Diksha Sundriyal
Hulu’s ‘Never Change!‘ follows the story of 30-somethings who are forced to go back to high school to graduate. In 2008, the last two weeks of their semester were wiped out when a tornado hit the town and demolished the school. Now, a new rule has rendered their graduation meaningless, which means they have to go back to being high schoolers for two weeks. This unexpected reunion leads to a lot of drama, especially around old flames and hidden crushes. At the same time, it also brings the focus back on the unsolved Handsome Man murders from 2007. The return to school becomes an excuse to solve this mystery. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Fictional Handsome Man Murders Parody High School Dramas
‘Never Change!’ is a fictional story that imagines the return of people in their mid-30s to their high school. In doing so, the film relies on several tropes about teenage high school dramas, parodying them from the sharp critical perspective of adulthood. One of the things the movie takes a stab at is the true crime genre mixed with teen drama. Such movies focus on mysterious killings in a quiet, small town, whose peaceful vibe is rocked by a string of violent crimes.
Often, the victims in such cases are young, beautiful, and usually blonde women, whose faces are slapped on the front page of local newspapers, while every bit and piece of their personal lives is unraveled as the cops look for the killer. ‘Never Change!’ subverts its trope by revealing that the victims in North Meadows were young, handsome men. The murders happened in 2007, a year before the protagonists graduated, or rather, didn’t graduate because a tornado destroyed half of their campus. The murders are still a big deal, especially considering that the cops never caught the criminal.
The fact that the killer is still on the loose means that the young, handsome men of North Meadows still live in fear of being hunted by a bloodthirsty serial killer. While serial killings are no joke, the gender-flipping adds to the film’s comedic tone through its biting satire of how murder mysteries in the teen genre are usually approached. The film further leans into the mystery by bringing back a student who is now a detective. For him, it isn’t just about properly graduating this time. It is also about finding the killer and getting him off the streets for good.
It is also hinted that he has been fixated on the case since high school, making it all the more important for him to solve it. Of course, he doesn’t go about it the usual way. Instead, he participates in a play that is about the killings, and actually turns out to be a confession for the same. Eventually, the mystery is solved, and the killer is behind bars. Thus, the fictional case becomes yet another loose end, tied up about 17 years later, running parallel to other conflicts that find proper resolution at the end.
Read More: Where Was Never Change! Filmed? All Shooting Locations
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