Detention

Detention

Year: 2003

Runtime: 98 mins

Language: English

Director: Sidney J. Furie

ThrillerActionUnderdogs and coming of ageExplosive and action-packed heroes vs. villainsViolent action guns and crime

A heroic high school teacher leads a band of students trapped in school by violent drug-runners.

Detention (2003) – Spoiler-Free Movie Summary & Plot Overview

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In a grim corner of the city, Hamilton High looms as a proving ground for those who have been written off. The corridors echo with restless energy, and the school’s reputation for trouble is a weight that settles over anyone who steps inside. Sam Decker, a former soldier haunted by distant wars, returns to the classroom hoping to leave the battlefield behind and hand in his resignation. Still, the ghosts of his past cling to him, and his disciplined mind senses that the day’s final detention will be anything but ordinary.

The detention room is a pressure cooker of snarling attitudes and raw defiance, where the most challenging students test every ounce of authority they can find. Among them, the sharp‑tongued Jay Tee Barrow embodies the restless spirit that permeates the hallways, a young rebel whose skepticism masks a flicker of untapped potential. As the teachers’ clock ticks toward closing time, the uneasy partnership between the battle‑scarred instructor and his captive pupils begins to forge a fragile trust, each lesson becoming a quiet negotiation between order and chaos.

Beyond the locked doors, an unseen danger gathers—violent drug‑runners who have chosen the school as their hidden arena. The night turns opaque, the building’s ordinary rooms suddenly feeling like a maze of survival. In this high‑stakes crucible, Sam draws on his combat experience to teach the students how to read a threat, how to move as a unit, and most importantly, how to stay alive when every hallway could become a battlefield. The atmosphere is taut with tension, a blend of gritty realism and relentless suspense that leaves the audience wondering whether the lessons learned in detention will be enough to outlast the looming threat.

Last Updated: October 23, 2025 at 16:15

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Characters, Settings & Themes in Detention

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