stresses of college acceptances and prom season with some representation of women of color. This is also the first Disney Channel Original Movie to receive a TV-14 rating, compared to other Disney Channel Original Movies, due to drinking. This is fitting with its more mature themes compared to most high school movies.