Although it may sound like a cliche teen movie, the April 2020 release of the movie “Selah and the Spades” will thoroughly surprise and impress anyone skeptical of this movie’s post-Sundance Film Festival debut. 

Time and time again, I fail to be overly impressed by movies and shows produced by Amazon Studios, with the exceptions of “Beautiful Boy” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” of course. There’s something about many movies and shows produced by Amazon that just don’t catch my attention as much as Netflix, Hulu and other streaming service originals. Especially when I saw how short the movie was and read its description, which sounds super cheesy. However, “Selah and the Spades” brings a realistic taste to teen movie culture by leaving out the sappy romance story lines and unrealistic high school expectations. 

The movie follows Selah (Lovie Simone), a senior at a boarding school who is the leader of the Spades. The Spades is one of the factions or cliques that make up the school’s social structure that is harshly placed upon the students by the students as a way to self govern themselves. As leader of the Spades, Selah is the root of drug and alcohol deals across the campus. When it becomes apparent to Selah that she has no one to take over her position after she graduates, she begins mentoring freshman Paloma (Celeste O’Connor), an innocent girl who helps show the others the true value of friendship, taking action for yourself and navigating the social structure of high school. 

The concept of a freshman entering a new school and getting in with the wrong crowd can be so over done in movies. “Selah and the Spades” seamlessly incorporates that storyline without it being the main focus and avoids the cheesy cliches. The way Director and Writer Tayarisha Poe communicates teen life realistically helps it feel less like a cheesy teen movie such as Netflix’s “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” and “The Kissing Booth.”

As someone who loves the technical elements of movies like lighting, framing, sounds and sets, I can easily say that this movie would have to place in my personal top 10 movie list. Every scene was creatively shot using dozens of different and original perspectives. “Selah and the Spades” easily captures emotion and story in each of the movie’s shots. In addition to this, emotions in each scene are clearly communicated through dramatic sound changes between scenes and dramatic yet natural lighting. They used natural sounds instead of dead silence and natural lighting like windows, flashlights and lamps instead of studio lights which makes the movie feel more realistic. This movie effectively communicates the message and emotion through camera techniques, sound and lighting like a good movie should. 

The outstanding quality of the technical elements is matched with the outstanding acting also present in the movie. Every actor in this movie was professional, classy, convincing and emotion-filled. The cast was accurately diverse which is more realistic than many teen movies that ignore diversity in high school structure. 

If you’re looking for a movie that’s especially relevant and realistic to high school life that will have you feeling every emotion, I highly recommend “Selah and the Spades.” With spectacular technical elements, a surprising story and an outstanding cast, “Selah and the Spades” is a must see movie. Tayarisha Poe is definitely a director and writer to keep your eye on.