Try Harder!

Try Harder!

Lowell High School: Where your best hasn't been good enough since 1856.

2021•1h 25m•8.6/10

Documentary

Ratings

🎬TMDb

8.6/10(9)

In a universe where cool kids are nerds, the orchestra is world class and being Asian American is the norm, seniors at Lowell High School compete for the top prize: admission to the college of their dreams.

Open in PickFlick

Production

ITVS, Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), California Humanites, XTR, Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Language

EN

Status

Released

Release Date

Trailers & Videos

Recommended

Roll Red Roll

Roll Red Roll

At a 2012 pre-season high-school football party in Steubenville, Ohio, a young woman was raped by members of the beloved high school football team. The aftermath exposed an entire culture of complicity—and Roll Red Roll maps out the roles that peer pressure, denial, sports machismo, and social media each played in the tragedy.

Roll Red Roll

2019

6.9

Ambulance

Ambulance

Decorated veteran Will Sharp, desperate for money to cover his wife's medical bills, asks for help from his adoptive brother Danny. A charismatic career criminal, Danny instead offers him a score: the biggest bank heist in Los Angeles history: $32 million.

Ambulance

2022

6.6

Beautiful Boy

Beautiful Boy

After he and his first wife separate, journalist David Sheff struggles to help their teenage son, who goes from experimenting with drugs to becoming devastatingly addicted to methamphetamine.

Beautiful Boy

2018

7.5

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

While working underground to fix a water main, Brooklyn plumbers—and brothers—Mario and Luigi are transported down a mysterious pipe and wander into a magical new world. But when the brothers are separated, Mario embarks on an epic quest to find Luigi.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

2023

7.6

Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer

The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.

Oppenheimer

2023

8.0

Titanic

Titanic

101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic's departure through to its death—on its first and last voyage—on April 15, 1912.

Titanic

1997

7.9

PK

A stranger in the city asks questions no one has asked before. Known only by his initials, the man's innocent questions and childlike curiosity take him on a journey of love, laughter and letting go.

PK

2014

7.7

All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front

Paul Baumer and his friends Albert and Muller, egged on by romantic dreams of heroism, voluntarily enlist in the German army. Full of excitement and patriotic fervour, the boys enthusiastically march into a war they believe in. But once on the Western Front, they discover the soul-destroying horror of World War I.

All Quiet on the Western Front

2022

7.7

Soul

Soul

Joe Gardner is a middle school teacher with a love for jazz music. After a successful audition at the Half Note Club, he suddenly gets into an accident that separates his soul from his body and is transported to the You Seminar, a center in which souls develop and gain passions before being transported to a newborn child. Joe must enlist help from the other souls-in-training, like 22, a soul who has spent eons in the You Seminar, in order to get back to Earth.

Soul

2020

8.1

Eden Lake

Eden Lake

When a young couple goes to a remote wooded lake for a romantic getaway, their quiet weekend is shattered by an aggressive group of local kids. Rowdiness quickly turns to rage as the teens terrorize the couple in unimaginable ways, and a weekend outing becomes a bloody battle for survival.

Eden Lake

2008

6.8

Avatar: The Way of Water

Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, learn the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.

Avatar: The Way of Water

2022

7.6

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

Harley Quinn joins forces with a singer, an assassin and a police detective to help a young girl who had a hit placed on her after she stole a rare diamond from a crime lord.

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

2020

6.9

Similar Movies

The Times of Harvey Milk

The Times of Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk was an outspoken human rights activist and one of the first openly gay U.S. politicians elected to public office; even after his assassination in 1978, he continues to inspire disenfranchised people around the world.

The Times of Harvey Milk

1984

7.2

More than a Game

More than a Game

This documentary follows NBA superstar LeBron James and four of his talented teammates through the trials and tribulations of high school basketball in Ohio and James' journey to fame.

More than a Game

2008

7.3

Young Solitude

Young Solitude

Claire Simon portrays an important time for any individual, from 16 to 18 years of age. Set in the Paris suburbs in high school (for those lucky enough to go), teenagers chat after and even during class, sitting in the hallway or outside on a bench, looking at the city below them.

Young Solitude

2018

6.6

Freakonomics

Freakonomics

Some of the world's most innovative documentary filmmakers will explore the hidden side of everything.

Freakonomics

2010

6.1

Home + Away

Home + Away

This coming-of-age story follows three students of El Paso's Bowie High and their search for the American dream, a dream inspired by family, fueled by sports, and complicated by the US/Mexican border.

Home + Away

2018

1.0

Free Chol Soo Lee

Free Chol Soo Lee

On June 3, 1973, a man was murdered in a busy intersection of San Francisco’s Chinatown as part of an ongoing gang war. Chol Soo Lee, a 20-year-old Korean immigrant who had previous run-ins with the law, was arrested and convicted based on flimsy evidence and the eyewitness accounts of white tourists who couldn’t distinguish between Asian features. Sentenced to life in prison, Chol Soo Lee would spend years fighting to survive behind bars before journalist K.W. Lee took an interest in his case. The intrepid reporter’s investigation would galvanize a first-of-its-kind pan-Asian American grassroots movement to fight for Chol Soo Lee’s freedom, ultimately inspiring a new generation of social justice activists.

Free Chol Soo Lee

2022

7.3

All American

All American

In this modern, coming of age documentary, Naomi, Jojo and Arham grapple with economic divides, gender roles, and family dynamics while competing in the fastest growing high school sport in the country: girl’s wrestling.

All American

2024

10.0

The Grateful Dead Movie 2025 Meet-Up

The Grateful Dead Movie 2025 Meet-Up

Grateful Dead celebrate their 60th Anniversary with a highly anticipated return to big screens for the annual theatrical event “Meet-Up At The Movies” in select territories worldwide on August 14. For a limited time only, this special cinematic event allows fans to come together and celebrate the enduring legacy of the Grateful Dead. THE GRATEFUL DEAD MOVIE follows the legendary band on what at the time was believed to be their final performances, a five-night run at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom in October 1974, the final night billed as “The Last One.” Featuring stellar live performances, mind-bending animation, interviews with band members and crew, the film has a rare focus on the band’s fans and their deep commitment to the Dead Head lifestyle. Be sure to stay till the end for the exclusive theatrical premier of “China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider”, a bonus live performance not included in the official release.

The Grateful Dead Movie 2025 Meet-Up

2025

Frontrunners

Frontrunners

A documentary on the competition for student body president at New York's Stuyvesant High School. As the notoriously competitive school's election draws near, the campaign becomes a microcosm for the nation at large, with race, gender and appearance vying for attention with real issues.

Frontrunners

2008

6.4

Pressure Cooker

Pressure Cooker

A committed, passionate teacher tries to make all the difference in the lives of disadvantaged students.

Pressure Cooker

2008

7.8

Mash SF

Mash SF

Mash is a testament to the efficacy of the frame, wheels, cockpit, and drive-train that carry us through SF's labyrinth of lanes, alleys, and everything in between. This video recognizes those who have inspired us with their unique presence in the streets, who have created an accelerated style of riding bikes built for the track but tailored for daily abuse. The synthesis of this video sprang from a desire to show the world how these locals take ownership of San Franciscos dense landscape and display an incredible amount of focus, fluidity, and grace in the process.

Mash SF

2007

5.4

Science Fair

Science Fair

Filmmakers follow nine high school students from around the globe as they compete at an international science fair. Facing off against 1,700 of the smartest teens from 78 countries, only one will be named Best in Fair.

Science Fair

2018

7.2