From the opening frames of this smart sci-fi story, we are thrust into the perfectly realized microcosmos of the Vestalis Academy. It’s a strict, Spartan girls’ boarding school where students are taught the “feminine virtues” of obedience, cleanliness, patience and humility – but not, it seems, reading or timekeeping. It’s a brilliant narrative strategy, because it has the audience making many of the same assumptions as the characters, only some of which will turn out to be right. Her debut feature, 2009’s Black Field, was named Best Feature Drama at Vancouver’s Women in Film Festival, and Best Canadian Feature at Toronto’s Female Eye Festival. It’s effective as all get-out, but I’d love to see what Esterhazy could do with more production money.

Source: National Post March 11, 2019 15:45 UTC