Plot[]
Mr. Wang, a teacher with a background in the military is brought in to teach a class of delinquent teens with troubled backgrounds who have gone through 5 previous teachers in 6 months. The principal says that they would have been expelled but they can't afford to lose anymore funding as she leaves Mr. Wang with the class, advising him to try to bond with the students in a positive manner rather than being strict or threatening, going with the saying her mother told her "You attract a lot more flies with honey than with vinegar." Mr. Wang's initial attempts to bond with the students are rebuffed. At the basketball court, 4 of the students in Mr. Wang's class: Sebastian, Ryan, Bryce, and Jackson are antagonized by Barry and his friends, Barry being a rich kid and the son of the PTA leader. Barry plays Ryan in a 1v1 game to have control of the basketball court which she loses after Barry elbows her and she refuses to call foul. In revenge, Sebastian rolls a Coke bottle out into the court, tripping Barry and causing a scuffle between the two which is broken up by Mr. Wang. He sides with Barry even though he pushed first, angering Bryce, Sebastian, Ryan, and Jackson, vowing revenge on Mr. Wang.
Meanwhile, at a meeting with board members, the principal is pleading for more funding which can only be granted if Bryce, Sebastian, Ryan, and Jackson can raise their test scores as they are hurting the average. The principal happily tells them about Mr. Wang and that she's sure he'll get through to the students which the board wants to see for themselves. In the classroom, the four students set up a prank for Mr. Wang where a bucket of water will fall on his head when he activates a trip wire. Mr. Wang notices the wire and the bucket as he walks in, smacking it forward where the water spills on the students as the principal and board members notice. In the principal's office, Mr. Wang is reprimanded but is going to be given another chance by the board as they want to wait before giving budget cuts. Mr. Wang questions the principal on the backstory of the 4 students, revealing their backstories to him which is intercut with current scenes of the three students being bullied by Barry and his friends in the cafeteria while Sebastian is stepping in to defend them, First, Barry tells Jackson if Helen Keller taught him how to play drums, and he throws Jackson's drumsticks in the trash and throws the MrFeast burger box on the ground. He then tells Bryce if he tells him if he plays Sims: he smashes the phone. Next, Barry tells Ryan's partner to get out of his way, he sits down to win by cheating arm wrestling. Sebastian comes in to defend them. The 4 students' backstories are:
- Jackson, a drummer who has been bullied most of his life over it and was hurt deeply by his mom's refusal to support his dream as a child.
- Bryce a phone-glued student that use this as a coping mechanism due to the constant abuse his mom suffers at the hands of his drunk dad at home.
- Ryan, a tomboy, is constantly out to prove herself due to being neglected by her father who had wanted a son when she was born and chooses to spend time with her brother instead.
- Sebastian is an Asian-American and a low believer in himself because he blames himself for the death of his father who died in a plane crash while taking Sebastian and his mother on a trip to Disney World.
In the cafeteria, the faculty breaks up the fight with Mr. Wang this time choosing to side with the four students and questioning Barry's innocence as he questions other students who point out Barry started the fight. Rather than punishing them for their involvement in the fight, Mr. Wang instead chooses to bond with them by solving their troubled backgrounds. Mr. Wang starts by inviting Jackson to play the drums, He is now ecstatic to have his mom's approval. Next, Mr. Wang breaks up a scuffle between Bryce's parents, threatening Bryce's drunk dad in order to stop the abuse from happening further. Mr. Wang shows Ryan's dad how good she is at sports by forcing her to play football with her brother, finally earning his approval. Finally, Mr. Wang is left with helping Sebastian as he researches the crash.
At the basketball court the next day, Barry and his friends threaten the four with a baseball bat but as he goes to swing at Sebastian, Mr. Wang grabs the bat and uses his marital arts skills to fend off the bullies while Bryce records it on his phone. Pulling Sebastian to the side, Mr. Wang reveals his own backstory where as a child, his parents were killed in a fatal car accident while taking him to Legoland and tells him that he shouldn't blame himself for what happened, finally helping Sebastian move on from his grief as the two hug.
The next day at school, Mr. Wang to his surprise, sees the students studying and Bryce reveals the video of him using the martial arts skills was posted on TikTok and had gone viral. Unfortunately, the administration and board also saw the video, and fire Mr. Wang for his actions, despite his pleas that he is finally getting through to his students. Ryan, Sebastian, Bryce, and Jackson overhear and are sad that he is being fired, Sebastian saying that there's only one thing they can do. One month later, Mr. Wang is depressed and ignoring calls from the principal while sitting at home as the parents of the four students come to his door to thank him for being such a positive influence in their lives. He is greeted for the first time by Sebastian's mom, who gives him tickets to Legoland on behalf of Sebastian, who says if he can move on from his past and go to Disney World with his mom then Mr. Wang can too. The parents lead Mr. Wang back to his classroom for another surprise where he gets cheers from the principal, school board and his students due to Edison having the best scores, allowing the principal to finally earn the funding to re-hire previously faculty members let go. Mr. Wang is also given his job back where he will now be teaching Barry and his friends due to them having the lowest grades now.
Moral[]
- "You attract a lot more flies with honey than with vinegar."
Cast[]
Main Characters[]
- Mr. Wang - Rick Vo
- Sebastian Gray - Jackie Tran
- Ryan Simmons - Brea Mascorro
- Jackson Carver - Nick Darnell
- Bryce Parker - Ryan Wayne
- Principal - Jeanne Carr
- Barry - Tate Charles Doppler
Supporting/Minor Characters[]
Jackson's Mom - Dazelle Yvette
Jackson’s Mom Stand-In - Fantajia DeLisa
Ryan's Dad - Rafael Siegel
Bryce's Mom - Amanda Klein Sebastian's Mom - Junie Hoang Student 1 - Zachory Sweeney Student 2 - Riccardo Lavezzi Rich Friend 1 - Elijah Lockhart Rich Friend 2 - Dalton Weaver Rich Friend 3 - Julian Vega Cashier - Angela Su Armstrong Student 3 - Indiah Bleher Student 4 - Mariana Leal Student 5 - Nadine "Elise" Kurkchubasche Student 6 - Zhengzhao Yang Younger Jackson - Skyler Simmons Bryce's Dad - Patrick Breen Younger Bryce - Flynn Gallagher Cop - Gary Manrique Ryan's Mom - Ellie Santiago Nurse - KeNeice Musgrove Ryan's Little Brother - Mateo Acevedo Younger Ryan - Savannah Amorina Garcia Sebastian's Dad - John Chang Younger Sebastian - Blake Takahashi Passenger 1 - Chad Winkles Passenger 2 - Penelope Salazar Passenger 3 - Brevin Woodford Passenger 5 - Brian McAleese Owner - Mahfuz Rahman Customer 1 - Breanna Lopez Customer 2 - DeQuinte Carter Customer 3 - Ohdarnette Im Customer 4 - Robbie Molina Customer 5 - Antoinette Abban Football Player - Barry Rowser Young Mr. Wang - Tyler Shen-Kao Mr. Wang's Dad - Kelly Bunasawa Mr. Wang's Mom - Angela Yee Janitor 1 - Israel F Garcia Janitor 2 - Alfredo Angelo Castillo Ryan's Brother - Arnol Zepeda
Trivia[]
This video is inspired by the Hong Kong-based film Big Brother.
Allusions[]
Barry asked Barry if he plays Sims, but Bryce is actually playing PUBG Mobile.
Errors[]
When Barry smashed Bryce's phone, the screen has knife stabs on them.