A teacher (Mia Wasikowska) arrives at an elite boarding school where she teaches the teenagers to be mindful of their diet, secretly encouraging them to stop eating altogether.

Jessica Hausner aimed for a story about cult mentality, but there are many ways you can view this disturbing film; as a comment on the danger of eating disorders, obviously, but also as a satire of youth movements and perhaps as a reactionary illustration of a fear that academia is brainwashing our kids.

In any case, compelling as long as you’re a fan of Hausner’s cold, dryly absurd approach.

2023-Austria-U.K.-Germany-France-Denmark. 110 min. Color. Directed by Jessica Hausner. Screenplay: Jessica Hausner, Géraldine Bajard. Music: Markus Binder. Cast: Mia Wasikowska (Miss Novak), Sidse Babett Knudsen (Miss Dorset), Elsa Zylberstein (Elsa’s mother), Mathieu Demy, Luke Barker, Ksenia Devriendt. 

European Film Awards: Best Original Score.