Aly Michalka

A psychological thriller about a deranged college freshman (Leighton Meester) who becomes obsessed with her new roommate (Minka Kelly).

A couple find themselves in love in three different centuries This fascinating story weaves the historical calamities that marked the destiny of a nation, with the petty miseries and the tragic destinies of its people. It initiates with "Casa Espíritu" Spirit House in the prime of Mexico's Independence Movement (1810), as it's bricks speaks of its first habitants: A revolutionary priest, his artist friends and of his valiant daughter. One hundred years later, an identical construction is erected wall against wall; "Casa Santo" Saint's House. Now living in the two houses, inevitably confronting each other, are the Minister of War and his neighbors who are more inclined to the new tendencies that have brought the Revolution of 1910. Arriving to current times, the twin houses will be inhabited by families representatives of the social and ideological polarities of this country; the obscenely wealthy nouveau riche, whose affluence derives from corruption and shady businesses, and a family from the ancient lineage that is unable to adapt to the current changes. —Antonioa Kerrigan

Will Burton (Gaelan Connell) is a music enthusiast and a David Bowie fan with a hint of rock and roll. Will writes journal-like e-mails to Bowie seeking approval of his music, although Bowie never answers. Will's mother Karen (Lisa Kudrow) finds a new job out of Cincinnati and Will could not be happier to leave his old school life behind. The new job is in Jersey, pays more money and has flexible hours. Will switches to a new school, which he is eager to do since he was bullied (and was called "Dewey") at his previous one. Will likes to categorize groups of students at school depending on the music they like. This includes groups like Hip-Hop lite, Trustafarians, rich suburban white kids with knit caps and $2000 dread-lock extensions, Indie Rock clique which includes Will and one other kid whom he refuses to meet until he bathes and stops flattening his hair with his hands and so on. Will is worried that his new school (Martin Van Buren High School) might be the same as his old one, but Karen explains that he is a terrific kid, and he has a chance at a new beginning. During lunch one day at his new school, he meets a girl who says her name is written Sa5m, but pronounced Sam (Vanessa Hudgens), the 5 is silent. She tells him about Bandslam, an annual music competition in which the winning band gets a recording contract. Ben Wheatly (Scott Porter) and his band "Ben Wheatly's The Glory Dogs" are the top contenders for the upcoming Bandslam. The whole school, including the faculty, loves The Glory Dogs and expect them to bring home the Gold. The previous year they tied for second place. Sa5m and Will are in the Human Studies class together. In their class they are asked to buddy up and create a presentation on who their buddy really is. The students are allowed to use any media such as photos, videos or even poetry to get their presentation across. The project counts for half their grade. Will and Sa5m quickly become friends, but shortly after, he is sought after by another girl named Charlotte Barnes (Alyson Michalka). One afternoon, Charlotte asks Will to join her in an after-school day-care center. Charlotte had been observing Will and chose him as he is a good Samaritan, and she believes that all good Samaritans like kids. Charlotte asks Will to accompany her every week, but it is not clear why Charlotte does this in the first place. Will agrees as Charlotte is the coolest person who had ever spoken to him. Charlotte refuses to respond why she is hanging out with Will, even though she is a senior. Charlotte used to be in Ben's band and then quit. Impressed by his eclectic knowledge of music, Charlotte, who is a gifted singer-songwriter, asks Will to manage her rock band. Her goal is to take revenge on her egocentric musician ex-boyfriend Ben Wheatley during Bandslam. Charlotte plans to enter her own band in competition against Ben's band and aims to defeat him. Charlotte learns that Will's father toured with the famous band "The Who", but Will says that it only meant that his dad was never around, and this is why his mother divorced him. Sa5m warns Will and says that cheerleaders hardly ever change and believes that Charlotte might just be using Will. Unsure of what he is getting himself into, Will agrees to help Charlotte's band (later called "I Can't Go On, I'll Go On") which includes Bug (Charlie Saxton) and Omar (Tim Jo). The band itself is dysfunctional as the members fight more than they play. Bug says that Ben named the band after himself, so he could fire whoever he wants and the name of the band would still remain the same. Will eventually expands it with more like-minded outcasts. Will says that the band needs a drummer and gives suggestions on the types of songs the band can play based on their skills and the quality of their equipment. Charlotte inducts drummer Basher Martin (Ryan Donowho), who first hesitates because he has anger management issues and dislikes the idea of Bandslam, because he believes people don't appreciate the art. Basher decides to join after Will tells him that he has an older sister who is often around (in fact this is Karen). Against all odds, the group's sound starts to come together and their prospects for success look bright. Even more surprising, Will starts losing his "loser-status". Once he gets committed in Charlotte's band, however, he is unable to complete a project he was assigned to do with Sa5m. After spending a day with Sa5m, Charlotte teaches Will how to properly kiss a girl by showing him one night in the car. Will takes Sa5m to the Overlook, where, after knocking off her hat and ripping her book out of her hand, he kisses her. She asks him to come see a movie with her, but he stands her up after Charlotte gives him tickets to a band called Burning Hotels. After that, Sa5m starts ignoring Will at school. He visits her house, hoping to apologize. Her mom then shows him a video of a younger Sa5m performing "Everything I Own", but when Sa5m walks in, she is outraged and orders Will to leave. As an apology, he makes a short yet touching documentary about her for his Human Studies project and she eventually forgives him. After Will accidentally ruins Ben's attempt to reconcile with Charlotte, Ben decides to do a little research on him, in order to ruin his image. He finds out that Will's father was sent to prison years ago when he accidentally killed a child while driving drunk. Ben then starts to call Will "Dewey" (just as other students did at his old school), which stands for "DWI", Driving While Intoxicated. Will detests this nickname because it reminds him of his father, whom he is ashamed of. Charlotte's father dies and she decides to quit the band. As she explains to Will, her father hated how she acted when she was with her ex-boyfriend Ben, so after he got sick, she decided to change her image and be nicer to outcasts, hoping that this good behavior would cause her dad to get well. The band members are hurt by this discovery, as it means she did not genuinely like them, but they decide to go on nonetheless, with Sa5m taking over as lead singer. On the night of Bandslam, Charlotte comes backstage in order to apologize to the band, and after a moment of hesitation, Will accepts her apology. Right before going on stage, however, they discover that Ben's band (the "Glory Dogs") have decided to play the song that their own band were originally to perform, forcing them to change their act at the last minute. Will suddenly remembers the video Sa5m's mother showed him earlier and suggests that they perform "Everything I Own", since it is the only song Sa5m knows. To buy some time, Will comes out first onstage, but at first, he is embarrassingly silent. The students begin to chant "Dewey". He starts to walk off the stage but then comes back and decides to chant with them instead. After carrying the chant for a while, he finally changes it to, "Do we want to ROCK?!". The band then takes the stage and performs "Everything I Own". Although they fail to win the competition, a YouTube video of their performance gains the band popularity at school. David Bowie sees the video and sends an e-mail to Will, explaining that he is starting an indie music label and is interested in having the band as one of their first artists. Will is so excited and overwhelmed that he falls down in the middle of the school hallway. Will and Sa5m, happily together, attend Charlotte's graduation ceremony.