![]() These everyday pressures, the austere regiment and insular world of the school, and the increasing ostracization of Rebecca add to the power of the story, as reality and fantasy co-mingle, sweeping the narrative along upon an atmospheric tide of adolescent anxiety. The issues faced by the young women – sex, family trouble, peer-pressure, problems with authority, grief, friendships, basic human biology - are never trivialised. The screenplay doesn’t pander, and it feels like Harron is attempting to speak directly to a younger female audience in a sincere way, as well as offering an intelligent and relatable story within the framework of a Gothic horror piece. She never lets the supernatural elements overshadow other aspects of the story, such as the adversities of adolescence and the various rituals, rites and hardships of high school. Harron’s script delves into the intensity and complexity of the friendships forged at the boarding school, ensuring characters have depth and agency. ![]() Ernessa serves as a catalyst, driving a wedge between best friends Rebecca and Lucy (Sarah Gadon). New girl Ernessa might be a vampire, but Harron doesn’t let that detract from the realigning allegiances between friends sparked by her arrival at the school. While the story can be read as an updated interpretation of Sheridan Le Fanu’s Gothic novella Carmilla (1872), Harron’s screenplay places first and foremost the ever-shifting relationships and dynamics between the group of friends.
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