Much better premise than a generic vampire film like twilight.
The remote feeling of the boarding school translates well, as does the dissonant relationship between Rebecca and pretty much everyone else at the school.
The ambiguity of the supernatural element embodied by Lilly Cole in her role as Ernessa leaves the viewer questioning what she is, all the way till the very end. At the end of the film it is indeed up to the viewer to decide that for themselves but you definitely find yourself questioning what kind of supernatural agency you are dealing with. As far as the relationship between the Moths and Ernessa, that seems to be more of a poetic expression than an actual supernatural impetus, at least as far as this viewer is able to interpret. As a fan of TV shows like the X-files I appreciated the mysterious approach to that aspect of the story.
The main gripe I have with this film is it is simply not long enough. Making it feel like an extended pilot episode of an abandoned TV show. A film like this could easily have expanded on its premise for at least 2 hours. But it shares this flaw with many modern films, I just found it frustratingly short. It doesn't even hit the hour and 30 minute mark, the screen credits begin to role out at about an hour and 18 minutes in. Ever have a feeling that a film just ends too quickly? That is the feeling I got from this one. A shame because it could have been amazing. Instead it was just a fairly good but short supernatural suspense/thriller or whatever. Something I may revisit at some point, but not feeling that extreme magnetic pull as with other films of this kind due to its shorter than average length.
The remote feeling of the boarding school translates well, as does the dissonant relationship between Rebecca and pretty much everyone else at the school.
The ambiguity of the supernatural element embodied by Lilly Cole in her role as Ernessa leaves the viewer questioning what she is, all the way till the very end. At the end of the film it is indeed up to the viewer to decide that for themselves but you definitely find yourself questioning what kind of supernatural agency you are dealing with. As far as the relationship between the Moths and Ernessa, that seems to be more of a poetic expression than an actual supernatural impetus, at least as far as this viewer is able to interpret. As a fan of TV shows like the X-files I appreciated the mysterious approach to that aspect of the story.
The main gripe I have with this film is it is simply not long enough. Making it feel like an extended pilot episode of an abandoned TV show. A film like this could easily have expanded on its premise for at least 2 hours. But it shares this flaw with many modern films, I just found it frustratingly short. It doesn't even hit the hour and 30 minute mark, the screen credits begin to role out at about an hour and 18 minutes in. Ever have a feeling that a film just ends too quickly? That is the feeling I got from this one. A shame because it could have been amazing. Instead it was just a fairly good but short supernatural suspense/thriller or whatever. Something I may revisit at some point, but not feeling that extreme magnetic pull as with other films of this kind due to its shorter than average length.