The Senior is a 2023 American sports drama film directed by Rod Lurie, written by Robert Eisele, and starring Michael Chiklis, Mary Stuart Masterson, Brandon Flynn, James Badge Dale, and Rob Corddry. It is based on the true story of Mike Flynt who, at age 59, became a college football linebacker.
59-year-old Mike Flynt gets a second chance to play college football, where he becomes a linebacker.
The film was shot at Scarborough-Handley Field stadium in the Historic Handley neighborhood in Fort Worth, Texas. In March 2022, it was announced that filming wrapped.
The film premiered at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival on November 9, 2023. The film was originally scheduled for a theatrical release in the United States on March 7, 2025 by Freestyle Releasing but was later removed from the calendar.
In July 2025, it was announced that Angel released the film in theaters on September 19, 2025.
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
Nell Minow of RogerEbert.com awarded the film three stars out of four. Alan Ng of Film Threat rated the film a 7.5 out of 10. Julian Roman of MovieWeb awarded the film three stars out of five.
Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review and wrote, "⦠the familiar beats are hammered so skillfully you donâÂÂt mind the manipulation. And although you may be shocked, shocked, to learn that the film takes some liberties with the truth, theyâÂÂre not so egregious as to diminish its overall impact."
Owen Gleiberman of Variety also gave the film a positive review and wrote, âÂÂItâÂÂs basically a soft-hearted paint-by-numbers TV-movie, stocked with homilies about the game of football vs. the game of life. Yet itâÂÂs an effective soft-hearted paint-by-numbers TV-movie.âÂÂ