The Sisterhood of Night (DVD REVIEWS)
The
Sisterhood of Night
DVD
Review by Kam Williams
Modern Parable Features Electronic Age Equivalent of a Salem Witch Trial
Mary
Warren (Georgie Henley) was once a popular straight-C student voted
most likely to become famous by the student body at Kingston High in
upstate New York. But everything changed the day a jealous competitor
stole her phone while she was auditioning for a role in a school
play.
For,
that classmate, Emily Parris (Kara Hayward), proceeded to humiliate
Mary by posting some of her very intimate text messages online.
Although the cruel ploy did draw a lot of traffic to a blog which
nobody had been reading, the victim responded in a way no one could
have predicted.
Instead
of retaliating in kind, Mary resorted to calling Emily a whore in
chalk on the schoolyard wall. Sick of the internet entirely, she also
came up with the idea of forming The Sisterhood, a secret society
which meets in the woods in the middle of the night. The idea was
that instead of behaving like bitchy backstabbers, the members would
promise to respect each other’s privacy while providing a shoulder
to cry on as they share their personal problems.
The
first two recruits are social zeroes, homely Catherine Huang (Willa
Cuthrell) and Lavinia Hall (Olivia DeJonge), the troubled daughter of
the school librarian (Laura Fraser). Their swearing-in involves
taking a vow of silence about what transpires during their
confessional sessions around the campfire.
The
group’s numbers gradually swell as word spreads about the safe
space they’ve created for females. This one admits to having had an
abortion; that one says she’s afraid she’ll never be kissed.
Another wants to be in love with the boy she surrenders her virginity
to; while the next wants her chronically-ill mother to either recover
or die. And so forth.
Unfortunately,
vicious rumors circulating around campus suggesting that The
Sisterhood might be a coven of witches or a sex cult eventually reach
the ears of the guidance counselor (Kal Penn), the principal (Gary
Wilmes) and even a reporter (Brian Berrebbi) interested in writing
sensational stories for the local tabloid. Will the girls stick
together when it seems like everyone in town comes down on it like a
ton of bricks?
Directed
by Caryn Waechter, The Sisterhood of Night is a compelling
cautionary tale inspired by Steven
Millhauser’s short story of the same name. A daring portrayal of an
Electronic Age equivalent of a Salem witch trial.
Very
Good (3
stars)
Rated
PG-13 for
mature themes, suicide, sexuality and prescription drug abuse
Running
time: 103 minutes
Distributor:
Freestyle Digital Media
DVD
Extras: The theatrical trailer.
To order
a copy of The Sisterhood of Night on DVD, visit:
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