The Boarding School movie follows a young boy called Jacob who becomes drawn to the persona of his dead grandmother. After a fight at school and dressing up in his grandmother’s clothes, he’s sent to an isolated boarding school for misfits run by a mysterious headmaster and his wife. Opening scenes make this a worthy inclusion for those with a penchant for LGBTQ movies and horror. Mother of Movies was enticed into this one because the director is Boaz Yakin and among his extensive directorial background is some work with Eli Roth on Hostel. I love a diverse filmmaker, what’s more, Yakin epitomizes that.
Boarding School Review
The title of the film — ‘The Boarding School’ brings a subtle lure that something’s amiss as Jacob initially starts at home with his parents attending public school. It’s a gentle build-up waiting for something to happen for him to be sent away. As a narrative that supports LGBTQ themes, the central character has a penchant for women’s clothing and is subsequently punished for this by being sent to a boarding school.
Samantha Mathis
Jacob’s mother Isabel (played by Mathis) can only be described as misguided at best steals the limelight away from the well-seasoned cast who appears briefly on screen in the opening scenes. It quietly begins to reveal itself akin to the situation in the story from Flowers in the Attic. Has maternal inclination been passed over in favor of a better standing and less embarrassment in their communities?
I read an interview with the director and it seemed confirmed when he pointed out that this film is set in the times of the Holocaust. Firstly to introduce the Grandmother’s influence and secondly to do away with technologies like mobile phones and other complications that come with a more modern time frame.
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Jacob is shrouded from his past and any questions he asks are briskly waved away. While investigating his grandmother’s recently deceased belongings, he discovers photos. The photos and her clothes and trinkets are something he’s strangely drawn to. Is he channeling his late Grandmother through dreams or is it something more? Whatever the case he gets busted doing something considered not normal. His parents ship him off to a mysterious and remote boarding school where the lack of large numbers of pupils immediately ups the tension level. With one teacher and two caretakers, it’s obvious this isn’t your everyday boarding school.
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As a result, the group of troubled teens shines an all too familiar light on the perils of being different. While concentrating on this new group of faces the tone shifts and I could only liken it to an X-Men-type vibe except these particular children don’t have superpowers. Instead of superpowers, each comes with its own set of complications. This includes a kid who can eat by sucking food up to his nose. The word ‘retard’ is bandied about a lot, another good place to hide a non-politically correct issue in setting the film in the 1990s.
Under those circumstances, I was unsure if the rest of the Boarding School movie would be any good from here. In the group are two seemingly relatively normal students (Jacob and a coincidentally a girl called Phil.) Both are dumped in the middle of an extremely rigorous boarding school where it seems they are to be forgotten about. Each of the other five kids has varying degrees of mental illness. ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child’ comes to mind as the new teacher whips students about the face and hands at their wrongdoings. They are only given one book to study— the bible and Dr. Sherman prattles on about baptisms a lot. Somewhere between feeling like this was a coming-of-age movie and knowing it was a horror film, I began to suspect not all is as it seems. I was right but also confused.
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This film is an intricate knitted stocking of narratives, weaving together a series of storylines. With deliberate ambiguity, it challenges us to connect the dots and unravel the subtext embedded within its scenes. Clear references to monumental historical events, such as World War II and the Jewish tragedies, infuse the storyline with depth and gravity. The plot further delves into personal trauma, as evidenced by the harrowing tale that links back to Jacob’s grandmother. Although the film touches upon loads of themes, it refrains from fully committing to any single narrative. Instead, it chooses to paint with a blurry scope that leaves much to the audience’s interpretation. This is a movie that presents fragments of every genre but sometimes misses its intended target.
Sometimes less is more but sometimes more is better especially when you’re left feeling like you watched half of a movie. Was the story told from the wrong angle? I can’t say I recommend this one. But if you need to get some clothes put away or some ironing finished, it’s a good one for that.
Where Can I Watch Boarding School?
Boarding School is streaming on:
Who Wrote Boarding School?
- Director and writer: Boaz Yakin, best known for Remember the Titans (2000.)
- Boarding School movie cast: Luke Prael (Eighth Grade 2018), Samantha Mathis (American Psycho 2000), David Aaron Baker (Two Weeks Notice 2002), Will Patton (Halloween 2018), Robert John Burke (Tombstone 1993), and Tammy Blanchard (The Invitation 2015.)
- Released: USA August 2018 and a DVD premiere November 2018.
- Produced by: Farcaster Films (Co-Production), Gigantic Pictures, Maven Pictures, Old Greenwich Capital Partners, and Storyland Pictures.
Another key point I have to mention is the ‘closet’ reference. It’s in relation to an actual line from Dr. Sherman. Hence no cause for offense.
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Watch the Full Movie Trailer for Boarding School
Boarding School movie is rated
2.5 was he really hiding in the closet? out of 5
Boarding School
Director: Boaz Yakin
Date Created: 2018-08-31 18:21
2.5
