lovie simone owns the screen from the very second we first see her face, sitting on her throne as it is her right.

This was REFRESHING!

Absolutely adored this and this concept of a high school The Godfather-esque setting. This rough handheld cinematography was captivating considering the plot and tone.
The third act shot my rating up and the run in the woods had my heart thumping, I truly feared for the characters' lives.
I do think outside of Selah, some of the characters were weak and needed some fleshing out. I just wanted more, more of the factions, more of the shady dealings, more of them trying to evade the administration. So glad we're getting a tv show
Lovie Simone was a force!

super excited to learn that this is being developed into a tv show, because i feel like that's where this concept can truly shine! the direction here was great and felt very fresh and stylish, but the film as a whole was ultimately held back by pacing issues. i think the structure of a tv show will definitely be better for this and allow more development, i'll be looking forward to checking it out whenever it drops.

me the entire movie waiting for selah and paloma to fall in love 👁👄👁

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

This movie felt like it was made by someone who you start talking to at the party and then you think like ok we have some common interests and then you talk to them more and start to realize that this person has no real substance to them and they’re an empty shell of a human being but you’re too far in and you can’t leave because all your friends are here

this movie felt like if a cw tv show took itself seriously and also thought of itself as the revolutionary voice of a generation 

I can’t stop thinking about this movie 
It was made
So many people worked on this

"Why not just do things that keep you from crying in bathrooms?”

Thrilled to hear that this is being adapted into a series! The world Tayarisha Poe has built here is so rich and densely populated with colorful characters, and it needs more space to reveal itself fully. As a film, the exposition ends up being rushed and confusing, and initially compelling aspects of the plot don’t end up blossoming as they should. Still, its ideas hold nevertheless, and the confident direction and lively performances make it worth the watch. It’s a fun time, even as the darker sides of the factions begin to dominate.

Poe has such a clear voice and confident hand, and debuts as ambitious as her’s should always be celebrated.

riverdale wants what selah & the spades has

lovie simone should be a household name by now. it's so refreshing seeing young black women in both authoritative and emotionally demanding roles like this - especially in a high school environment. i heard murmurs that there would be a tv show based on this and i can definitely see this story adapting better in long-form. i need to see more from tayarisha poe as well because her direction helped create such an interesting environment and tone for these characters to work within. high school drama without romance and class isn't easy to pull off but everyone did their homework for this

a refreshing, promising debut with an awesome aesthetic and beautiful, strong direction!!! so thrilled that it's being developed into a tv show as i feel like it will give the world, characters and plot more room to develop and really shine!

WOWW
also la escenografía y ambientación: chef’s kiss

i absolutely love organized hierarchical highschools

 these CHARACTERS were so good.... considering this is a debut and its a high school movie, this is very well done and performed i loved it & it has so much potential that i hope is realized in the tv show :))) 

also !!! hello !!! lovie simone is incredible !!!!

i had absolutely ZERO CLUE what was going on the whole time but very pretty! lovie simone marry me challenge

First of all!!!! There is no hugging or anything at that ending we are throwing hands!!!
Secondly, the initial world building isn’t used satisfactorily within the story. I know it’s getting a series so perhaps that could be corrected.
But outside all of that, it’s an interesting film that isn’t entirely fleshed out to its full potential.

El prestigioso instituto Haldwell es comandado a nivel de alumnos por cinco grupos. Las Picas, lideradas por Selah y Maxxie se enfrentan a un último semestre sin un candidato a sucederlos, por lo que la llegada de Paloma les permitirá abrir el mundo a la novata y recibir la nueva energía de ella.
La sucesión de eventos (ascenso de la novata y conflictos internos) es esperable y casi una versión en joven de "All about Eve". Si bien puede resultar presuntuosa la puesta en escena en la secundaria, y arrastra un tono de seriedad, la suma es atractiva y se asume profunda. Varios temas quedan sólo insinuados y el final es tan abierto que puede parecer inconclusa.
Punto aparte para la actuación de Simone, logra darle dimensiones al personaje de manera notable.

so excited for this to be a series. make selah and paloma girlfriends

this film was genuinely so interesting to watch. to see all of the power play in a high school dynamic was really cool. this is actually officially a Lovie Simone stan account she was truly amazing and her portrayal of Selah was iconic to say the least! the movie is very visually sharp and pleasing to the eye. i also liked that even though there wasn’t a lot of music, in some of the parts when there was music, it was like we were in the characters shoes listening to it (ex. the scene with Paloma’s headphones). Lovie Simone, Celeste O’Connor and Jharrel Jerome really did what they had to do!

So a tv series has been confirmed and there’s a lot i want to see. i want to learn more about the other factions besides the spades (but also more about the spades as well) and i want to know MORE about what happened with Selah and Teela.

i enjoyed this, it was nice to have interesting characters in the dark academia setting rather than the same five tropes. i think a tv show show would be a good follow up, there’s so much world building and plot left unexplored and i really liked the storytelling (and the music!!) but i did knock off one and a half stars because there’s so much left unexplored/developed

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

lovie simone world domination

“i didn’t understand what she wanted from me but i knew she wanted something”
“like when you’re not sure if someone’s in love with you or they just really wanna be you”

love the idea of a mob boss but let’s make her in highschool thank god the movie wasn’t about black tramua esp with the cast yk being black and all it’s something new 

wished they went more in depth and all but love the actors acting it was raw like they were just average teenagers plus love the darkskin lead