A Irmandade da Noite

There are many young stars in the making here. This ensemble cast of teens captures the pains of growing up and being heard in a hostile environment known as young adulthood. It has elements of The Crucible, in that the town they live in is on a witch hunt to find the secret belonging to this group of young female outcasts. But the main driver of the story is the pain of growing up and how each of these girls deals with it and its consequences. Great visuals and a pulsing beat captivates you even further. I'm not a teenage girl but I could relate to the world Waechter created. The characters were not black and white. The antagonists had redeeming qualities. The protagonists had flaws. All in all there was complexity here. And there are probably elements in this story - alienation, understanding, prejudice, judgment - we can all relate to, no matter what age we are.

All references to the crucible aside this is not that. It has nothing to do with the theme of the crucible and the pressure of that closed off community. This is the story of a bunch of 15 year olds who destroy a town and everyone in it because they're cold blooded sociopaths. Maybe the feminist narrative is to call that empowered or a story of how teenagers girls relate to each other in a real way but it's not. These are girls who grow up to be serial killers. They are literally the manifestation of pure evil. I really can't understand why anyone who's seen this movie says they can relate to these girls unless they see themselves as sociopaths to too. And who knows maybe they do. I think they should have set the movie in 1975 Cambodia and had the girls join the Khmer Rouge to wage genocide on their schoolmates. Or maybe 1935 Germany where they grow up to be guards at Auschwitz. Either way I'm sure someone will claim it's a feminist epistle.

This wasn't a bad film the film was given an 18 rating for apparent reasons but when i compare films that are clearly more violent and have the same themes as this film these films get a 15 rating the content was tame in comparison ti guve this film an 18 rating is a mickey taking.

Just saw a film festival showing with the director and writer in attendance for a q&a. This is a difficult film to label, the trailer might suggest a 'mean girls as witches' storyline as in The Craft, but this is not a horror flick, there's no supernatural element. It's about female friendships and being true to oneself, there are familiar high school themes of peer pressure, popularity, a dash of cyber bullying, but thankfully none of these are pressed too hard, so it never devolves to a dreary message movie.

You could say the plot uses The Crucible as a rough template, but best to discover the specifics for yourself. The director has a great visual sense, and Georgie Henley is a real find as the lead character Mary Warren, she has a natural charisma and commands every scene she's in. Maybe there are one or two obligatory plot turns, but overall the narrative unfolds in surprising ways and lands with real emotional punch. The director said it will be available on video on demand in April 2015. Worth seeking out.

Generally well-made, well-filmed, strong performances across the board, and the story tells you enough to keep you interested until the very end. Yes the story is a bit histrionic in it's emotional thrust, but I would say it is very true to it's teenage age group in that regard, when in that age in life, small things appear to be the end of the world. For the most part, these girls come across as real people, and not caricatures as in so many other teenage films such as: Mean Girls, Easy A, and the majority of the 1980's and 1990's(I like all of these films as well fyi) teenage films where the teen villains are always generally painted as one sided. Here the "villains" are just normal people who are scared or jealous, and most of the time, don't actually want to cause real harm. It delves into #metoo territory before #metoo was really a thing, this was made in 2014. This movie was what I thought the disappointing and morally bankrupt "The Falling" would be.

There are a great deal of coming of age films, and this one stands out among them as not being afraid to show the ugly side, without reveling in it. So many teenage films either gloss over some of the struggles, or just outright glorify them. This film straddles that line, it shows both the highs and lows. It gives a picture of a group of girls who rise above the trivial and petty nature of teenage girls and find a true bond that few girls ever find. It shows how people can feel threatened by those who have found happiness outside of what is normal. It show why people might do things because they want that same connection, and try to destroy the connection of those they are jealous of.

What if you had a group of friends that you knew you could trust to never say anything about your worst secrets? How far would you go to protect that bond? This is a deeply philosophical movie about the importance of having good relationships with people that you can trust, as opposed to people who merely flatter you. It is a movie about not being understood, but being allowed to just be. "Modsommar" actually explores a very similar theme, but that film takes it even further, and with a lot of grotesque scenes, but this film achieves the same overall effect, without leaving you feeling dirty and gross. If you don't mind teenage movies with emotionally teenagers, you might find a lot to like, otherwise, avoid.

~Amy