Blame

Abigail comes back to school. Something happened last year and she was suspended; nobody says openly what it was and everybody knows. Nobody in the class speaks to her. A play is to be worked on in the drama class: a text set in the seventeenth century, built on accusations of witchcraft. Abigail is cast in the lead. The young teacher newly arrived takes a close interest in her and the rehearsals run late. Another girl in the class watches and is uneasy. Then a rumour starts. Quinn Shephard writes, directs and plays the lead. Nadia Alexander is in the cast. It is the director's first feature, made in her early twenties. The play the narrative uses refers directly to the film's own subject; accusation, gossip and the pressure of a group work on two layers at once. The matter it treats is the border between teacher and student; the narrative romanticises it nowhere. It also puts the rivalry between the two girls at the centre and puts neither in the right or the wrong. The production was small and made largely with the director's own means. Its limit is experience; some scenes are too explanatory and the ending is hurried. It was shown at festivals and drew attention in independent cinema. Who it is for: anyone curious about youth drama and independent first films. Who it is not for: the subject is uncomfortable, the narrative loose, and some characters thinly written.