Dismissed (2017): Complete Plot Narrative

The film opens in the sterile fluorescent-lit halls of a high school where David Butler, a disillusioned English teacher played by Kent Osborne, stands before his largely indifferent class discussing Shakespeare's Othello. The students sit passively, unable to articulate why Iago--the play's manipulative villain--does what he does. David moves through the classroom with the weariness of someone who has spent years trying to inspire minds that refuse to engage. He is a straight-edged educator, principled and rigorous, who believes that standards matter and that grades must be earned, not given away.

Among his students sits Lucas Ward, portrayed by Dylan Sprouse with an unsettling charm that masks something far darker beneath. Lucas is an honors student, intellectually gifted and focused with laser precision on two things: English and chess. He is charming, articulate, and presents himself as the model student--the kind of young man parents dream their children will become. But Lucas carries an obsession that consumes him entirely: getting into Harvard University. This goal is not merely ambition; it is an all-consuming need, a hunger that will eventually justify anything in his mind.

When David returns Lucas's fifteen-page paper, the grade written at the top is a B or B+, depending on the assignment. For most students, this would be a respectable mark. For Lucas, it is a betrayal. The rage that erupts within him is not the normal frustration of a student disappointed in his work--it is something far more primal and dangerous. David's refusal to give him the A he believes he deserves becomes, in Lucas's fractured mind, an act of sabotage against his Harvard dreams. When David asks Lucas directly, "Where did you get your degree?" the question is meant as a simple inquiry, but Lucas hears it as mockery, as David's way of questioning his intelligence.

This moment becomes the catalyst for everything that follows. Lucas begins to view David Butler not as a teacher but as an obstacle--a problem to be solved, removed, or destroyed. The superego that normally restrains human impulses, the internal voice that says "this is wrong," simply does not exist in Lucas's psychology. What remains is pure id and ego: the desire to get what he wants, and the willingness to use any means necessary to achieve it.

Lucas's first move is calculated and subtle. He begins to sabotage David in small ways, building pressure, testing boundaries. He threatens David directly, telling him that he will stop only if given an A. The threat is clear: comply, or face consequences. David, however, refuses to be intimidated. He is not a man who bends to threats, and he certainly will not compromise his principles for a student's demands. When the midterm grades arrive, David gives Lucas an F--a clear rejection of both the threat and the student's inflated sense of entitlement.

The moment Lucas sees that F on his report card, something inside him shatters. He returns to his room and begins a complete breakdown, trashing everything around him in a fit of rage. The controlled, charming exterior cracks, revealing the violent psychopath underneath. In this moment of fury, Lucas makes a decision: if David Butler will not give him the grade he deserves, then David Butler will be destroyed.

His first plan is elaborate and designed to frame David for a crime that would end his career and his freedom. Lucas targets Rebecca "Becca" Vaughn, a classmate and someone he has cultivated as a friend. Rebecca trusts Lucas. She has no idea that the friendship is a carefully constructed lie, that she is merely a tool in his larger plan. Lucas manipulates her, builds her trust, and then lures her to the school rooftop. There, in a moment of sudden violence, he pushes her off the edge. As she falls, as her body hits the ground below, Lucas calmly walks away. He then creates a fake suicide note, written in a way that suggests Rebecca had been having a sexual relationship with Mr. Butler. The implication is clear: David seduced an underage student, drove her to despair, and caused her death.

The plan is brilliant in its cruelty. If it works, David will be arrested, convicted, and imprisoned. His life will be over. But the plan has a fatal flaw: the school has security cameras. When David is questioned and denies the accusations, when he insists on his innocence, the footage is reviewed. The cameras show everything--Lucas pushing Becca, Lucas planting the note, Lucas orchestrating the entire frame-up. The truth emerges, and David is vindicated. But Rebecca is still dead, and the cost of that vindication is enormous.

The exposure of this plot has ripple effects that extend beyond the school. Mr. Ward, Lucas's father, learns that his son murdered a classmate and attempted to frame a teacher. The shame, the horror, the realization that his son is a monster--it becomes too much to bear. Mr. Ward takes his own life, overdosing on pills. Lucas's family is destroyed, but Lucas himself shows no remorse. He has lost his father, but he has also lost any remaining connection to normal human emotion or consequence.

Meanwhile, there is collateral damage in other areas. During Lucas's reign of terror, a student who is first-chair in the chess club--ahead of Lucas in the hierarchy he cares about--becomes a target. In chemistry class, Lucas blinds this student, causing permanent vision loss and hearing damage. The chemistry teacher, Mr. Sheldon, is fired as a result, blamed for the unsafe conditions in his classroom. Lucas's violence spreads like poison through the school, affecting anyone in his path.

David, however, is not finished. He goes to his superiors, to the police, to anyone who will listen, desperately trying to convince them that Lucas is a sociopath, a dangerous predator who will kill again. But no one believes him. This is the cruel irony of Lucas's charm--he can walk into a room and convince people that he is the victim, that David is the one making wild accusations, that the teacher is unhinged and paranoid. David becomes a Cassandra figure, speaking truth that no one will accept until it is far too late.

Expelled from school and with his Harvard dreams shattered, Lucas has nothing left to lose. The restraints that society places on behavior--the fear of consequences, the desire for a future--have all been stripped away. What remains is pure vengeance. He decides that if he cannot have what he wants, then David Butler will lose everything he has.

Lucas breaks into David's home. Nancy Butler, David's wife, is there. She is innocent, unaware of the danger, unaware that a sociopath has entered her home with murder in his heart. Lucas strangles her, kills her in the privacy of their own home, and then leaves a chess piece next to her body--his calling card, his signature, a symbol of his control and his mastery. The chess piece is not random; it represents Lucas's view of people as pieces on a board, to be moved and sacrificed according to his will. It also represents his obsession with the game, with strategy, with winning at any cost.

But Lucas does not stop with Nancy's murder. He also kidnaps David's infant son, taking the child hostage. He then calls David and lures him to the school's chess club room, the place where Lucas's obsession with the game has always been centered. The message is clear: come here, or your child dies.

David arrives at the chess club room, and what unfolds is a brutal confrontation between teacher and student, between good and evil, between a man trying to save his child and a sociopath who has decided that David's suffering is the only acceptable outcome. Lucas, despite his youth and his intellectual gifts, is also physically dangerous. He stabs a pen into the base of David's neck, a sudden and vicious attack that could have been fatal. But David, driven by the primal need to protect his child, fights back with everything he has. He overpowers Lucas, and in the heat of the moment, in the rage and terror of what has happened, David nearly kills him. He comes close to becoming a murderer himself, to crossing the line into the same darkness that Lucas inhabits. But at the last moment, David stops. He pulls back from the edge. He does not become what Lucas is.

Police arrive and arrest Lucas. The sociopath who thought himself invincible, who believed he could manipulate and murder his way to whatever he wanted, is taken into custody. He is expelled from school, his Harvard dreams permanently destroyed. Justice, in the legal sense, has been served. Lucas will face consequences for his crimes.

But the ending is bittersweet, almost cruel in its refusal to provide catharsis. Yes, Lucas is arrested. Yes, David keeps his job and is vindicated. But the cost is almost unbearable. Rebecca Vaughn is dead--a young woman whose only crime was trusting the wrong person. Nancy Butler is dead--David's wife, murdered in her own home, her body left as a message. Mr. Ward is dead--Lucas's father, driven to suicide by the shame of what his son has done. The chess club student is permanently blinded and suffers hearing damage, his future altered forever by Lucas's casual cruelty.

David himself is traumatized, shaken to his core by the events that have unfolded. He has survived, but he is not whole. He has nearly become a murderer. He has lost his wife. He has watched innocent people die. The victory feels hollow, the survival feels like a curse. The film ends not with triumph but with the weight of loss, with the understanding that sometimes stopping evil is not enough to undo the damage it has caused.

Lucas Ward, the charming honors student obsessed with Harvard and perfection, has destroyed lives--including, in a sense, his own. He has proven that there is nothing he would not do to get what he wants, that his id and ego, unchecked by any moral superego, will consume everything in their path. And David Butler, the disillusioned English teacher who tried to teach his students about Iago and the nature of evil, has learned that evil is not merely a literary concept--it is real, it is present in the world, and sometimes it wears the face of a brilliant, charming student who simply wants an A.

In the ending of "Dismissed," the tension culminates as the protagonist, a teacher named Mr. Campbell, confronts his student, the troubled and manipulative Lucas. The confrontation leads to a violent climax, resulting in Mr. Campbell's demise. Lucas, having orchestrated the events throughout the film, ultimately walks away unscathed, leaving a chilling sense of victory and unresolved chaos.

As the final act unfolds, the scene opens in Mr. Campbell's classroom, where the atmosphere is thick with tension. Mr. Campbell, portrayed as a dedicated and passionate teacher, is increasingly aware of Lucas's disturbing behavior. Lucas, a seemingly brilliant but deeply troubled student, has been manipulating situations to his advantage, showcasing a dark side that Mr. Campbell initially underestimates.

The confrontation begins when Mr. Campbell decides to confront Lucas about his recent actions, which have escalated to threats and intimidation. The classroom is dimly lit, and the air is heavy with unspoken words. Mr. Campbell, feeling a mix of anger and concern, tries to reason with Lucas, urging him to reconsider his path. Lucas, however, remains calm and collected, his demeanor unsettlingly composed. He reveals his true nature, taunting Mr. Campbell and showcasing his complete lack of remorse for his actions.

As the dialogue intensifies, Lucas's manipulation becomes evident. He reveals that he has been documenting Mr. Campbell's every move, turning the teacher's attempts to guide him into a twisted game. The tension reaches a boiling point when Lucas pulls out a weapon, a knife, and threatens Mr. Campbell. The classroom, once a place of learning, transforms into a battleground of wills.

In a desperate attempt to regain control, Mr. Campbell tries to disarm Lucas, but the situation spirals out of control. The struggle is physical and emotional, with Mr. Campbell fighting not just for his life but for the ideals he believes in as an educator. The scene is fraught with desperation, showcasing Mr. Campbell's internal conflict as he grapples with the realization that he may have underestimated Lucas's dangerous potential.

In a tragic turn of events, Lucas overpowers Mr. Campbell, leading to a fatal outcome. The camera captures the moment in slow motion, emphasizing the gravity of the situation. Mr. Campbell falls to the ground, his life extinguished, leaving behind a classroom filled with chaos and unanswered questions.

As the dust settles, Lucas stands over Mr. Campbell's lifeless body, a chilling smile on his face. He walks out of the classroom, leaving the door ajar, symbolizing the open-ended nature of the conflict and the darkness that has prevailed. The final shot lingers on Mr. Campbell's body, a stark reminder of the consequences of unchecked ambition and the fragility of authority.

In the aftermath, the fate of the other characters is left ambiguous. The school community is left to grapple with the loss of a dedicated teacher, while Lucas's future remains uncertain. The film closes on a haunting note, leaving viewers to ponder the implications of the events that transpired and the moral complexities of the characters involved.

In the movie "Dismissed," there is no post-credit scene. The film concludes with the resolution of the main conflict, focusing on the intense relationship between the teacher, Mr. Campbell, and his student, the highly ambitious and manipulative student, Lucas. The story wraps up without any additional scenes or hints at future developments after the credits roll. The ending leaves viewers with a sense of closure regarding the characters' arcs and the consequences of their actions throughout the film.

Lucas, a high-achieving student, feels immense pressure to maintain his perfect academic record. His motivation stems from a deep-seated fear of failure and a desire to impress his father, who has high expectations for him. As he becomes more obsessed with his grades, his aggression towards his teacher, Mr. Butler, escalates when he perceives Mr. Butler as an obstacle to his success.

Mr. Butler struggles with his own personal issues, including a strained relationship with his wife and son. His desire to be a good father and husband conflicts with his responsibilities as a teacher. This internal struggle influences his decisions, particularly when he tries to balance being supportive of Lucas while also maintaining authority in the classroom.

The school environment serves as a pressure cooker for both Lucas and Mr. Butler. The competitive atmosphere amplifies Lucas's anxiety and desperation to succeed, while Mr. Butler's attempts to uphold academic integrity put him at odds with Lucas. The setting of the school, with its rigid structures and expectations, heightens the tension and ultimately leads to the explosive confrontation between the two.

Initially, Lucas is portrayed as a model student, but as the story progresses, his behavior becomes increasingly erratic and hostile. The turning point occurs when he feels that Mr. Butler is unfairly grading him, which triggers a shift from admiration to resentment. This change is marked by a series of manipulative actions and escalating threats, revealing his darker side as he becomes more desperate to control the situation.

Lucas employs a range of manipulative tactics to undermine Mr. Butler's authority, including spreading rumors, sabotaging his reputation, and directly challenging him in class. He uses his intelligence to outsmart Mr. Butler, creating situations that make the teacher appear incompetent or unfair. These actions are driven by Lucas's need to assert dominance and retaliate against what he perceives as an injustice.

"Dismissed," produced in 2017, is not considered family-friendly due to its themes and content. The film contains several potentially objectionable or upsetting aspects, including:

1. Violence and Threats: There are scenes that depict psychological manipulation and threats, which may be unsettling for younger viewers.

2. Bullying: The film explores themes of bullying and intimidation, particularly in a school setting, which can be distressing for sensitive audiences.

3. Mature Themes: The narrative delves into darker themes such as obsession, revenge, and the consequences of academic pressure, which may not be suitable for children.

4. Strong Language: There are instances of strong language that could be inappropriate for younger audiences.

5. Emotional Distress: Characters experience significant emotional turmoil, which may resonate negatively with sensitive viewers.

Overall, the film's intense psychological elements and mature themes make it more appropriate for older teens and adults rather than children.