The titular "pact" is not the romantic one you expect. Mandy makes a deal with her charming, easy-going best friend, Ben (Milo Manheim): they will skip the prom together, order pizza, and watch movies. It is a safety net of platonic solidarity. The conflict arises when Mandy realizes that the son of a powerful senator, the preppy and seemingly shallow Graham Lansing (Blake Draper), might be her ticket to a Harvard recommendation letter.
The film also serves as a masterclass in "non-toxic masculinity" through Ben. He cries. He is bad at basketball. He loves musicals. He is secure enough to help the "jock" (Graham) win over the girl he loves because he wants her to be happy. Milo Manheim’s performance of Ben is arguably the most important male role in a Disney movie since Zac Efron’s Troy Bolton—because he shows that being a man means showing up, not winning. Upon release, Prom Pact scored high marks from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with particular praise for Peyton Elizabeth Lee’s performance. Fans took to TikTok and Twitter, creating edits of the "Harvard Boardroom" scene and debating whether Ben or Graham was the better match. Prom Pact
Mandy Yang refuses to do this. She is not secretly sad; she is authentically ambitious. When Ben tries to get her to see the magic of prom, she counters with statistics about the wage gap and the uselessness of spending $200 on a dress she will wear once. The titular "pact" is not the romantic one you expect
Furthermore, the film cleverly deconstructs the "Queer Best Friend" stereotype through the character of LaToya. LaToya is not there to serve Mandy’s emotional arc; she has her own plotline involving a crush on a female classmate, which is treated with zero fanfare or trauma. It is simply normalized—a quiet revolution in the Disney Channel landscape. Unlike many lightweight teen comedies, Prom Pact wears its politics on its sleeve. Set in a post-#MeToo, politically polarized America, the film uses Senator Lansing (Graham's father) as a foil. He is a classic, smooth-talking politician who spouts platitudes about "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" while ignoring systemic inequality. The conflict arises when Mandy realizes that the
But more importantly, it spoke to a generation disillusioned by the "American Dream." Gen Z is pragmatic. They have seen the student debt crisis and the job market collapse. For them, a prom pact isn't about getting a kiss at midnight; it is about surviving the grind with your dignity and your best friend intact.
Mandy, a first-generation Asian American student, is the antithesis of this. She knows the system is rigged. Her obsession with Harvard isn't entitlement; it is anxiety. The film doesn't shy away from the pressure cooker of modern high school, where students are forced to curate their childhoods into a Common App resume.
For those who haven't seen it, Prom Pact is currently streaming on Disney+. For those who have, it is worth a rewatch with fresh eyes. Look past the glitter and the gala. Listen for the quiet line where Mandy admits she is scared that if she stops working, she will disappear. That is the heart of the movie—a beating, terrified, hopeful heart that understands that the most important pact you will ever make is the one with yourself.