Akin to the likes of such teenage caste dramas of Brick and Rushmore, Tayarisha Poe’s Selah and the Spades presents an intoxicating microcosm of a student body divided and tribal. The film introduces us to the social groups, their leaders, and their meetings which often turn into shouting matches. Rather than be mired in the assembly, Poe goes so strong and earnest with her teenage drama we thankfully don’t have to keep tabs on alliances and booze hustling to appreciate the fantastic craft of a fresh filmmaker.
All photos are copyrighted and may be used by press only for the purpose of news or editorial coverage of Sundance Institute programs. Photos must be accompanied by a credit to the photographer and/or ‘Courtesy of Sundance Institute.’ Unauthorized use, alteration, reproduction or sale of logos and/or photos is strictly prohibited.
A Tale of Two Women
The film wastes no time being direct with the audience. Selah Summers (Lovie Simone) is the leader of the school tribe of the Spades. She prides herself on her leadership abilities to harass the competition and holds dominance over her position. As the top supplier of booze and drugs on campus, she holds a certain sway over her peers and is all too aware of it.
Viciously committed to holding her rank, Selah spot descent within her ranks. She has grown to trust Maxxie (Moonlight’s Jharrel Jerome) as her second command but isn’t sure if he can keep up appearances, especially when he is distracted from his duties of procuring vice. If she can’t trust her most trusted of associates, who can she confide in? Perhaps the newcomer student of Paloma (Celeste O’Connor) can be her new right-hand woman. Maybe even a successor. Or maybe her greatest traitor?
Photo: Courtesy of Amazon Studios
Social Power Playing
The relationship between Selah and Paloma is an interesting one in how much trust they share and how much sinisterness they conceal. As an aspiring photographer, Paloma is observant of the social scene and absorbs Selah’s methods of ruling the school. Selah speaks to Paloma and the camera what it means to have such power and how profound it is to wield your own will at the age of 17. Paloma is intrigued, snapping more photos and taking it all in.
But Paloma is not as innocent as she may seem either. She photographs the entire campus, including the many quarrels with Selah and her biggest opposition of the Bobbies. With a full view of the school, she has a better idea of how it functions. Maybe even forms a strategy of how she would run it. With the way all the pieces are falling into plays, it seems that Paloma may rise as the queen of the Spades. That is if Selah will let her, of course, as their friendship is a complicated one of much potential.
A School Divided
The direction of this boarding school drama is surprisingly tight and never lingers too long to let its quirks overwhelm. Selah and Paloma pass through a number of immaculate locations. This includes a theater stage with decorations that would be right at home in Suspiria. Their talks, however, are more intriguing, loaded with palpable tension. Paloma can sense that Selah is losing control and maybe even dangerous to her own group. At the same time, Selah can sense her grasp slipping.
What’s most intriguing about how the film is staged is that it never falls into a simplistic groove of staging a Game of Thrones style battle of boarding school tribes. For instance, we hear of one group in the school called the Prefects with their intellectual and nerdy bent but rarely address them much further than that. They remain, as with most of the school politics, in the background.
Even the climax of the houses banding together to form their own prom in the woods is presented more as set dressing. By the end of the film, we’re less concerned with whether or not the student prom will proceed. We’re more concerned about if Selah will try to knock-off Paloma in some way to keep her dominance. A lot of this is owed to the fantastic performances of Lovie Simone and Celeste O’Connor.
Students on the Edge
Tayarisha Poe shows a lot of promise in her direction that always keeps a critical eye on her actors. In some ways, it’s almost maddening how she rejects the easy outs. The film could spin into one of class struggle and gang war with the clashing school factions. Her firm grasp on the primary driving force of Selah and Paloma may prompt those unwilling to favor the farce. But this is the world Poe wants us to inhabit and she refuses to let us peace out into some lesser satire, considering there’s no shortage of that kind of film within a high school.
In doing so, however, Poe also kinda just spins her wheels without reaching much of compelling resolve. The unease of the inner conflicts keep mounting higher as the film progresses, only for it to reach a shattering moment of both the characters and the story. By the end of the film, there’s a sober realization but it seems to come more from the film running out of time to make this connection.
Conclusion: Selah and the Spades
Tayarisha Poe makes an astounding directorial debut. Her film firmly holds our attention with bold and vibrant vigor of youthful angst. There’s a very telling moment about the director in a scene where Paloma speaks excitably about her future. She states that her next year of school will be even grander than her first. I feel the exact same way, eager to see what Poe can pull off next. She is no doubt a talented filmmaker with a remarkable voice all her own.
What did you think of Selah and the Spades? Let us know in the comments below. Looking for more stories rebellious women? Check out our review of Birds of Prey.
