Lily and Amanda couldn't be more different even though they both go to the same school. Lily comes from a rich family with every opportunity and hates her cruel, callous stepfather. She hides herself behind a perfect facade, never showing any negative emotions and always doing what a young woman of her status should. Underneath, she's an odd combination of deeply emotional and fiercely competitive. Amanda, on the other hand, is infamous around school due to her killing a horse. She has no emotions at all and only pretends to mimic them when it benefits her in some way. After some awkward moments where Lily gets caught lying, they settle into an interesting friendship of sorts.
Both of these young women are dealing with societal pressures that make them hide parts of themselves to be acceptable. For the first time, they have the freedom to be who they really are with someone for the first time without judgment. Lily can rage and show the real her underneath all the perfection and Amanda doesn't have to pretend to have emotions. At times, they fundamentally don't understand each other. Lily doesn't understand that Amanda takes no offense at harsh comments, never gets angry, or feels anything. Amanda doesn't understand Lily's emotions or her penchant to lie in order to spare feelings or to hide things about herself. They sporadically spend time together and get to know each other over pretending to study and watching old movies. Their interactions aren't the fuzziest and often involve challenging each other to push boundaries.
Lily's stepfather Mark is every bit as horrible as she thinks. He treats women as objects, pressuring Lily's mother into dressing and acting in the specific way he desires. When she challenges him in anything, he's quick to cut her emotionally to force her back into submission. He treats Lily the same way. When she was expelled from her prestigious school, Mark saw her as an object that lost all value to him. His plan is to disinherit her when she finishes high school and her mother won't lift so much as a finger to help her. Even though Amanda wouldn't judge her for all her problems, Lily still keeps her expulsion from her to appear much more perfect than she is. She puts value in the veneer even when the audience literally doesn't care and continues to keep parts of her life only to herself when Amanda lays it all out in contrast.
Amanda eventually asks Lily if she ever wanted to kill her cruel stepfather that leads to a small rift between them. When Lily is finally honest with herself, they make a plan together. Apart from each other, they would never do something like this. Lily would never admit it to herself or bring herself to do it even if she did and Amanda simply wouldn't have the motivation. This film shows a perfect storm of the two that turn into a destructive force. Anya Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke play their roles perfectly with icy calculation and a matter of fact nature. All of the violence is offscreen. We only every see right before and right after which lets our imaginations fill in the gruesome details. The ending had me at the edge of my seat and could be interpreted many ways. I believe that the two had a genuine friendship in their own way. I highly recommend this off kilter, dark film with a vivid visual style and a very different take on female friendship.
My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins
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