Set in the 1950s upstate New York, the film tells the story of a group of proto-feminist teens whose rebellious exploits yield disastrous consequences after they form their own gang.
There's a ... sense that the drama based on Joyce Carol Oates' 1950-set novel is being explored by young women actually living the experiences of pushing back against a world they feel is determined to hold them down.
With the grim, ineluctable logic of resistance movements - the logic of mission creep and self-fulfilling vows of fanaticism - the girls move from non-conformism to violent confrontation, from empowerment to their and others' endangerment.
Tighter editing could have elevated this from a respectable adaptation into something with an incisive edge, but at least it's a better take on the book than the misguided 1996 version ...
There's a certain ragged sincerity to the enterprise, but as a feminist tract it relies too much on repetitive blunt force, and as a piece of film-making it's often wearyingly drab.
Gifted filmmaker Cantet (The Class) packs this fascinating story with vivid characters, but fails to shape the narrative into something that holds our attention
