Anthem of a Teenage Prophet is a 2019 drama about a teenager who foresees the death of his new best friend, the most popular guy in school.
It’s a little tempting to call Robin Hays‘ feature film debut Anthem of a Teenage Prophet a cryptic superhero origin story, with plenty embedded within to make it seem so. However, even if one were to cling to that description, what emerges is something more akin to coming-of-age. This is a small film, its world confined mostly to the dark corners of a boy in search of himself and while its scale limits perhaps its greater potential, it nonetheless finds space enough to make it matter.
Luke (Cameron Monaghan) is sort of a just left of center high schooler, not the most popular kid around but not completely invisible. His best friend is Stan (Alex MacNicoll), a jock with a beautiful girlfriend named Faith (Peyton List). Luke and Stan hang with a gang of others who are all skateboard pals and chill playing video games and smoking a little weed. One day, Luke has a vision of Stan’s death, something one of the others records, offering details that are eerily weighty. When it actually happens though, and Stan is run down in the street exactly as Luke saw, news of Luke’s ‘powers’ spreads fast, changing everything for Luke and many who know him well.
It’s clear that Luke does have some unusual abilities, going into a kind of disorienting seizure when they strike. He learns from his supportive mother (the always welcoming Juliette Lewis) that it’s not the first time this has happened in the family, but it’s not much of a consolation. Luke withdraws, finding everywhere he goes, people want him to work his magic. At least initially. It then shifts from what would seem like an obvious take on a young man harnessing his new role and responsibilities (think any Spider-Man movie) to a more grounded journey of self-discovery.
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Set in the late 90s, the film is stripped of smartphones and social media, which doesn’t necessarily make it better, but does allow these young people to simply explore themselves without the baggage of having to tell everyone else in the world. Luke and Faith grow close in the aftermath while fellow friend Fang (Grayson Gabriel) crumbles, and doing so with face-to-face conflicts feels good.
Either way, Anthem of a Teenage Prophet sort of feels like a cheat, even when it does everything else just right. Luke’s special power is given just enough importance in the beginning (he has a second vision right after Stan’s death) that it seems like this is where the story is staying, but quickly abandons that for a more traditional forbidden love story. There have been plenty of teen angst films orbiting around the death of a classmate, it serving as a catalyst for greater growth and Anthem doesn’t stray too far from that formula despite the peculiar premise.
Kudos to the mostly young cast, who give it some heart, and while Hays keeps this quiet and lowkey, there is a slow burn quality in seeing where it’s headed. While one end of the spectrum has this disappointing because it doesn’t explore the visions it promises with more significance, there’s no denying the affecting relationships that come out it in the end. For that, it earns its place.