About You Film | 10 Things I Hate

Padua High School feels like an actual school, not a backlot. There are mean girls (the wonderfully odious Chastity), jock bullies (Joey Donner, played with perfect smarminess by Andrew Keegan), and weird kids eating lunch alone. But the refuses to let the hierarchy define its characters. The "loser" (Patrick) gets the "shrew" (Kat), and the "popular guy" (Joey) ends up humiliated and covered in cafeteria sludge. Karma is served with a ladle.

As Kat says in her poem:

The titular poem is the emotional crescendo. After Patrick betrays her trust (revealing he was paid to date her), Kat stands in front of her English class. What starts as a standard assignment becomes a eulogy for her heartbreak. "I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut your hair." The raw, whispered delivery by Julia Stiles, the tremor in her voice, and the single tear—it is devastating. This scene elevates the from comedy to drama. It proves that teen movies can handle genuine grief. 10 Things I Hate About You Film