Institute History
Description
When Uma wakes up alone on a strange island called Paradise, she instantly suspects it’s anything but. Helmed by the Duchess (Milla Jovovich), Paradise Hills is a center for emotional healing that at its core serves as a reformatory-style boarding school for privileged young women. Yet behind the rose-covered pathways and fairy-tale decor, Uma and her friends learn something more sinister is at work.
In her ambitious feature debut, director Alice Waddington shrewdly deconstructs seemingly outdated, yet ever-present, societal expectations of young women. Up against a fascist headmaster, the women in Waddington’s tale prove that solidarity and empathy outweigh antiquated modes of female objectification. Emma Roberts leads the charge as Uma, a young woman unafraid to risk her upper-class livelihood for her own and her friends’ independence. The supporting cast of misfit boarding-school girls is rounded out by Danielle Macdonald (Patti Cake$), Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians), and Eiza González (Baby Driver).