Plan Bea

A teen musical feature from Australia written and directed by Sean Peter and starring Mary Peter, Mia Skjellerup, Jay Stocker and Tara Forghani. This was made over 100 high school students and filming took place over the course of three years during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The year is 2020, the virus outbreak has begun and at Victory High, a school in Australia, the singing classes are being cancelled, much to the disappointment of Bea (Peter) and her friends, Izzy (Skjellerup), Lou (Stocker) and Penny (Forghani). However, the lot of them come up with an idea: they will secretely start an underground choir to protest against performing arts restrictions and they will do so at the school gymnasium, without permission. And in order to fulfill their goal, they enlist the help of several other students, uncluding online influencer Mikayla ( Zoe Beauchamp), leading to various complications.

This is a sort of High School Musical meets Footloose viewing, with the story set against the backdrop of the coronavirus global pandemic. The plot revolves around Bea and her friends trying to organise their idea, while also following other subplots, including Bea's blossoming romance with sporty Jake (Aden Zaki), Izzy's efforts to get close to her crush, Kyle (Aiden Kwon) and Penny's relationship with Eric (Ollie Liell). The atmosphere is primarily cheerful throughout (particularly thanks to the performances and the musical numbers), however, the severe impact of the outbreak is dramatically acknowledged, making this viewing equally serious and joyful.

Sean Peter also worked on the music and the lyrics and that is evident during the singing sequences that include creative choreography. The songs are quite uplifting and light-hearted, filmed utilising methodical camera movements and they are arguably the highlights of this feature (this does not imply that the rest is not great).

There are many characters, of which the vast majority are likeable. One that isn't is Mikayla, a narcissistic social media celebrity student. As the main protagonist, Bea is a well-meaning person, a girl who loves singing, but can also be naive. Stocker shows what she can do during the song scenes, being rather dynamic and Skjellerup stands out significantly with her singing. Rob Carlton adds additional comedic qualities as the non-speaking school's pricipal.

This film mixes musical with the COVID pandemic and by doing so, it tells a story about working together towards a goal, having a passion, self-esteem, singing, sports, social media, self-reflection and the challenges of going through an outbreak.

An uplifting and dramatic musical that points out that people can achieve even during the most difficult times.