April Showers (2009 film)

''"In an instant, their world changed forever." ''

― April Showers tagline

April Showers, written and directed by Andrew Robinson, is an American independent film inspired by the events that took place at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999 and the days that followed. [1]

Plot Sypnosis
A look inside a tragedy through the eyes of a survivor. Based on actual events, April Showers is about picking up the pieces in the direct aftermath of school violence. Set in a middle class suburban neighborhood, April Showers focuses on the lives of a handful of teachers and students as they attempt to make sense of a world that has just been turned upside down by one of their own. With the community and an entire nation caught up in the 'story', the students of Jefferson High must turn to one another for answers. In the wake atrocity, the rifts caused by misinformation and a frenzied media prove difficult to overcome. Lost and lonely under the international spotlight, one young man navigates his way through his almost indiscernible home. From quaint suburban town to battlefield turned media circus, Jefferson High provides the backdrop for Sean's struggle to cope with the loss of his friend April.

Plot
The film opens in the aftermath of a school shooting. Several survivors have evacuated to the elementary school to wait for more to arrive. A senior named Sean Ryan calls his friend Vicki at a coffee shop, who tells him that the shooter is Ben Harris, a friend of Sean's. Sean is left speechless.

The film then flashes back to the morning before the massacre. A student named Jason is being bullied and is struggling to pick up his books, but then Sean helps him. Sean reminds Jason that school is almost over and that he shouldn't let the bullying get to him. The two then go into their school, Jefferson High School; both are seniors there. It is a Monday, and Sean, his best friend Nick, and a few other students, are working on the school play. Sean learns that his friend Ben Harris, who works the lights, is absent, so Jason substitutes for him.

Later, during a lunch period, Sean talks to his math teacher, Martin Blackwell, about his romantic feelings towards his friend, April Lauren. Mr. Blackwell tells him to let her know how he feels about her. Suddenly, the fire alarm rings, and everyone assumes that it is a senior prank. However as they leave, they hear low rumbling. Mr. Blackwell and Sean then see a group of students, running for their lives and screaming. Three gunshots are heard, and everyone immediately realizes that someone is shooting off a gun inside the school. Mr Blackwell takes a group of students back into his classroom to hide, while Sean and Nick decide to flee with their lives, taking a panicked girl named Samantha (usually called "Sam") with them.

Meanwhile, Jason is left to fend for himself, but he does manage to make it out of the school, carrying out the body of a dead girl in the process. Mr. Blackwell eventually decides to take his group of students and flee, but as they do, the shooter shoots him in the back from behind. Mr. Blackwell tells the students to run, but one student, Jonathan, instead drags Mr. Blackwell back into the math classroom. Jonathan attempts to save his life, but after several minutes, Mr. Blackwell tells him to wait in the closet until help arrives. Sean, Nick, Sam, and a few other students including their friend Mike, stumble upon a suburban area where the injured and dead have evacuated. While searching for April, Sean runs into April's best friend Jessica, who tells him that the police are having people go down to the elementary school. Sean, Nick, and Mike then decide to go with him.

Meanwhile, a S.W.A.T. team enters the school through the main entrance. A single gunshot is then heard, implying that the shooter has committed suicide. While searching, the police find Jonathan, but Jonathan is shocked to learn that Mr. Blackwell has died of his wounds. Jonathan throws a tantrum and blames himself for not doing anything to save him. The film then returns to the beginning scene, where Sean learns that the shooter is Ben. Sean is shocked after learning this, but Nick takes it the hardest, refusing to believe that Ben would cause any trouble. The last group of survivors then arrives, and Sean searches frantically for April. However, a teacher, Sally Reedman, comes in and informs Sean that April is dead.

Over the course of the film, the film splits into two separate stories. Sean struggles to cope with April's death, and Jason learns that the security cameras at school captured him carrying the dead girl out, and that he is being hailed as a hero. Later, Sean learns that fourteen people, including Mr. Blackwell, April, and Ben, are dead. April's car is turned into a memorial, and a TV executive, Barbara Fowler, tries to help Jason cope with his dilemma by introducing him to Sam, believing she was the girl that Jason carried out, but Jason says that it wasn't her. The next night, as everyone learns Ben's motives for the shooting, Sean has a flashback about how when he was unable to tell April about his feelings for her on the day of the shooting. This flashback causes him to break a mirror in a grief-stricken anger, cutting his hand in the process. Sean's father later takes him home.

Meanwhile, Jason's situation spirals out of control, causing him to have a mental breakdown in the middle of a grocery store. He later reveals to Sean that he doesn't believe himself to be a hero because he feels that he is responsible for the death of Matt, a student who bullied him. Later, Nick is released from police custody after falsely being suspected of helping Ben plan the shooting. He says goodbye to Sean and he and his family move away. Meanwhile, Jason commits suicide, unable to take any more of his "fame".

At April's funeral, Jessica gives Sean April's diary. After Sally, Jessica, and Sean perform eulogies for their fallen friend, Sean goes to April's grave and starts crying, ending the film.

During the credits, the list of several school shootings from the past (including Columbine and Virginia Tech) are shown, along with the victims of the massacres. A message is then shown about how officers are now trained to set up a perimeter and move towards gunfire in a school shooting situation since Columbine.

Cast

 * Sean Ryan — Kelly Blatz
 * Jason Gates — Daryl Sabara
 * April Lauren — Ellen Woglom
 * Vicki — Janel Parrish
 * Sally Reedman — Illeana Douglas
 * Martin Blackwell — Tom Arnold
 * Jessica — Rachel Lien
 * Nick — Sean Durrie
 * Jonathan — Bryan McClure
 * Sam — Nina Rausch
 * Sean’s Father — Mark Arnold
 * Helen Mann — Brenda O’Brien
 * Mike — William Grennan
 * Relief Worker — April Wade