After dropping her daughter off at Decatur University for her senior year, a stay-at-home mom, Deanna, gets the shock of her life when her husband asks for a divorce. In an effort to reclaim the life she gave up when she got pregnant in college decades ago, Deanna enrolls to finish her archeology degree and restart her life — at the same university as her daughter.
Starring Melissa McCarthy (Gilmore Girls, Bridesmaids), Life of the Party is co-written by McCarthy and her husband, Ben Falcone, who also directed the film and has a brief cameo as McCarthy’s Uber driver. The movie also stars several Saturday Night Live cast members, such as Maya Rudolph (Loot), Chris Parnell (Mean Girls), and Heidi Gardner (Shrinking).
When Deanna (McCarthy) drops off her daughter, Maddie (Gordon), at college, Deanna’s excited not only to watch her daughter matriculate, but also to reconnect with her husband, Dan (Walsh). They’ve planned a vacation to Greece. But as Deanna and Dan are driving off into the sunset, Dan drops a bomb that’s set to ruin their marriage: He’s fallen in love with someone else and wants a divorce. Deanne storms out of the car and takes an Uber to her parents’ place, where her father’s rage sparks an idea — she should reenroll in college because she was only a year away from graduating when she got pregnant with Maddie. The only issue? Deanna wants to finish her degree at her alma mater, Decatur University, where her daughter is a senior. Despite the rocky road ahead of her — including goth roommate Leonor (Gardner), sorority politics, and romantic entanglements with both fellow students and teachers — Deanna’s determined to graduate. And she wants to have a classic college experience before she does.
Life of the Party takes place in Atlanta, primarily at the fictional Decatur University. The movie was filmed on location at Agnes Scott College’s Decatur campus.
