Parents' Guide to The Line

Hauntingly memorable and with an impressive cast of Gen Z actors, you could consider this Animal House: The Drama. The members of KNA are purposely disgusting in word and deed, but their awful escapades in The Line aren't meant to inspire laughs à la Revenge of the Nerds or Old School. Nope. This story is based in gritty, deplorable reality. And if it were mandatory viewing for incoming college students, perhaps future fraternity hazing tragedies could be prevented. As Gettys repeats to his pledge brothers, following the pledge master's demeaning demands is unnecessary. His pleas go unheard here, but for families with college-bound teens, they could help create an awareness of toxic fraternity practices.

In the film's opening scene, Tom's mom (Cheri Oteri) notes how odd it is that her Floridian son now speaks with a Texas drawl. This is meant to make viewers wonder: If Tom is changing who he is on the outside to assimilate with his brothers, how much has he changed on the inside as well? Once he's back on campus, Tom doesn't blink when his brothers speak to and about others with reprehensible terminology, tamping down his conscience so he'll continue being widely liked. He may express misgivings, but ultimately he goes along with the pack—making him exactly the wrong person to be put in charge of a bunch of young, overconfident louts who think their job is to mold a class of young men into a team of brothers through degradation. Hazing persists because of a desire to belong and be accepted into a group that confers status and friendship, and The Line demonstrates that, if unchecked by a responsible authority figure, things can get real dark, real fast.