History Film / MeanCreek

* TheSmurfettePrincipal: Millie is the only female in the main cast.

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: There really isn't any indication that the movie takes place in the 2000s. Especially when Rocky and Sam play would you rather, they talk about Creator/ShannenDoherty and Creator/Heather Locklear who were popular in the early to mid nineties.

* NotSoDifferent: The film seems to suggest that this is the case with Marty and George.

* RealityEnsues: As Creator/RogerEbert put it, "'Mean Creek' joins a small group of films including [[spoiler:'[[Film/RiversEdge The River's Edge]]' and 'Film/{{Bully}},']] which deal accurately and painfully with the consequences of peer driven behavior."

''Mean Creek'' is a 2004 indie drama film starring Rory Culkin, Carly Schroeder and Creator/JoshPeck. It tells the story of a bully called George (Peck) who beats up a fellow classmate Sam (Culkin) regularly. Sam's older brother and his friends decide to [[PayEvilUntoEvil get revenge on George]] for the bullying and invite him on a boating trip for the weekend, [[GoneSwimmingClothesStolen planning to make him strip naked and jump into the river, before abandoning him and forcing him to walk home naked]]. Also tagging along is Sam's friend Millie (Schroeder) who urges Sam to call the plan off. Divided opinions in the group cause the plan to [[GoneHorriblyWrong backfire horribly]].

* [[spoiler:DownerEnding: George drowns, the kids bury his body but then decide to come clean to the police. They'll likely be treated sympathetically but will be forever haunted by the experience. Marty also begins a life of crime as he runs off to Mexico]].

'''Marty''': Going to jail and getting raped every night, for the rest of your cute little fucking lives is nuts.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: George gives one to Millie, Sam, Clyde, and Marty, [[spoiler: when he finds out about the prank.]]

* TotallyRadical: Averted to a degree. There's no eighties slang from the kids (the creator is an '80s kid), but for some reason they act as if, Super Soakers are the best thing ever, and reference fantasizing about Creator/HeatherLocklear and Creator/ShannenDoherty, who would have been in their 40's when the film came out.

* DeadHandShot: One of the posters depicts [[spoiler:a dead George's forearm]] with plants growing on it.

* JerkassFacade: On the surface, George is an obnoxious, vulgar bully. However, his status as a bully masks a deep loneliness.

* AmbiguousDisorder: George says he has a learning disability. He says he can't read words right which hints at dyslexia while also displaying some characteristics of Asperger's Syndrome.

* RealityEnsues: As Creator/RogerEbert put it, "''Mean Creek'' joins a small group of films including [[spoiler:"[[Film/RiversEdge The River's Edge]]" and "Film/{{Bully}},"]] which deal accurately and painfully with the consequences of peer driven behavior."

* RealityEnsues: As Creator/RogerEbert put it, "''Mean Creek'' joins a small group of films including [[spoiler:''[[Film/RiversEdge The River's Edge]]'' and ''Film/{{Bully}},'']] which deal accurately and painfully with the consequences of peer driven behavior."

* [[spoiler:DownerEnding]]: [[spoiler:George drowns, the kids bury his body but then decide to come clean to the police. They'll likely be treated sympathetically but will be forever haunted by the experience. Marty also begins a life of crime as he runs off to Mexico]].

* RealityEnsues: As Creator/RogerEbert put it, "''Mean Creek'' joins a small group of films including [[spoiler:''[[Film/RiversEdge The River's Edge]]'' and ''Film/{{Bully}}'']], which deal accurately and painfully, with the consequences of peer driven behavior."

* RealityEnsues: As Creator/RogerEbert put it, [[spoiler: "''Mean Creek'' joins a small group of films including ''The River's Edge'' and ''Bully,'' which deal accurately and painfully, with the consequences of peer driven behavior."]]

''Mean Creek'' is a 2004 indie drama film starring Rory Culkin, Carly Schroeder and Josh Peck. It tells the story of a bully called George (Peck) who beats up a fellow classmate Sam (Culkin) regularly. Sam's older brother and his friends decide to [[PayEvilUntoEvil get revenge on George]] for the bullying and invite him on a boating trip for the weekend, [[GoneSwimmingClothesStolen planning to make him strip naked and jump into the river, before abandoning him and forcing him to walk home naked]]. Also tagging along is Sam's friend Millie (Schroeder) who urges Sam to call the plan off. Divided opinions in the group cause the plan to [[GoneHorriblyWrong backfire horribly]].

* BittersweetEnding: Bordering on DownerEnding. [[spoiler:George drowns, the kids bury his body but then decide to come clean to the police. They'll likely be treated sympathetically but will be forever haunted by the experience. Marty also begins a life of crime as he runs off to Mexico]].

* TotallyRadical: Averted to a degree. There's no eighties slang from the kids (the creator is an '80s kid), but for some reason they act as if, Super Soakers are the best thing ever, and reference fantasizing about Heather Locklear and Creator/ShannenDoherty, who would have been in their 40's when the film came out.

* TotallyRadical: Averted to a degree. There's no eighties slang from the kids (the creator is an '80s kid), but for some reason they act as if, Super Soakers are the best thing ever, and reference fantasizing about Heather Locklear and Shannen Doherty, who would have been in their 40's when the film came out.

'''''Mean Creek''''' is a 2004 indie drama film starring Rory Culkin, Carly Schroeder and Josh Peck. It tells the story of a bully called George (Peck) who beats up a fellow classmate Sam (Culkin) regularly. Sam's older brother and his friends decide to [[PayEvilUntoEvil get revenge on George]] for the bullying and invite him on a boating trip for the weekend, [[GoneSwimmingClothesStolen planning to make him strip naked and jump into the river, before abandoning him and forcing him to walk home naked]]. Also tagging along is Sam's friend Millie (Schroeder) who urges Sam to call the plan off. Divided opinions in the group cause the plan to [[GoneHorriblyWrong backfire horribly]].

* OhCrap: George's mother when she sees the group standing outside her door. It's ''really ''PlayedForDrama.

* PleaseWakeUp: [[spoiler:Millie says this several times while trying to revive George.]]
* PrecisionFStrike: Innocent little Millie lets loose two f-bombs [[spoiler: when she can't revive George]].
* PrisonRape: Briefly mentioned.
-->'''Clyde''': But the idea of [[spoiler:burying the body]] is nuts.\\
'''Marty''': Going to jail and getting raped every night for the rest of your cute little fucking lives is nuts.
* RealityEnsues: As Creator/RogerEbert put it, [[spoiler:"''Mean Creek'' joins a small group of films including ''The River's Edge'' and ''Bully'', which deal accurately and painfully with the consequences of peer-driven behavior."]]
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: George gives one to Millie, Sam, Clyde and Marty [[spoiler:when he finds out about the prank.]]

* ShipTease: In-universe, Rocky dares [[ToyShip Sam and Millie to kiss]] and Marty forces them to.

* ShutUpHannibal: Clyde is disgusted after Marty [[spoiler:suggests burying George's body]] and tells him off about the potential holes in his plan.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Marty. [[spoiler:His insistence in playing truth or dare leads to George being killed.]]
* StressVomit: Sam, after [[spoiler:they couldn't revive George.]]
* TotallyRadical: Averted to a degree. There's no eighties slang from the kids (the creator is an 80s kid) but for some reason they act as if Super Soakers are the best thing ever and reference fantasising about Heather Locklear and Shannen Doherty who would have been in their 40s when the film came out.

* DeadHandShot: One of the posters depicts what must be [[spoiler:a dead George's forearm]] with plants growing on it.

* TheDogBitesBack: Clyde gets bullied by Marty and George throughout the whole film and finally snaps [[spoiler: when Marty wants to bury the body]].

* HeelFaceDoorSlam: [[spoiler: George slams the door on himself when he makes a crack about Marty's father and then further digs himself into it when he taunts the others after finding out about the prank]].
* {{Irony}}: George makes fun of Millie, Sam and Clyde for not wanting to play Truth or Dare not knowing that they are trying to protect him.

-->'''Rocky''': But the idea of [[spoiler:burying the body]] is nuts.\\

* ShutUpHannibal: Rocky is disgusted after Marty [[spoiler:suggests burying George's body]] and tells him off about the potential holes in his plan.

* AssholeVictim: {{Subverted|Trope}}, bordering on Deconstruction. [[spoiler:The group start to realise their mistake as soon as George shows he might not be so bad, being happy to be invited for the trip. They seem to come to the conclusion that nobody truly deserves to be tormented. Unfortunately George lands himself in it.]]

''Mean Creek'' is a 2004 indie drama film starring Rory Culkin, Carly Schroeder and Josh Peck. It tells the story of a bully called George (Peck) who beats up a fellow classmate Sam (Culkin) regularly. Sam's older brother and his friends decide to [[PayEvilUntoEvil get revenge on George]] for the bullying and invite him on a boating trip for the weekend, [[GoneSwimmingClothesStolen planning to make him strip naked and jump into the river, before abandoning him and forcing him to walk home naked]]. Also tagging along is Sam's friend Millie (Schroeder) who urges Sam to call the plan off. Divided opinions in the group cause the plan to [[GoneHorriblyWrong backfire horribly]].