Kyle Newman (director)
Signature Entertainment (studio)
12 (certificate)
98 minutes (length)
27 July 2015 (released)
26 July 2015
Megan or 83 stayed at Prescott school for gifted girls for most of her childhood. Prescott might look like the sort of place that you would go to for rich kids but it is a training camp for orphaned children who are being turned into killers. Megan however has fallen in love with the idea of being a teenager, the magazines, music and angst has sold it to her. Now however after faking her death, she has a problem...Fame has lead to her being identified for elimination and with the prom coming up, that sucks!
Many words have been spilled in the criticism of cinema. Some have extoled the virtues of directors, others have cursed the acting or script. This film deserves none of these things. It is not a monster that should be killed because it sends out a message like, Girls are weak or Gays are bad. Nor should the film be considered a masterpiece which will live for ever as a pinnacle. It is no Orson Welles or Guru Dutt film with longing or deep desire and neither does it pretend to be in anyway. It wants very little from you and suggests you do not over commit. It does not want to be that novel that wants the person to leave it feeling something. A point or an idea is not to be implanted. Less it is something soft and round to be seen and thats about it. I can only think of six lines to point to why in the end you should sit down and watch this film instead of say watching Hollyoaks or something.
The film is functional and has little in the way of agressive film making to distact or repel. The film is a gold standard of efficient film construction. It is sufficently well pieced together and a thumbs up to Newman for this. This has been missed by the critical mass of cinema commentators. The cast all play it for laughs and it is Hallie's vehicle. The soundtrack is on trend and hip enough. The script has some flair with words and sometimes it tickles you enough to make a giggle become a chuckle. The set pieces are fun but to few and far between to matter enough. The first one is very good though and you should sit down for that at least! Watch it and do so on a Sunday afternoon. Relax, switch off and think of it as a Mean Girls homage... albeit a duller and less rewarding one but with some great ideas.
On Demand tomorrow!
