With a potent blend of power, deceit and idolisation, “Selah and the Spades” (2019) is a rousing mobster tale under the familiar guise of a standard teen drama. In her first feature film, Tayarisha Poe invigorates a familiar school setting with the intensity of a gangster film and does so with captivating style.
Graduation is closing in for Selah Summers (Lovie Simone), who looks for her successor as the leader of The Spades—one of five factions formed by the students at her Pennsylvania boarding school. From organising secret parties to selling exam answers, these factions each have their own niche that contributes to the hidden underbelly of student life at the school. These factions exist in a turbulent—and at times even violent power struggle—, which Selah’s Spades (responsible for selling drugs to the other students) currently stand at the top of. This intricate system exists below the school’s pristine surface, and just barely eludes the eye of Headmaster Banton (Jesse Williams), who has suspicions of these shady goings-on but isn’t quite aware of the extent of its organisation. When new girl Paloma (Celeste O’Connor) transfers to the school, she is quickly thrust into this machine after being taken under Selah’s wing for better or worse.
The first key choice is director Tayarisha Poe’s decision to position Selah at the centre from the start of this story rather than following the natural path of using newcomer Paloma. This pays off through Poe’s nuanced characterisation of Selah, which avoids the easy route of simply making the character an agreeable hero or maniacal mean girl. An overachiever and de facto monarch of the students, Selah has an all-consuming need for perfection and simply doesn’t know how not to be at the top any totem pole that she’s placed on.
This all-consuming lust for power makes the character borderline tyrannical, driving her to guiltlessly manipulate those around her and rendering even her interactions with friends cold and impersonal until business is out of the way. It’s not until we see Selah’s scenes at home (outside of the vacuum of the school), that the character is at her most helpless. Her thirst for status and excellence begins to appear more desperate than tenacious. At the root of it all is the inescapable pressure from not only her prestigious environment, but also her mother, who demands nothing short of the best from her.
Poe crafts a world that feels lived-in and has its own history, with Paloma providing the perfect entryway for the audience. Moreover, the rich dynamic between Paloma and Selah is the pulse of the story. Upon their initial encounter, the gulf could not be wider between Paloma (the nameless new girl) and Selah (the notorious queen bee). It is Paloma’s quiet and unassuming presence that intrigues Selah, who sees potential in her, enveloping Paloma into The Spades slowly and then all at once. Meanwhile, Paloma looks to Selah with awestruck eyes and even as she becomes more self-assured, still surrenders her own ideals if it helps to ingratiate herself with Selah. Visually, the faction leaders are framed with this same reverence that those lower on the pecking order have for these idols.
For better or worse, Paloma proves to be a more than capable learner and is quickly consumed by Selah’s world until it also becomes her own. This adds turbulence to the relationship between the two as Selah’s need to retain her crown at all costs means that even her new friend could prove a threat. The solid chemistry between Lovie Simone and Celest O’Connor makes it difficult not to invest in fate of this friendship. Simone is an especially commanding presence throughout the film, giving off all of the ferocity that her role demands whilst weaving in vulnerability that feels connected to her rather than being an entirely distinct side to the character.
As exciting as the world-building is, film doesn’t have quite enough breathing room to flesh out many of the elements that are established, be they plot points that are not revisited or character arcs that don’t feel completed by the time the credits roll. In particular, the student factions besides The Spades and their arch-rivals, The Bobbies, become easily forgettable and fade into the background. We don’t quite get the chance to see how all of these cogs work together in this secret operation. Also, although the plot doesn’t dither, it does become murky, making it is difficult to follow certain story beats. As a result, looking back at the film gives the false sense that it lacked much of a narrative.
“Selah and the Spades” is overflowing with potential. The charismatic lead performances meet Poe’s thoughtful characterisation, while the fascinating setting is fertile for new stories, even if the film doesn’t quite have the capacity to make the most of either. Fortunately, there is hope that Amazon’s upcoming series based on this film will be the perfect format for revisiting the tantalising seeds that have been planted here.
