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Selah and The Spades

2019

Tayarisha Poe

Lovie Simone, Jesse Williams, Ana Mulvoy-Ten, Jharrel Jerome ...

4.1

111

Drama In the closed world of an elite Pennsylvania boarding school, the Haldwell, the student body is run by five factions. Seventeen-year-old Selah Summers runs the most dominant group, the Spades, with unshakable poise, as they cater to the most classic of vices and supply students with coveted, illegal alcohol and pills. Tensions between the factions escalate, and when Selah’s best friend/right hand Maxxi becomes distracted by a new love, ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Beandrea July The Hollywood Reporter	"An unconventional yet quietly confident debut feature (...) It’s a film that takes the world of its teenage characters seriously (...) [It] signals a bright future for a promising young filmmaker."	POS
United States	Amy Nicholson Variety	"A ferocious Lovie Simone plays an overachieving prep school mob-boss-in-training in writer-director Tayarisha Poe's compelling debut (...) The film has more style than plot, but that style is terrific"	POS
United States	Nick Allen rogerebert.com	"[It] shows a great deal of promise for writer/director Tayarisha Poe, who demands your attention with style and story in her directorial debut."	POS
United States	Asher Luberto The Playlist	"Twenty years from now people might look back to this is as 2020's most accurate depiction of teenage problems. "	POS
United States	M.N. Miller Ready Steady Cut	"Poe’s debut feature is a highly stylized and engaging Juvenalian satire about today’s political climate that plays it too safe with its finale (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Teo Bugbee The New York Times	"What makes this familiar story special is the filmmaker’s style, all the more impressive as it is the debut feature from Tayarisha Poe"	POS
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"This uncanny story (...) has a touch of Heathers and a bit of Bret Easton Ellis, and an intriguing take on what high school is really like (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Monica Castillo rogerebert.com	"[It] is impressively filled with style. Through the lens of cinematographer Jomo Fray, the film is vibrantly colorful yet moody, dripping with teen angst (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	John Serba Decider	"The flaws in 'Selah and the Spades' are overshadowed by its conceptual zeal. Bring on the series!"	POS

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