School’s Out (L’heure de la sortie)

Wednesday 20 October at 7.30pm

Sébastien Marnier│France│2018│103 mins│rating tbc

A substitute teacher, having replaced a teacher of gifted students who committed suicide, becomes fixated on the strange behaviour of his students, who partake in disturbing rituals.

“In his Venice-selected sophomore thriller, Sébastien Marnier sets his sights on a chilly class of gifted and talented students in the French countryside. After their teacher commits suicide during an exam, Pierre Hoffman (Laurent Lafitte) is called in as a long-term substitute. Expecting a class collectively reeling from this traumatic shock, Pierre is surprised to encounter a group of seemingly affectless mid-teens, mostly concerned with accelerating at an appropriate pace through their advanced-level courses. His sense that something is askew only grows more acute when he notices a strange turn-the-other-cheek approach to physical violence – both from the students and his fellow faculty members. As Pierre spirals further into a wormhole that references both J.G. Ballard and Patti Smith, Marnier maintains a sense of creeping unease that expands into a chilling capitalist critique.” – Film Society at Lincoln Center