Common Sense Media Review
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Bleak dramedy about cult mentality, eating disorders.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Club Zero
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In CLUB ZERO, a new teacher, Miss Novak (Mia Wasikowska), is hired at an elite boarding school. Her class involves "conscious eating," and several teens sign up, looking to become healthier and save the planet. At first, Miss Novak teaches her students to simply eat more slowly and have smaller portions, leading to eating less overall. But as five eager students—Fred (Luke Barker), Elsa (Ksenia Devriendt), Ragna (Florence Baker), Ben (Samuel D. Anderson), and Helen (Gwen Currant)—become increasingly involved with Miss Novak, they begin taking their diet to extreme lengths, with her full encouragement. The kids' concerned parents feel helpless to do anything as their children's devotion to Miss Novak reaches cult-like status.
Is It Any Good?
Extremely bleak and icy for a "comedy," this movie takes a dry, clinical approach to exploring people's troubling behaviors and impulses; the point isn't always clear, but it's hard to look away. Wasikowska is the key to making Club Zero work. Miss Novak is essentially a cult leader, and she works her dark magic quietly and calmly, with a touch of love in her voice. She effortlessly seduces these teens who, of course, are still trying to figure out who in the world they are. The kids turn into their own little clique, together but separate from society. In one scene, two of them dance, and when one gets close to the other, perhaps a near-kiss, he recoils after smelling food on her breath: a betrayal of the worst kind.
The movie gets scary, with the teens telling each other how amazing they feel, almost like being high, when they don't eat. And it gets even scarier when the parents try to connect with their brainwashed children and find an impenetrable barrier of beliefs; not only can they not connect, but they can't save their children from physical danger (malnutrition). Filmmaker Jessica Hausner directs Club Zero in a most disconcerting way, from the production's pale, bland color palate to the thrumming, thumping music score (filled with a droning chorus, claps, hand drums, sitars, and other unique strings), offering little to no comfort or explanation. Some movies are bone-chilling; this one is brain-chilling.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Club Zero's approach to the topic of eating disorders. What is discussed? Are eating disorders glamorized or romanticized in any way? Do characters learn any lessons?
How do the characters demonstrate cult mentality? What techniques are used to indoctrinate the teens?
Does the movie depict psychological or emotional violence? How did it make you feel? How does the impact of that kind of violence compare to that of physical violence?
How do the movie's color scheme and music choices affect the storytelling?
Movie Details
- In theaters : March 15, 2024
- On DVD or streaming : May 21, 2024
- Cast : Mia Wasikowska , Luke Barker , Ksenia Devriendt
- Director : Jessica Hausner
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Director(s) , Female Movie Writer(s)
- Studio : Film Movement
- Genre : Comedy
- Topics : School ( High School )
- Run time : 110 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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