The prestigious Hardwell boarding school isn’t easy to get into. But once you do, well, you’re pretty much set for life. That said, you also might walk out a little scarred for life, too.
The Headmaster and his teaching staff may think they’re in charge of this exclusive prep school. But the truth is, it’s run by an informal association of five student factions.
There’s the Sea, a group of teacher’s pets gone rogue, who help anyone with a little cash cheat on anything. Then there are the Skins, the group that handles all the gambling needs of the student body—football, basketball, tennis, whatever the season may require. The Bobbies handle every illegal and illicit party. The Prefects keep the administration blissfully unaware.
But the most powerful group, and the most criminal of the lot is, without question, the Spades. Led by Selah Summers, this group handles the procurement and distribution of all the booze, pills and powders the school population should ever need. Kush, cocaine, acid, Adderall, vodka, tequila. Name your poison, and the Spades will dole out the bottle, needle or vialful you seek.
Of course, Selah and her second, Maxxie, will sometimes dole out a whole different kind medicine when required. Students stepping out of line with the factions or “forgetting” to pay their bill could easily find themselves, uh, taking an unfortunate tumble down the school’s north stairwell. In fact, it’s surprising how many bruising and bone-breaking accidents happen in that part of the school.
Selah herself is by turns both charming and brutal. She’s a generally unsmiling beauty wearing long braids who also runs the cheering squad, designing their short-skirted outfits and creating their almost violent routines. Selah has ruled the Spades, ruled the school, and kept the peace with a strong right hand for three years.
But this is her senior year, and Selah is in a quandary about whom to hand the reins of her power after she graduates.
There is one girl who might work. Paloma is her name. She’s a malleable first year. Talented. Pretty. Likeable. She’s got the head for a business like this. And she’s not afraid to bloody her knuckles when the need arises.
But Selah isn’t about to hand over the Spades—a powerhouse group she’s personally built—to just anyone. Paloma must be tested to see if she’s truly worthy.
And loyal. The girl must be loyal.
There are harsh tests for that level of commitment, too.
On the face of things, most everyone’s choices here are destructive ones. Even the school administration is wanting on that front. But you could say that this film might serve as a cautionary warning for those who want to think more deeply about the choices made here.
Selah makes it clear to Paloma that if she is going to take over control of the Spades, she needs to learn to put “the fear of God” into the souls of other students. “Better to have them fear your god—n sneakers walking toward them on the concrete then to let them think that their actions don’t have consequences!” she proclaims.
Selah rails against the fact that the girls are told what they should or shouldn’t wear. “Making you feel like whatever you want is the wrong slutty thing,” she declares. And she goes on to decry the fact that boys can’t “keep it in their pants!” And in response, she takes control and designs short, form-fitting cheerleader outfits that intentionally accentuate the cheer team’s physical attributes.
Selah manipulates a female photographer into snapping clandestine pictures of a couple making out. And she proclaims that she doesn’t do “dating and sex” because it gets in the way of the more important things in her life. In fact, she admits that she’s not really interested in sex.
Early on, you can spot “No Bully Zone” signs pinned to school bulletin boards. And Selah gives a steely eyed soliloquy about the ways that 17-year-old girls are controlled by an authoritarian adult world at large. Both situations are an ironic wink at the fact that the whole Hardwell School population is controlled, manipulated and, at times, violently harassed by either Selah herself or the other student-led factions.
One student “brought into line” by the factions is covered in bloody cuts and bruises and swears to the Headmaster that he slipped down a staircase, even though we just saw him beaten by other students. We see another student bound and gagged for a reported misdeed. And though we don’t see his ultimate punishment, we do see Paloma’s badly bloodied fists after she is done with the job. Maxxie walks in with his face swollen and cut after Selah sends him off alone on a purposefully dangerous mission as part of a “lesson.”
Selah gets punched in the nose by an angry student. We also hear about a past student wrecking her car after being drugged by Selah. Still another badly drugged girl stumbles around, gets cut and bruised when running full speed into a fence, and almost falls to her death over a cliff.
Seven f-words as well as seven uses of the s-word are joined by a few uses each of the words “a–,” “h—,” d–n” and “b–ch.” God’s name is combined twice with the word “d–n.”
Lots to see here. We’re told that Selah and Maxxie’s main mission at Hardwell is to push the student body past its limits so that students know what those limits are. And that reckless mission is successful.
Selah has a large trunk, filled with all types of drugs and alcohol, that lights up like a pirate’s gold-filled treasure chest when she opens it. We see throngs of students swarming around her on numerous occasions, waving cash and receiving their numbing agent of choice. During a couple different parties, the camera watches as students drink, dance, pop pills, snort coke and stagger around, reveling in their highs.
On a few occasions Selah smokes a joint with Paloma and Maxxie. Someone complains that one of Selah’s underlings got sloppy and pulled out two “eightballs” in the campus center.
Later in the film Selah pulls out a small bottle of booze, takes a swig of its contents and then pours several pills into what’s left. She then hands the acid-spiked booze to another teen who promptly drinks it down. Later, that girl gets violently ill and almost dies.
The factions of students all look for ways to subtly backstab each other to gain power. Selah is always ready to deal harshly and emotionlessly with anyone who doesn’t please her: something she seemingly learned from her taskmaster of a mom. When Selah gets a 93 on a test, for instance, her mom is quick to ask, “What happened to the other seven points?” That has also made Selah something of a pathological perfectionist, even driving her to practice smiling “properly” in a mirror.
If you graduate from the Haldwell School, you’ll be prepared to go on to any career … especially if you’re interested in organized crime. At least that’s the vibe you initially get from this prep-school-meets-Machiavelli pic.
As you keep watching, though, you realize that all that angsty subterfuge—captured with aesthetically creative camera angles, surreal dialogue and a snappy soundtrack—isn’t really just a look at modern teen problems. There are bigger things here.
This film uses privileged teenagers as a window into a stylized, play-like study of human frailty and corruption. It examines our fallen, broken condition and our desire for power over others. And it just happens to be set at a prep school. Which is as good a swirling beehive of humanity as anyplace, I suppose.
However, if viewers venture into this artsy (and in the case of lead actress Lovie Simone, very well-acted) teen-swarm tale, they’d better be ready to be stung a bit themselves. And on top of that, heavy drug and alcohol use, quite a few bloodied fists and faces, and sizable doses of venomous actions and language are all a part of the play.
Selah and the Spades will likely leave a mark. One way or another.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
