Rated: PG-13

Release Date: 11/06/2020

Production Company: Asterion Pictures/Chaill Bros.

Alivia Clark, Tanner Flood, James Freedson-Jackson, Oliver Gifford, Nolan Lyons, Sam McCarthy, Ivy Miller, Taylor Richardson and Erich Schuett.

Director: Jeff Roda. Producers: Andrew Cahill, Nikola Duravcevic, Emily Ziff Griffin and Stephanie Marlin. Executive Producer: Nikola Duravcevic. Screenwriter: Jeff Roda. Cinematographer: Gris Jordana.

By: Lana K. Wilson-Combs

There is plenty of charm, humor, and fun to be found in director Jeff Roda?s coming-of-age-drama ?18 to Party.?

Set in 1984, ?18 to Party? is about a group of eighth-graders who can?t wait to grow up, but for the moment they?re content to experience the thrill of partying at a nightclub for the first time.

That?s their hope anyway. Since they are kids, on this special night they?re told by the club owners and bouncers to wait in the parking lot at the back of the club to see if they?ll be called inside.

It?s worth the wait for them to be seen and perhaps enter one of the hippest clubs in town. Actually, it?s the only club in the small town they are in and it?s the only place where they can see some of their favorite local bands.

Rarely do they ever get in, but that?s OK and ?18 to Party? doesn?t miss a beat and instead focuses on these teens outside of the club just talking to each other about everything from music, smoking, school, jobs, dating, suicide and even UFO?s.

The banter is quick, clever, and often peppered with profanity laced putdowns of the day. What makes it all work and far from tedious or boring, is the stellar cast assembled that includes: Tanner Flood from ?Moonrise Kingdom? and ?Before I Sleep,? Alivia Clark (TV?s ?Draftville?), James Freedson-Jackson (TV?s ?The Blacklist?), Oliver Gifford (TV?s ?Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt?), Nolan Lyons (TV?s ?Billions?) and Ashling Doyle (?The Other Lamb?).

I liked all of them and the very honest and heartfelt display of angst, accomplishments, and the like.

One thing that can be said about this abbreviated/pandemic movie season is that it has opened doors for several solid indie films to reach broader audiences. That?s good all-around for the filmmakers and the up and coming talented actors like the ones in ?18 to Party? who now, I hope will get a shot at even bigger and better movies down the line They deserve it.

?18 to Party? is available On Demand.

Editor's Note: Be sure to catch my N2Entertainment.net movie talk segment on the Kitty O'Neal Show Fridays now at 6:20 p.m. on radio station KFBK 1530 AM and 93.1 FM.

Lana K. Wilson-Combs is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics? Association (BFCA), The Black Film Critics Circle (BFCC) and a Nominating Committee Voting Member for the NAACP Image Awards.