Screams from the Tower

by Brandon Thomas

When was the last time a teen comedy made a sizeable impact? Where’s Gen Z’s The Breakfast Club? Their American Pie? Their Superbad? Is Screams from the Tower the next teen classic? Well, no, but it is a sweet, charming entry into the genre.

Best friends Julien (Richie Fusco) and Cary (David Bloom) share a love of radio and a similar dream: to get their own show on the high school radio station. When that dream becomes a reality, the boys bring together friends both new and old and begin to challenge the limits of what two high school seniors can get away with on a high school radio station.

As a more character-focused film, Screams from the Tower isn’t interested in gross-out gags to keep the audience invested. There aren’t any larger-than-life set pieces that will have people rolling in the aisles (or on their living room floors). While writer-director Cory Wexler Grant does lean into a few instances of broader comedy, the majority of the laughs come from character interactions and relationships. 

Despite being sold as a dual lead film, the focus ultimately lands on Fusco’s Julien. At first glance, Julien comes off as a dime-a-dozen smartass slacker. As the film moves along, the layers of Julien’s character are peeled away, we see that this isn’t true at all. Sure, Julien is crass and abrasive, but he’s also sensitive and loyal. Fusco walks a delicate line – never allowing Julien to become the target of the audience’s ire while also not letting him off the hook for his behavior. 

At the same time, the film really sings when the ensemble – or parts of it anyway – are together, bringing the radio show to life. Grant is clearly inspired by the heyday of radio shockjocks from the ‘80s and ‘90s – most notably Howard Stern and Don Imus. The characters don’t go where Stern and Imus did with their schtick, but they certainly dabble in their own high school-level controversy. It’s also a hoot to see the boys and their show have a foil in the radio station’s overseeing teacher (Sara Sevigny). While a high school teacher might not wield the same power as the FCC, it does give the movie a sizeable jolt of drama 

Screams from the Tower may not bring the same level of notoriety or impact as a Hughes or Apatow film, but it does operate in its own lane of sweetness and charm.