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6.5/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.5/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Finishing School remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have a thing for old-school boarding school tropes or just want to see Ginger Rogers before she was the Ginger Rogers, maybe. If you hate slow, melodramatic stuff where people talk in posh accents for an hour, skip it. It’s not exactly Men in Black levels of excitement.
The whole movie feels like it’s trying to be very serious about the 'struggles' of rich girls. You know, the kind of struggle that involves choosing between a boyfriend and a study hall.
The girls are all so catty, it’s honestly impressive. There’s this one scene where they’re gossiping in the hallway, and it goes on for just a bit too long. The silence between their insults feels almost intentional, like the director forgot to yell cut.
I found myself staring at the wallpaper instead of the plot. It’s very beige. Very 1934.
There's this moment where someone cries and it’s just so dramatic. It feels like they were trying to make you feel bad, but it just made me want to get a snack. It reminds me a bit of the awkwardness in Once a Gentleman, where everything feels just a hair too stiff.
Honestly, the movie gets better when it stops trying to be a 'profound look at youth' and just lets the girls be mean. That’s where the energy is. Everything else is just fluff and bad lighting. 🎞️
I’m not saying it’s bad. It’s just… a bit dusty. Like finding an old box of ribbons in the attic. You look at it, you remember why people kept it, but you’re probably not going to wear it.