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Paradise Hills
By Joyce Slaton,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Beautiful visuals, muddled logic in moody sci-fi drama.
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What you will—and won't—find in this movie.
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Paradise Hills
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Based on 1 parent review
It’s more of a fantasy than a thriller
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What's the Story?
After Uma (Emma Roberts) refuses to marry a wealthy industrialist, she's shipped off to the strange and exclusive girls' reform school PARADISE HILLS. Here, on a deserted cliff above the ocean, Uma and her classmates Chloe (Danielle Macdonald), Yu (Awkwafina), and Amarna (Eiza González) are kept in what amounts to a luxurious gilded cage under the charge of The Duchess (Milla Jovavich). The residents while away their time "doing yoga and feeling our feelings," as one puts it, until they're deemed transformed enough to leave. But just how are they being transformed, and just what will walk out through the doors at the end of their stay?
Is It Any Good?
This movie is so eye-poppingly gorgeous and unusual that it will take you a while to notice that it doesn't make a lot of logical sense, but it's sure diverting to watch. "Girls in captivity" is an old setup that's been explored in particularly seamy detail in many vintage B exploitation films. But no girls' prison has ever looked like this one: In a Versailles-ish mansion surrounded by an Alice in Wonderland-esque rose garden, the Paradise Hills inmates languidly do floor exercises or submit to makeovers, clad in all-white uniforms that look like Edwardian bondage gear. They sleep soundly in rows of beds swathed with pink netting -- so very soundly, in fact, that Uma and Amarna soon get suspicious and wonder just what's happening to them at night while they do.
There's a hazy side plot about "Uppers" and "Lowers," the castes of the dystopian YA-like futuristic society in which these characters live -- as well as a few narrative twists that throw into doubt what viewers may have figured out by the film's final third. But the jumbled plot passes by pleasantly enough, not distracting from the movie's key pleasure: great young female actors in absolutely stunning costumes on a transcendently gorgeous set. It's not enough to turn this movie into a great one, but it's wild, weird fun while it lasts.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Paradise Hills portrays women. Do you think it reinforces stereotypes or undermines them? Who are the most powerful characters in the movie?
How do details like the characters' costumes and styling affect how you feel about them? Which characters in the movie can be seen as role models? How are The Duchess and Uma set apart from other characters visually? How are they characterized differently from each other?
What impact does the movie's violence have? Would it be different if it was more realistic instead of dreamlike? Were you surprised by the violent methods Paradise Hills uses to transform students?
Movie Details
- In theaters: October 25, 2019
- On DVD or streaming: January 7, 2020
- Cast: Emma Roberts , Awkwafina , Milla Jovovich , Danielle Macdonald
- Director: Alice Waddington
- Inclusion Information: Non-Binary directors, Queer directors, Female actors, Asian actors
- Studio: Samuel Goldwyn Films
- Genre: Fantasy
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy , Friendship
- Run time: 95 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: June 8, 2023
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