OMM2024 - Night 26: Level 16 (2018)

Tonight I'll be joined by Larry! Closing in on the end of the 2024 #OctoberMovieMarathon

Night 26

Level 16 (2018)

9/10

Vivian and Sophia attend a boarding school for clean girls, but as they advance through the levels they discover that things are not what they seem.

 

This movie was great! It's more of a thriller than a traditional scary movie- but it's pretty spooky. They do a lot with the set work and the costuming. Lots of little things that hint at what's happening without giving it away, and oh do you feel for all the girls in this movie. I love the world building and the characters. I also have to give it to our lead actresses- they portray their characters so convincingly as young girls- it's pretty impressive.

Give this one a watch! I'm going to have to add director Danishka Esterhazy and Canada as places to find more good films.

SPOILERS BEGIN BELOW THE POSTER!

SPOILERS START HERE!

Without giving exactly what's happening away- Larry and I were immediately thinking along the lines of a "Get Out" or "Promised Neverland" situation. The story and reasonings are different though. I'm a little 50/50 on the ending for the Doctor, on the one hand I like that we don't get 100% clarity on who he's working with or how they started this whole thing- but on the other hand... I wanna know!! But if I think about it critically- that's not what this story is about. And an exposition dump/flashback/reveal scene would have just hamstringed the final act. There's for sure more things that could have been explored a little more- but that probably would have happened were this a book or a TV series. The limited time of a movie really makes you hone in on what's important for the story. And I think Esterhazy nailed that balance.

I like how the girls feel so different than other shows that feature kids in peril. The way they act, the decisions they make- it's heartbreaking but completely understandable knowing how they grew up. Watching these girls make decisions based on what we know about them is so believable.

I could go on and on about how much I liked this movie, but I don't want to give too much away. I mean from the start it's pretty obvious this isn't a normal boarding school and something sketchy is happening, but you should just watch it and find out for yourself! It's good!