The School
Genre: Horror/Mystery
Director: Julia Ducournau
Writer: Jack Slipter
Cast: Lucy Boynton, Stefanie Scott, Topher Grace, Cara Buono, Michael Rapaport, Annalise Basso, Josephine Langford, Bred Bassinger, Samantha Logan
Plot: A girl, Martha Sayers (Brec Bassinger) is driving her fast car on the road in the hills of California. The girl has a frightened face, often looks at the mirror and seems frightened by something. In addition, she constantly tries to call her sister, but no one answers because there is always the answering machine. Martha arrives at her home, a beautiful home near a lake near Los Angeles. The girl enters the house where nobody is there, closes the door and closes windows and curtains. Shortly thereafter as the girl heaves a sigh of relief, something seems to come closer and surprise Martha. On the same day, towards evening, Martha's older sister, Elizabeth Sayers (Lucy Boynton) arrives home after a day at the beach and finds her hanged in the living room. The police rule her death as suicide but Elizabeth totally refuses to believe it and decides to investigate further. She decides to visit Martha's exclusive academy, the Salem Academy for Women, despite warnings from Martha's roommate, Lucy Dembrow (Samantha Logan). Lucy says it can be a dangerous place. After Lucy's words, Elizabeth is increasingly convinced that the death of her sister is not a simple suicide but that it is something stranger. The girl creates a new identity document with the help of a friend and decides to enroll in the Academy under the name of Elizabeth Morgan. As soon as she arrives, she is greeted by three girls, the ingenious and intelligent Roberta Lockhart (Stefanie Scott), the troubled Debbie Jones (Annalise Basso) and the popular Jody Keller (Josephine Langford). The three girls guide Elizabeth by showing her the rooms a little and offer her a mug of beer to celebrate her arrival. Elizabeth is then summoned by the director of the academy, Mrs. Jessica Williams (Cara Buono) who explains the rules and history of the place. Eventually Jessica gives the girl the lesson time and tells her that that day she will follow the art lesson with Dr. Clampett and that of behavioral psychology with Prof Delacroix (Michael Rapaport). Dr. Clampett (Topher Grace) appears to be charismatic and sociable and has good relationships with his students. The lesson focuses on particular images that can deceive the eyes and mind of the beholder. At the end of the lesson, Clampett urges students to "relax" and remember that everything in life is both "illusion and reality". During the lesson Elizabeth also sees a painting in which a portrait of a girl is very similar to her sister Martha, who seems trapped in what appears to be an old cellar. The author of the painting was Debby, who in particular seems frightened and during a lesson he painted a gruesome portrait of the dead Martha trapped in what appears to be an old cellar. Elizabeth locates that ancient cellar in her dormitory, Standish Hall and learns from Roberta a disturbing local legend; about eight witches were hanged in a cellar just like that.
Elizabeth visits Lucy Dembrow again to ask her if she knows anything about that legend. Find the door ajar and a big mess but it looks like the apartment is empty. The girl searches the rooms to find something that can be useful. Suddenly, however, she finds poor Lucy dead inside the tub in the bathroom. On the floor, next to the tub, there is an empty jar of pills and his wrists are also cut and his blood mixes with the water inside the tub. Elizabeth, at the macabre sight, covers her mouth with her hands so as not to scream at the top and starts to back away. Until she steps back she starts looking around and she seems to see a figure looking at her from the window. Then run away. Elizabeth however decides to continue her investigations. Back in the academy she manages to enter the dean's office, the dreaded Jessica Williams. Elizabeth looks through the documents and learns that all the students in the school have been orphaned, just as Elizabeth herself has been orphaned. He also finds that some student files are missing (Lucy, Martha and Debbie).
Ms. Jessica Williams is concerned about the "new girl" influence and starts checking on her and tries to get her away from school. Meanwhile, fascinated by Martha's painting designed by Debbie who painted it and tries to question the girl. Debbie is terrified of the painting and claims to have invented the background, but Elizabeth. Elizabeth goes down to the cellar and begins to patrol her until she is approached by a man with a sharp weapon, Elizabeth manages to escape.
The following evening, Elizabeth returns to the cellar with Roberta, who is now suspicious. They locate a hidden room in which they find the body of Debbie, who had previously tried to leave campus that evening. Elizabeth suspects that Professor Delacroix is responsible, considering her eccentric and slightly sadistic behavior. In fact, the professor likes to experiment often on mice and frogs. Elizabeth rushes to her office, finding him in an unbalanced state with a gun in his hand. He is afraid that something supernatural will haunt him, and jump through the window. After running for a while, he ends up bogged down in a swamp, where he is beaten with sticks by several students including Jody.
Meanwhile, Dr. Clampett reveals to Director Williams that Delacroix is sure to be responsible for all the murders and orders the director to evacuate the school. Elizabeth and Roberta are unaware of the evacuation and discover Delacroix's body, who has been brutally murdered by several headshots. Elizabeth and Roberta turn to Williams for help, but she has gone mad.
When they can't call the police, Elizabeth and Roberta go to the cellar to find a gun. Instead, they find Clampett leading a satanic cult. His followers, including Jody, believe they are Satan incarnate and Roberta turns out to be his most faithful servant. Elizabeth manages to escape when Clampett sets fire to the school and takes Williams with her. However, the other girls fall behind. The whole building is wrapped in flames. Clampett, who is actually supernatural, survives the fire and is shown outdoors, where he mysteriously disappears, leaving only a patch of charred grass where he was.
The film ends in another women's college where a new professor is introduced to the students.
"This one starts off strong with an eerie opening act, but once the main plot gets going the film becomes overwhelmed by cliches we've all seen a million times."
You Might Also Like:
Salem's Lot
Visions
Roanoke
Tumulus
Village of Madness
No comments:
Post a Comment