This movie has a definite edge to it, but in all honesty the edge is somewhat blunted. From the beginning, the situation just doesn't seem right. The movie is set in a girls' boarding school many years ago. The school is isolated, apparently on an island off the English coast. The school has a somewhat strange diving team (the point is eventually made that this team never competes against any other team) led by an attractive and charismatic coach known as Miss G (played by Eva Green.) Miss G's relationship with the team is more than just a student-teacher or coach-diver relationship. There's a closeness to the relationship, and particularly with Di (Juno Temple) - the team's captain. The relationship is strained by the arrival of a beautiful and talented newcomer named Fiamma (Maria Valverde). Fiamma is especially isolated. She's from Spain and so is completely out of her element, she comes from some type of aristocratic family and so there may be class issues and she immediately becomes Miss G's new pet - much to the dismay of Di, who had previously held that role. There was that degree of edginess in all this, but not much more. Things just weren't quite right. The movie picks up and becomes quite unsettling when the girls hold their "midnight feast" a little more than halfway through.
Fiamma - having taken part in the feast - gets drunk. Miss G discovers her passed out and takes her out of the dorm and back to her own room. It's a bit unclear exactly what happens at this point, but it seems clear that Miss G lives up to the lesson she taught her team early on in the movie ("the most important thing in life is desire.") We know that at the very least she molests the drunken Fiamma. Whether anything more than what's portrayed on screen happens we don't know, of course, nor do we know for sure how long Fiamma is in the room with Miss G. The incident, however, sparks the movie and leads up to tragic results.
Unfortunately, I thought this fizzled out a bit at the end. An edgy movie didn't end with too much of an edge. What stood out for me was the conviction of the headmistress that whatever tragedy had happened, what mattered was not the truth, but protecting the school's reputation. It's OK. Edgy at times, yes, but with an edge that's a bit blunt. (5/10)
Fiamma - having taken part in the feast - gets drunk. Miss G discovers her passed out and takes her out of the dorm and back to her own room. It's a bit unclear exactly what happens at this point, but it seems clear that Miss G lives up to the lesson she taught her team early on in the movie ("the most important thing in life is desire.") We know that at the very least she molests the drunken Fiamma. Whether anything more than what's portrayed on screen happens we don't know, of course, nor do we know for sure how long Fiamma is in the room with Miss G. The incident, however, sparks the movie and leads up to tragic results.
Unfortunately, I thought this fizzled out a bit at the end. An edgy movie didn't end with too much of an edge. What stood out for me was the conviction of the headmistress that whatever tragedy had happened, what mattered was not the truth, but protecting the school's reputation. It's OK. Edgy at times, yes, but with an edge that's a bit blunt. (5/10)