Written by George Heftler
If a movie’s influences include Suspiria and Alice in Wonderland, it’s not surprising when things get curiouser and curiouser. What is more surprising is a first-time director being able to capture these unique tones without feeling like a rip-off. Such is the happy case with Alice Waddington’s Paradise Hills.
Taking place in an alternative present/near future, Paradise Hills is the story of a young woman being sent to what is described as a “fascist boarding school”: a sort of rehab where women are sent against their will to be reformed in someone else’s image—be they parents, suitors, or other. When Uma (Emma Roberts) wakes up in this institution, she begins enlisting the help of others to escape.
The cast is a major draw, with plenty of up-and-coming stars like the aforementioned Roberts, Eiza Gonzalez, Danielle Macdonald and Awkwafina. The real star here, however, is Milla Jovovich, who is deliciously sinister as the Duchess, the head of Paradise. Her presence is immense, taking over every scene that she’s in. Unfortunately, she’s not in nearly enough of them—even with the movie’s tight running time of 94 minutes.
That running time also impacts the cinematography in a negative way. The production design and ultra-femme aesthetic is stunning and is absolutely the best part of this movie. The world they’ve created has so much beauty, but we’re not given enough time to soak it in. Things move at such a breakneck pace that I found myself wishing they’d hit the brakes and let me enjoy what they worked so hard to create. This seems like the kind of movie where the slow wide shots of Blade Runner 2049 would be effective. Instead, we get a lot of intense close-ups and quick shots between people.
The script is nothing special, again feeling like the runtime has muddled what could have been a superior product. Instead, information is doled out in batches of exposition, and some aspects feel like they come out of nowhere, or you don’t understand what they have to do with the rest of it. They utilize some rote tropes, and some plot holes get hand-waved away in a script that ends up feeling half-baked. But that’s the case for a lot of mediocre sci-fi movies that don’t have nearly as much to offer as Paradise Hills. Between the gorgeous look of the movie and the enjoyable performance of Milla Jovovich, there’s plenty of good to be found here, and to be sure, this is a movie aimed at younger sci-fi fans so mileage may vary. With a bevy of young stars leading this movie and providing some much-needed representation, I wouldn’t be surprised if Paradise Hills found a niche and became a cult hit. For me, however, it’s just a pretty decent sci-fi movie.
