A list of nitpicks, plot contrivances, and plot holes in order of appearance, not severity. This movie has one glaring plot hole too.
-Zoe shoots, but doesn't kill the deer. Todd does a monologue instead of shooting the deer. Also, using a stone to finish off the deer is illegal in North America. Its alarming Todd only raises an eyebrow at this.
-When the van drove through the window, no one was run over. Scene cuts back, two people were hit by the van. Later, we find out a third person was also hit by the van.
-Nobody hears multiple gun shots from a shotgun and other firearms outside the cafeteria. A 12-gauge is insanely loud at 150-165dB. With a perceived volume about sixteen times louder than the front row of a rock concert.
-It's a trope, but even if air ducting could hold someone's weight, it would be insanely loud when Zoe crawls across it. At least Zoe fell through the drop ceiling, some movies have people crawling on drop ceiling.
-Tristan lets the students call or text anyone. No one calls the police. None of the people the students called or texted contacted the police either.
-Everyone in that school would know what's happening right away once those first calls and texts went out. Once one person in a classroom knows, the whole classroom knows.
-The administration knows where and what is happening after Tristan talks to the office on the phone, so every teacher would know right after. All faculty in North American schools have a mobile group contact method just for such situations.
-There would be a lock-down announcement over the PA, or an alarm triggered to let all the other students and faculty know. The office woman would have contacted the police herself. Land lines may be cut, but obviously cells phones work.
-At the utility panel, Anna cuts the internet and network lines, not the phone lines. The BIX block with the phone lines was to the left of the network panel, which was the wires she cut.
-Everyone starts streaming, and again, the police aren't contacted and then respond in minutes. Also, Lewis is filming vertically. This is the movies biggest crime (yes, that's a joke).
-A security guard runs into the cafeteria armed with a nightstick, knowing armed assailants are inside. Also, he acts surprised for some reason, even though he's escorting the principle who's aware of the situation.
-Zoe finally pulls the fire alarm, which should have been the first thing someone did. Also, cutting the fire alarm after it's already triggered doesn't stop the fire department from responding.
-The amount of time that's passed before the police is contacted is over twenty minutes. Not that it matters, the police and S. W. A. T. only stand around in the parking lot anyway. It's a major issue throughout the movie.
-It also takes over twenty minutes for the school to do a lock-down announcement after knowing about the situation too. They say it's because the police have to be contacted before they can announce a lock-down, yet the office didn't call the police themselves.
-Kip places a backpack with a bomb in front of the administration office desk of a huge high school, and no one notices for hours. High school offices are high traffic locations, and that bag wasn't concealed at all. Also, on prank day, you'd think people would be more watchful of such irregularities.
-There's a live stream that started with over a thousand viewers, and it's now been live another fifteen minutes, and the police are still unaware of the stream. That's insanely valuable logistical information about the perpetrators numbers and locations, and their weapons, yet no one tells the cops, or even sends them a link.
-Zoe takes cover behind a locker door to stop bullets. The movie trope of anything providing cover from firearms continues. It shows the first and forth shot missing, but the second shot is blocked by the door, and they don't show where the third shot hits.
-After the first cop on the scene Tommy arrives, it takes another fifteen minutes before more police arrive. Even though Sheriff Tarsy told Tommy on the phone to wait, he was "only two minutes away". So, it took the police thirty five minutes to officially respond to a school shooting. This is ridiculous.
-Todd takes a whole deer carcass home, and doesn't start gutting the deer for hours. They shot the deer and were home before 8 a.m., and it's now the afternoon. We also know its summer too. No hunter would wait this long to start field dressing an animal, especially in those temperatures.
-They show the cops outside looking over blueprints when Zoe calls them. None of them are watching the stream, or the newscast showing the stream. Again, this is highly valuable logistical information, and it's an issue throughout the movie.
-Lewis filmed the van bombs on his stream, yet the police are still unaware. No one tells the police, also, the police would have combed through the live stream for all possible logistical information already, same with S. W. A. T. on the drive over.
-After fifteen minutes of a heavy police force being present, and them knowing the location of all the perpetrators via the live stream (two shooters, both in cafeteria, other two dead or handcuffed), they do nothing. They don't contact teachers with an exit strategy, and they don't go in to extract either.
-After Tristan gave Zoe the ultimatum, the police would have contacted Zoe immediately after. They would never let her go into the cafeteria under those circumstances. Also, I guess hostage negotiators aren't a thing either. This is another issue with the movie.
-After Tristan talks with Zoe, he shoots another person, while S. W. A. T. have arrived, and they do nothing. There's only two shooters left and they're on a live stream, in close proximity to each other, in a huge room with multiple access points, with multiple shooting lines. With such a high body count, plus the presence of that much explosives with no dead man switch. S. W. A. T. Would have acted immediately.
-Zoe and Lewis get away from Chris, when Zoe is limping like she has a peg leg, and Tristan is badly wounded. They get just over a ten second head start, then lay in the hallway for thirty five seconds, while only being one corner away from where Chris exited the cafeteria after them.
-Then Zoe and Tristan drag themselves into a classroom, and don't close the door behind them. Even though Chris should be right on their heels.
-After Tristan tells Zoe the van is rigged to explode, Zoe doesn't give one of the two phones she had in her possession to Tristan, so he can tell the police. They show Zoe having two cell phones in the gymnasium scene earlier too.
-Todd shoots Chris from a lower position, through glass, and closed vinyl blinds. Todd is also outside, on a bright summer day, using a scope, while Chris is standing in the middle of a large, unlit room.
-After Todd shoots Chris, S. W. A. T. know there is only one shooter left. They should also know there are a lot of explosives in the van too, and already be in position to take out any shooter in the cafeteria. They would end the situation immediately.
-A teacher is running around, still getting students out, one class at a time. So the police and S. W. A. T. are just letting a teacher run around getting students out one class at a time. Again, they don't contact the teachers and tell them where and how to exit, and they don't go in to extract them either.
-After the van explodes, we see a heavily armoured and armed S. W. A. T. team run towards the school. I guess they didn't acquire tactical positions yet. They've been there twenty five minutes at least, yet they're standing around with an entire parking lot full of vehicles between them and the school.
-So Zoe sees S. W. A. T. entering the school, but a limping, and unarmed Zoe is going to save the day. Yes, because people specifically trained for this situation with tactical equipment, body armour, and assault riffles would be useless against a high school student with a revolver. I know, Zoe wears her fathers military jacket, but I think she'd let the experts take over.
-Of course, Tristan just walks out of the already evacuated school, after having his face on every screen all day. I guess the police, students, teachers, parents, news agencies, S. W. A. T, and at least one helicopter we can hear must have missed him.
-Zoe doesn't tell anyone that Tristan left with another student before the van exploded, and the body they found burned wasn't Tristan. She's literally at a police cruiser, with police all around her, but she walks away to get the rifle the police didn't bother collecting. Again, don't tell the police, and let the experts in tactical equipment, body armour, and assault rifles take care of the situation.
-Yet again, Zoe goes after Tristan. All those people don't notice Zoe, someone who should be really popular right about now, go and pick up a huge rifle, and go limping off in broad daylight.
-Zoe picks up the rifle that Todd used to shoot Chris earlier. As Todd says "it should be right where I left it." You mean where four S. W. A. T. officers had arrested Todd earlier after he shot and killed Chris. Oh, that spot. I guess police just ignore a loaded high power rifle recently used to kill someone when they arrest the shooter. This is beyond stupid. This is one of the biggest plot holes I've seen in any film. It's insane how ridiculous this is.
-Then Zoe shoots Tristan, who's not even holding his revolver at the time. This is murder. I know Tristan is a scum bag, and Zoe would want revenge, but its still murder. All of this occurs so close to the school, we can see police cruisers in the background.
-Despite being within rock throwing distance of the school and hundreds of people, no one reacts to the rifle shot. No one shows up for the one minute and forty seconds that transpire between the time Zoe pulls the trigger and when she walks away while Tristan dies.
384 out of 758 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
