K–12 is a 2019 American musicalfantasyhorror film written and directed by Melanie Martinez and co-directed by Alissa Torvinen. The film accompanies Martinez's second studio album of the same name and stars Martinez, Emma Harvey,[a]Zión Moreno, Megan Gage, Zinnett Hendrix, Jesy McKinney, Marsalis Wilson, and Maggie Budzyna. The film follows Cry Baby (played by Martinez), a brave-hearted girl, and her charming best friend Angelita (Harvey), who make a bewitching pair as they embark on a mission to take down the oppressive schooling system of K–12.
K–12 was shown in select theaters for one day only on September 5, 2019, and was officially released on September 6, 2019, by Abramorama in North American territories and Atlantic Records internationally through YouTube. The film received favorable reviews from critics and fans alike, who praised its production values, themes, and songs, but criticism for its screenplay, acting and special effects.
Plot
Cry Baby wakes up and prepares to attend K–12 Sleepaway School. While on the school bus with her best friend, Angelita, she is bullied by her schoolmates ("Wheels on the Bus"). When the bus loses control and plunges into water, Cry Baby and Angelita reveal supernatural abilities that allow them to lift the bus into the air and land outside of K–12. Cry Baby and Angelita briefly see a ghost before hurrying to class.
During class, a student refuses to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and is taken out of the classroom. Cruel and popular student Kelly grows jealous after seeing Cry Baby lend an eraser to Kelly’s boyfriend, Brandon, and threatens to attack Cry Baby at recess. At nap time, Angelita recommends that Cry Baby telephone her mother for advice, but she doesn't respond due to being passed out drunk. Cry Baby imagines a conversation between her mother and deceased father. ("Class Fight"). At recess, Kelly sees Cry Baby talking with Brandon, hits her, and cuts her with a knife. Cry Baby's powers are triggered, causing her and Kelly to levitate. Cry Baby strangles Kelly with her braids until Ms. Daphne intervenes, sending them to the principal's office.
Another student tells Cry Baby that the principal is medicating students to control them. Cry Baby poisons the principal’s drink, but he recovers promptly ("The Principal"). Later, Cry Baby arrives late to class and is turned into a marionette puppet ("Show & Tell"). At the end of the show and tell, Cry Baby (as a marionette puppet) gets an open wound on her stomach and is sent to the nurse’s office where Angelita sees her. Angelita returns Cry Baby to her human form before the nurses restrain and force medication upon them ("Nurse's Office"). They are saved by Lilith, an angelic spirit guide, who tells them they must stay in K–12 because they have more to learn through experience, and that they are immortal beings. Later, Cry Baby and Angelita hear music coming from the ballroom, they go check it out and open the doors to see a crowd of dancing ghosts. Cry Baby sneezes and the ghosts are triggered. Before the ghosts catch them they close the door quickly and run to their next class.
In drama class, Cry Baby is cast as a housewife and requests to be assigned a different role, but is ridiculed by the drama teacher and students ("Drama Club"). During the school play, Cry Baby urges the audience to wake from their brainwashed state, using her abilities to free them. She and Angelita lead the students to the principal's office, where they murder him. After burying the principal, Cry Baby and Angelita play tennis and chat with Celeste, a friend with similar abilities. The tennis ball floats away in a bubble before it lands and is picked up by Ben, a student who has a crush on Cry Baby.
Placed atop a cake while topless, Cry Baby expresses her disdain for objectification and rape culture as boys steal and devour pieces of the cake against her will ("Strawberry Shortcake"). In a dreamlike sequence, Cry Baby speaks with Lilith again. Later on, while walking up the stairs Angelita gets her period and goes to the bathroom with Cry Baby and Celeste. A nurse walks into the bathroom, and Cry Baby bumps into her to steal a tampon out of her pocket for Angelita. At lunch, Kelly propositions Cry Baby to be a part of her friend group, but Cry Baby declines and befriends a girl named Magnolia instead ("Lunchbox Friends"). The group notices that Fleur, a friend of Kelly’s, also has supernatural abilities. Cry Baby starts a food fight to get Fleur away from Kelly’s group, and she learns that Fleur is bulimic. In the bathroom, Cry Baby offers Fleur compassion and tells her she is worthy of love, thus becoming her friend ("Orange Juice"). After returning to the cafeteria, Cry Baby is sent to detention when Kelly snitches on her to Leo, the principal's son. Cry Baby’s powers weaken but she manipulates Leo into releasing her ("Detention").
Ben leaves an anonymous love letter in Cry Baby’s locker and the girls devise a plan to destroy the school, which Leo detects on security footage. In class, Angelita and her biology teacher begin flirting. After class, he shrinks her and tries to dissect her. Cry Baby sees and uses her powers to return Angelita to her normal size, allowing Angelita to kill him with a knife in revenge. ("Teacher's Pet"). Afterwards, the two share a joint in the topiary garden.
Cry Baby expresses her desire for a partner who is loyal, loving, and accepting ("High School Sweethearts"). While nervous Ben procrastinates asking Cry Baby to the school dance, Leo takes credit for Ben’s anonymous love letter and asks her to the dance himself. Cry Baby accepts, but only with the demise of K-12 in mind. At the dance, Leo announces his knowledge of the girls’ plan over the loudspeaker and locks the seniors inside, forcing them to dance ("Recess"). Cry Baby disguises herself as a woman named Lorelai seeking an assistant position, seducing and deceiving Leo and locking him inside a closet. She then instructs the students to evacuate the school over the loudspeaker, all of whom flee the dance except Kelly.
Cry Baby tries to escape when Ben approaches her, confessing that he’s the one who wrote the love letter and that he, too, has supernatural powers. Together they blow a spit bubble, encapsulating the school. The two leap to safety as the bubble floats away, with Leo and the school trapped inside. The girls watch below as the school explodes and Cry Baby kisses Ben on the cheek. A portal-like door emerges from the ground and Lilith reappears. Cry Baby’s friends rush through the door, and Angelita asks “Are you coming?” to which Cry Baby hesitates.
It has been confirmed on Melanie Martinez’s Trilogy Tour that not only Cry Baby but also all of her friends (Angelita, Ben, Celeste, Magnolia, and Fleur) died upon entering the door, as tombstones can be seen with all of their names on them.
In a 2017 interview with Billboard, Martinez said that her[b] then-untitled second studio album was finished and would be accompanied by a film that she was writing and directing and that it would be "all of the videos together of the next record, all thirteen, with dialogue and whatnot in between connecting all of them together."[3][4] In a 2019 interview after the film's release, Martinez stated she wrote the film to portray school as "a condensed version of life." She drew from her own experiences of bullying to portray the bullying of which is seen in the film.[5] She explains further on the film's bright and pastel colors contrasted with macabre and thought-provoking visuals and plot-lines in an interview with Alternative Press the same year, saying "It's necessary because it's just a reflection of life, and life has ups and downs, both light and dark aspects."
Production
The film's costume design was done by Martinez and Christina Flannery.[6] It ended up being filmed on location in Budapest, Hungary over a span of 31 days, and at Eszterháza.[7] On January 2, 2019, Martinez began editing the film. Martinez cited visual artists such as Mark Ryden, Nicoletta Ceccoli, and the 1988 surrealist Jan Švankmajer film Alice and pop surrealism as inspiration for the film's visuals.[8][5]
Release
On May 15, 2019, a first teaser was released.[9] On May 22, 2019, a second teaser was released.[10] On May 29, 2019, a third teaser was released revealing the release date.[11] On June 17, 2019, during the MTV Movie Awards, a TV spot was released, containing a snippet of the song "Nurse's Office".[12] On July 23, 2019, the official trailer was released, with a snippet of "Show and Tell" at the end of it.[13]
The film had its premiere in Los Angeles on September 3, 2019.[8] Two days later, on September 5, 2019, it had its US-wide premiere in New York City at the AMC Empire 25, being shown in select theaters at the same time all around the country. It was officially released on September 6, 2019, through VOD, and saw a home video release in a DVD that is packaged with some releases of the CD of the album released the same day.[1] Martinez also released the film on her YouTube channel for free, then briefly making it so only YouTube Premium members can watch it that way, before reverting it back to free. The release of the film on her YouTube channel was #2 on Trending the day of its release and have over 100 million views.
Reception
Box office
K–12 grossed $303,230 domestically and an additional $56,147 from international territories, bringing its total worldwide gross to $359,377.[2] It was the 6th highest grossing film domestically on the night of its theatrical release.
Critical reception
The film received generally positive, favorable reviews from Martinez's fans and critics alike. Alternative Press reviewed the film, commenting "[Martinez] presents a literal lesson on life... With Martinez, it comes in pastel pink and disguised by a bubble gum flavor, making it easy enough to accept while still getting the same expected results." io9 reviewed the film as well, stating that "When you listen to Melanie Martinez's K–12, the album's themes about bullying, insecurity, and the importance of learning to embrace one's imperfections are all readily apparent. But when you watch the accompanying K–12 film and visually drink in the story Martinez has created, it becomes a much more powerful fairytale about the lives we lead long after leaving school."[14]Idolator also reviewed the movie, praising it for expanding the Cry Baby universe and for its messages, and saying "It can't be overstated what an epic achievement this is [for Martinez]."[15]
