Sam Nivola stars in the TIFF 2025 comedy “Driver’s Ed,” a generic teen road-trip throwback releasing May 15 in select theaters and on demand.
A lovestruck teen chasing cinematic passion hits the road in the comedy “Driver’s Ed,” and the new release has one clear standout at its core: Sam Nivola.
Set to reach audiences through Vertical. “Driver’s Ed” will be available in select theaters and on demand beginning Friday. May 15.. The film premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. where it drew attention for its throwback approach to teen comedy. even as its overall direction plays more like a familiar template than a fresh take.
In the movie, Nivola plays Jeremy, a high school senior whose affection for movies borders on obsession.. Jeremy’s creative side shows up through a short film he’s made and a habit of pulling out a small video camera whenever something feels worth capturing.. The result gives the character an improvised. distracted vibe that mirrors the way teenage creativity can rush past structure in pursuit of big feelings.
A key wrinkle, however, is that Jeremy’s filmmaker energy isn’t what actually fuels the film’s making.. The report stated that the story and comedic framework come from Thomas Moffett, with directing credits for Bobby Farrelly.. With Farrelly at 67 and Moffett at 47. the review questions the mismatch between their credentials and the movie’s deliberately scattershot execution.
The comedy’s tone is frequently described as almost too close to early-2000s teen-movie DNA—right down to recognizable roles and character types.. There’s a nerdy-cute boy lead. a dream girl who seems wise beyond her years. and a funny stoner friend. all arranged into a structure that feels built from components the genre has used for years.
Even with modern touchpoints like iPhones and slang sprinkled throughout, “Driver’s Ed” is presented as a boilerplate road-trip outing.. The plot moves toward the most obvious conclusions. and the review suggests the film feels as though it could be swapped into the late stretch of the “last great teen cinema” era with only minor tweaks.
Still, the writing isn’t painted as entirely empty.. There are moments of individuality in Moffett’s script—brief flashes of idiosyncratic detail that hint the material might have had more room to become personal.. Those sparks, though, are described as smoothed down, with broad comedy swings landing infrequently.
The story follows Jeremy as he heads to Chapel Hill. North Carolina. where his girlfriend Samantha—played by Lilah Pate—is a freshman at UNC.. Jeremy fears college will pull Samantha away. so he decides to take matters into his own hands by stealing a driving instruction car and setting out through the Carolina backcountry with three mismatched fellow students.
The journey is meant to resemble a comically epic odyssey driven by blind passion. but the review frames it as more incremental than adventurous: a few minor events occur. and then the film ends exactly where viewers expect it to.. Road-trip expectations are met with little detours—some are built as set-pieces, others are tossed in as vignettes.
Those vignettes include a meet-cute with a dog owner. an encounter with a petty thief described as having extremely “white veneers. ” and a quick stint in the back of a refrigerated truck full of fur coats—details that the review notes feel confusing rather than adding momentum.. Taken together. they contribute to what the review calls an inflated feeling of time. with the film’s 98 minutes reading much longer than they should.
On the casting side, the film gets more praise.. Nivola is described as charming and natural, bringing real-life warmth to Jeremy’s otherwise bland characterization.. The same approval extends to the supporting young cast. which the review says builds lively rapport while still finding traces of specificity amid the clichés.
Aidan Laprete is cited as an affable slacker in the mix, Mohana Krishnan as a Type A overachiever, and TikTok star Sophie Telegadis as someone convincingly performing a “Samaire Armstrong-on-‘The O.C.’” style of drag, a choice that adds a recognizable pop-culture flavor to the proceedings.
While the younger performers are portrayed as the movie’s lifeline, the adults are said to struggle more with the material. Molly Shannon appears as a bad principal, giving her “noble best,” while Kumail Nanjiani is described as straining to find humor as a loser substitute teacher.
The review acknowledges that both adult actors likely saw value in working on a Farrelly brothers project—even in 2025—but argues they may have been better served elsewhere. It’s a sentiment that fits the broader critique: goodwill can’t fully overcome jokes that fail to land and pacing that drags.
For all of its well-intentioned nature. “Driver’s Ed” is characterized as kindhearted yet plagued by arbitrary comedy and a sense that randomness itself is being treated as funny.. There are said to be scattered laughs and flashes of weirdness. but the film is ultimately described as a mirthless drag. lifted primarily by its bright leads.
The reviewer ends with a wish that the actors might get a better script next time, and that Farrelly’s instincts—once associated with earlier hits like “Dumb and Dumber” and “There’s Something About Mary”—could return in a more effective form. The verdict in this review: a C.
“Driver’s Ed” premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, and now, with its May 15 release in select theaters and on demand, it arrives positioned as a teen comedy throwback—one where the road trip may be familiar, but the star of the journey, at least, feels undeniably alive.
Sam Nivola Driver’s Ed teen comedy road trip movie Toronto International Film Festival TIFF 2025 Sophie Telegadis