A documentary by Paul Saltzman. Rated G. Opens Friday, November 20, at the Ridge Theatre

No, it’s not a gothic teen drama. And one could be forgiven for getting an antebellum whiff from this tale of racial divide and subtle yet persistent threats of violence and opprobrium coming from dark forces off-screen.

The story—a documentary, sorry to say—centres on the small Mississippi Delta town of Charleston, where, it turns out, there has never been an integrated prom at the local high school, despite federally mandated desegregation in the 1960s. Now it’s 2008, and actor Morgan Freeman, born in the area and living there again, has offered to pay for a lavish night out if the kids are simply allowed to, you know, be kids.

Unfortunately, few of the white parents—and only one appears on-screen—support the notion, so it’s left to their children to sort things out. Armed with cameras, cellphones, and computers with which to record their hopes and trepidations, the kids don’t even get why it’s such a big deal. And, frankly, the smiling school officials, also mostly white, don’t offer much encouragement, despite their nominal support.

The teens themselves are strikingly up-to-date (including the rampant obesity) and prove articulate witnesses to the almost surrealistic brouhaha over skin pigmentation. That’s lucky for Canadian-born writer-director Paul Saltzman, who must rely on adolescent powers of description, and some nifty comic-book art, when the white parents insist on holding their own event at a local armoury. For some reason, fights break out even when kids are only mingling with “their own kind”. Of course, the trouble comes from grownups.

Freeman also appears a couple of times, making pithy, hands-off comments about the project. This very memorable Prom Night isn’t about star power, but there is a bit of horror to go with the human comedy.