He’s All That Movie Review

He’s All That

Ah, social media. How it’s so positive and negative at the same time. Some people tend to be cruel, while others need encouragement. In a way, social media has the tendency to let us hide behind it like a fake mirror.

Padgett Sawyer (Addison Rae) knows this all too well. For her whole high school career, she’s dedicated a bunch of time to building her brand. But that all crashes and burns when Padgett makes a fool of herself during a livestream.

Desperate, she makes a bet with Alden (Madison Pettis) that she can transform any guy into prom king. Alden and Quinn pick Cameron Keller (Tanner Buchanan), a social outcast. What happens next is almost similar to the original She’s All That.

Positive Elements: Padgett is a caring young woman with a loving mom (Rachel Leigh Cook) that works hard for her. Padgett is honest with her mom, and in turn Anna encourages her. Anna doesn’t want Padgett to be influenced by the “snotty trust founders” at her school. They express their love for each other.

Cameron has his own share of problems. However, he deeply cares for his younger sister Brin. He stands up to a jerk on her behalf. Cameron encourages Padgett to be real and not hide herself on social media. He saves her from public humiliation.

For her part, Padgett pushes Cameron out of his comfort zone. She cares for Brin too. Both Cameron and Padgett transcend beyond shallowness to discover more about each other.

Padgett refuses the Prom Queen crown and instead delivers a heartfelt speech about honesty. She learns that it’s better to be authentic than fake.

Sensual Content: One guy repeatedly goes shirtless. Some sexual innuendos are present in the film. Padgett catches her boyfriend Jordan cheating on her (we see him and a back up dancer getting dressed). Later, Jordan tries to take things further with Brin, who bonks him with a pool ball. (The scene is implied, not shown).

Alden seduces Jordan and the camera cuts away, implying they have sex. Several couples kiss, flirt and hold hands. One scene pictures multiple women in skimpy bikinis. Jordan and his new squeeze Aniston dance suggestively to one song.

Two girls flirt and attend prom together. Several girls wear revealing outfits showing cleavage and midriff. Brin who is a virgin says “having sex for the first time is weird.”

Violence: Cameron and Jordan have a brawl with the former defeating the latter with karate moves. Cameron reveals to Padgett that his mother and stepfather died in a plane crash. There is a mention of someone’s ex-husband being mauled by bears.

Language: Several uses of a—, h—,God’s name, d--n, the s-word, d—k, and p---.There is also one harsh f-word. Some uses of “screw” and “gosh.”

Drugs/Alcohol: At Alden’s party, some people drink (implied) alcohol from red cups and martini glasses. Anna mentions a guy on meth during one of her hospital shifts. Cameron jokes that his dark room might be a ”meth lab” according to his grandma.

Other Negative Elements: As mentioned, Padgett makes a bet with Alden to transform Cameron into a hot guy. Cameron is hurt when learning about the deception. Jordan is portrayed as a jerk throughout the story. Jordan even throws Cameron’s camera into a pool out of spite.

Both Cameron and Padgett talk about their parents walking out on them when they were young. Alden is a fake friend to Padgett: she belittles her and acts selfish for the second half of the film.

Conclusion: Having seen She’s All That before this remake, I had some criticism before watching He’s All That. However, I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought. Viral TikTok star Addison Rae is almost perfect in her acting debut. Yes, some scenes were a bit cringy, but nothing too over the top.

He’s All That does have language and mild sexual content. But it doesn’t push the envelope like many other teen movies these days. Viewers learn about the importance of honesty and self-sacrifice. Even Padgett makes the tough decision to forsake being Prom Queen to be true to herself.

This reminds me of Ephesians 4:22-24, which states “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by it’s deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” In a way, Padgett forsakes popularity to find something better. Similarly, we must forsake our own ambitions to follow God at times. It’s hard in this world of social media to be real, but He’s All That encourages us to do just that.

Yes, this Netflix original has some problems that need discussion. But it reminds us that being honest with the people we love and ourselves is more important than pretending we have it all together. That is praiseworthy indeed.