My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea

Dash is an angry young man, frustrated with the banalities of high school life and that his best friend Assaf is going out with their school newspaper editor, Verti.  He's not jealous, really, but feels betrayed that his longtime bud is paying him less mind.  I mean, they've been through a lot.  Once, on a camping trip, Assaf ran out of clean socks and Dash offered his own last pair to him; the poor boy was left wearing a low rent (and disgusting) substitute in his shoes - his soiled underwear.  Dash's angst (and a mean spirited article he writes about Assaf) threatens his friendships and his collaborations on the paper, which most of the student body dismisses as a cynical rag.

One day, Dash discovers a disturbing document in the school archives - a forged inspection report.  Clearly, the old school building is just waiting to crumble.  No one believes him until an earthquake causes it to fall into the ocean.  What follows is a somewhat typical teen drama crossed with the plots of '70s disaster movies.

Sound iffy? Very much so, but points to writer/director/animator Dash Shaw for 2017's MY ENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL SINKING INTO THE SEA for attempting such a hybrid, all presented in a style that is wildly original and always eye popping.  The two dimensional animation appears as a water color, pencil sketch, and kaleidoscope at various times.  One sequence near the end of the film will certainly remind you of Dave Bowman's journey in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.  It also has strong resemblances (though this is a bit grimmer) to the sort of animated shows seen on MTV in the 1990s, mainly Daria.  The droll humor here, some of it laugh out loud funny, is very similar.

But the amusing observations about cliques and general social strata are hardly new, and Shaw never really finds the right tone for his feature.  There are several really dark moments, yet everything still feels whimsical and light hearted.  Maybe the movie should've been a bit nastier, perhaps a little of the HEATHERS style/attitude would've helped.  The reasons to see MY ENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL.... are the endlessly inventive, trippy visuals, a must for animation buffs, and the nice voice work of the cast, which includes Jason Schwartzman, Maya Rudolph, and Susan Sarandon.  The latter's role as Lunch Lady Lorraine includes a speech at the end that almost borders on the philosophical.