This
movie follows the paths of Tracy and Chris, two high school
students each dealing with their own separate personal
struggles. Tracy struggles with depression and suicide
attempts, while Chris is the victim of bullies at school.
Their problems are intertwined in a way, because the source
of Tracy's depression is the cruelty of others around
her; though just a teenager, she is already emotionally
exhausted and miserable from hearing about and watching
people hurt each other for no real reason. Although she
is not picked on at school, she witnesses the other students'
treatment of Chris, which increases her feeling of despair.
Because she sees the situation as overwhelmingly hopeless,
Tracy cannot bring herself to help him.
Meanwhile,
Chris also attempts to ignore his own situation, hoping
the teasing will eventually stop. But of course, nothing
he does or doesn't do will stop or diminish the incessant
name-calling, pushing, shoving, intimidation, or beatings.
A quiet and laid-back young man, Chris doesn't have any
adult he feels he can trust; he has no close relationships
with his mother or any of his teachers. You get the feeling
that he's embarrassed to admit to an adult that he's being
picked on by so many people and can't bring himself to
stand up to them, especially since half of them are girls.
When
her second attempt at slitting her wrists is discovered,
Tracy is told by her coach to go see the school counselor.
The counselor advises her to see a doctor, and notifies
her parents. Unable to bear the fact that her horrible
secret is now revealed, Tracy retrieves her parents' gun
from the closet and takes it with her to school the next
day.
After
his car is vandalized, Chris decides to get even by planting
a pipe bomb in one of their cars. But as the teasing and
bullying escalates, so does his plan; slowly, Chris' goal
evolves from general payback to personal retribution.
Then his mother accidentally discovers the pipe bomb he's
making and angrily takes away all of his personal privileges.
Feeling trapped and desperate, Chris goes to his friend's
house and steals his dad's handgun, intent on following
through with his plan.
