Prepare to be lured into a world of jealousy, obsession and erotic tension created by filmmaker Jordan Scott. Cracks is everything about the forbidden in an all-girls boarding school; a boarding school that is more like an orphanage for girls who have been forgotten (practically abandoned) by their parents. The atmosphere of this boarding school is more like a juvy than a school, and such an atmosphere elicits speculation that there is something the storytellers are not revealing to us.

In this remote and isolated school exists a diving team made up of the most elite students. They rule the place as if they are royalty, and they in turn give their full attention to Miss G (Eva Green), their glamorous teacher. The diving team’s captain, Di (Juno Temple), is Miss G’s favorite – until a Spanish newcomer challenges her status. Though it is never clear as to why such a beautiful, mature girl from royal descent would come to such a desolate school in the first place, we know there is something mysterious and attractive about Fiamma (Maria Valverde).

As the other girls hate on Fiamma for the undivided attention she receives from Miss G, Fiamma seems to be indifferent to all that is around her. She manages to captivate everyone, especially the audience, with her mysterious charm. Everything about Fiamma is so mysterious – the things we know about her are so limited – that people are bound to be curious about this girl. And, of course, Miss G is no exception to Fiamma’s spell. She is caught up in Fiamma’s attractive web and pampers her much more than the other girls.

I can’t tell exactly what it is, maybe it’s the slow-motion scenes, lighting or the music, but there is something ominous and erotic about this film, when little seems to point in that direction. Scott does a wonderful job of building such creepy tension and angst until everything finally blows up. The only thing the audience is left with is a disturbing silence.

Cracks drives the audience crazy with curiosity by not providing much background on its characters or the school in which the story takes place.

Grade: C+



Cracks releases in select theaters March 18.