# The Outcasts (2017 film)
**The Outcasts** is a 2017 American teen comedy directed by Peter Hutchings, written by Dominique Ferrari and Suzanne Wrubel, and starring [Victoria Justice](https://www.edgepedia.org/victoria-justice) and [Eden Sher](https://www.edgepedia.org/eden-sher) as two high school outcasts who take revenge on the school's queen bee by uniting every unpopular clique against her.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_outcasts_2017) The film was produced under the title *The Outskirts* and is still listed under that name by several databases.[2](https://www.movieinsider.com/m13180/the-outskirts)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | *The Outskirts*; also released internationally as *Cool Girls* (Netherlands)[2](https://www.movieinsider.com/m13180/the-outskirts) • [3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Outcasts-The-%282017%29) |
| Director and writers | Peter Hutchings; screenplay by Dominique Ferrari and Suzanne Wrubel[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_outcasts_2017) |
| Lead cast | Victoria Justice (Jodi), Eden Sher (Mindy), Ashley Rickards (Virginia), Claudia Lee (Whitney), Avan Jogia (Dave), Peyton List (Mackenzie)[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Outcasts-The-%282017%29) |
| Release | Limited US theatrical release April 14, 2017 (Swen Group); Netherlands February 17, 2017; video May 16, 2017 (Monarch Video)[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Outcasts-The-%282017%29) |
| Format | Comedy, 95 minutes, PG-13 for crude and suggestive content, language, and some teen partying[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Outcasts-The-%282017%29) |
| Box office | The Numbers reports $24,197 worldwide theatrical (Netherlands) plus $50,305 in estimated DVD sales; Box Office Mojo reports $61,250 worldwide theatrical[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Outcasts-The-%282017%29) • [4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/releasegroup/gr1054888453/) |
| Reception | 63% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (8 reviews), 44% audience score; Metascore 47 on Metacritic[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_outcasts_2017) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-outcasts/critic-reviews/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Jodi (Victoria Justice), a band geek with songwriting ambitions, and Mindy (Eden Sher), a science nerd obsessed with MIT, are best friends and seniors at Richard Nixon High School. When they attend a party hosted by the popular crowd, queen bee Whitney (Claudia Lee) plays a humiliating prank on Jodi, and Mindy vows revenge.[6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-outcasts)
With help from debate champion Virginia ([Ashley Rickards](https://www.edgepedia.org/ashley-rickards)), who keeps meticulous files on nearly everyone in the school, the two recruit leaders of the techies, sci-fi fans, fantasy cosplayers, Girl Scouts, LGBT students, and band and theater kids into a coalition to overthrow the cool kids' hold on the social order. Jodi then worries that Mindy is taking vengeance too far, and finds herself attracted to Dave ([Avan Jogia](https://www.edgepedia.org/avan-jogia)), a former member of Whitney's circle.[6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-outcasts) The Los Angeles Times review notes the script's habit of grouping students by enthusiasms, from the canceled sci-fi series *Firefly* to the value of pi and *[The 48 Laws of Power](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-48-laws-of-power)*.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-mini-outcasts-review-20170413-story.html)
## Production and release
The film was shot in New York City beginning July 2, 2014, with additional filming in Port Washington, New York.[8](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D237606.html) Movie Insider's production log records post-production status in February 2015 and completed status in June 2015, yet the film did not reach theaters until April 2017; a contemporary review also remarks on "delays upon delays" before its release.[2](https://www.movieinsider.com/m13180/the-outskirts) • [9](https://millennialhallmarker.wordpress.com/2017/04/14/the-outcasts-review-victoria-justice-restore-teen-genre-in-hilarious-witty-flick-plus-best-quotes/)
Production and financing came from Clarius Entertainment, BCDF Pictures, and Strategic Motion Ventures, with Brice Dal Farra, Claude Dal Farra, and Brian Keady producing.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Outcasts-The-%282017%29) Swen Group gave the film a limited domestic theatrical release on April 14, 2017, paired with an early or simultaneous video-on-demand release; it opened in the Netherlands on February 17, 2017 under the title *Cool Girls*, and Monarch Video issued it on home video on May 16, 2017.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Outcasts-The-%282017%29)
## Box office
The film's commercial footprint was small, and the two main box-office trackers disagree on its total. The Numbers lists no domestic theatrical gross, $24,197 from the Netherlands as the entire international and worldwide total, and an estimated $50,305 in domestic DVD sales.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Outcasts-The-%282017%29) [Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo) instead records a $1,455 domestic gross on a $1,008 opening, $59,795 internationally (97.6 percent of the total), and $61,250 worldwide, with the Netherlands contributing $24,197 and South Africa $35,598.[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/releasegroup/gr1054888453/) Either way, the theatrical run was negligible next to home video, which outgrossed the cinema release in the available figures.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Outcasts-The-%282017%29)
## Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 63% Tomatometer from 8 reviews, with 5 fresh and 3 rotten, and a 44% Popcornmeter audience score from more than 2,500 ratings; Metacritic assigns a Metascore of 47, labeled mixed or average.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_outcasts_2017) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-outcasts/critic-reviews/)
Reviewers divided over whether the film's familiarity was a flaw or a feature. Kimber Myers of the Los Angeles Times scored it 70, writing that it is "frequently fun and generally harmless" even though it brings nothing new to the teen comedy.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-outcasts/critic-reviews/) John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter called it "amiable but underwhelming," finding the heroes a touch less generic than their surroundings.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_outcasts_2017) [Richard Roeper](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-roeper) of the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) gave it one and a half stars, judging it a poor approximation of teenagers' actual lives and writing, "Before it was even over, I was already forgetting about it."[10](https://chicago.suntimes.com/2017/4/13/18321427/the-outcasts-a-poor-approximation-of-teens-actual-lives) Roger Moore of Movie Nation, in a 38-point review, called the execution "slow, slack, humorless and lifeless."
Common Sense Media's review highlights the cast of familiar young television actors, noting Eden Sher's experience playing a geeky high schooler on *The Middle* and Victoria Justice's turn as a band geek, and describes the film as an amusing if derivative entry in the "revenge of the nerds" subgenre that also works as a friendship drama about impending post-graduation separation.[6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-outcasts) A Parade review credited the "uniformly committed and charismatic young cast" for making the thin premise work.[11](https://parade.com/563327/samuelmurrian/teen-comedy-the-outcasts-glides-on-the-charms-of-an-appealing-cast/)
## Title confusion
The film is frequently indexed under both of its titles. Rotten Tomatoes lists it as *The Outskirts* at a URL containing "the_outcasts_2017," and Movie Insider notes it is "also known as The Outskirts."[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_outcasts_2017) • [2](https://www.movieinsider.com/m13180/the-outskirts) It should not be confused with *[The Outlaws](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-outlaws-2017-film)*, a 2017 South Korean crime action film released the same year.[12](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?category=ALL&mode=INDEX_FILMS_LIST&movieCd=20172742&pageIndex=1&pageRowSize=10&searchKeyword=outlaws)
## References
1. [The Outskirts (2017), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_outcasts_2017)
2. [Everything You Need to Know About The Outcasts Movie (2017), Movie Insider](https://www.movieinsider.com/m13180/the-outskirts)
3. [The Outcasts (2017), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Outcasts-The-%282017%29)
4. [The Outcasts, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/releasegroup/gr1054888453/)
5. [The Outcasts critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-outcasts/critic-reviews/)
6. [The Outcasts, Parents' Guide & Movie Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-outcasts)
7. [Review: Like so many before them, 'The Outcasts' will rule, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-mini-outcasts-review-20170413-story.html)
8. [The Outcasts, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D237606.html)
9. ['The Outcasts' Review, Millennial Hallmarker](https://millennialhallmarker.wordpress.com/2017/04/14/the-outcasts-review-victoria-justice-restore-teen-genre-in-hilarious-witty-flick-plus-best-quotes/)
10. ['The Outcasts' a poor approximation of teens' actual lives, Chicago Sun-Times](https://chicago.suntimes.com/2017/4/13/18321427/the-outcasts-a-poor-approximation-of-teens-actual-lives)
11. [Teen Comedy The Outcasts Glides on the Charms of an Appealing Cast, Parade](https://parade.com/563327/samuelmurrian/teen-comedy-the-outcasts-glides-on-the-charms-of-an-appealing-cast/)
12. [THE OUTLAWS (2017), Korean Film Council](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?category=ALL&mode=INDEX_FILMS_LIST&movieCd=20172742&pageIndex=1&pageRowSize=10&searchKeyword=outlaws)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2017 to 2018 › Titles K to W*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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