The Falling

Fear of female sexuality is at the heart of this deliciously dreamy drama from writer/director Carol Morley. Set in a strict English girls' school in 1969, it finds a group of teens under the spell of a provocative, enigmatic peer (sensational newcomer Florence Pugh) whose husky tones and promiscuity set her apart. Her best friend (Maisie Williams) is particularly smitten, not least as the friendship is a salve against her turbulent home-life with an agoraphobic mother (Maxine Peake). When a tragedy occurs, it triggers a fainting epidemic among the pupils. Morley, who is best known for documentaries such as Dreams of a Life, crafts a bewitching and immersive allegory that's beautifully shot by Agnès Godard. Tracey Thorn's heady music marries the lure of nature with the characters' raging desire. And the performers excel, especially Monica Dolan, who plays the school's headmistress as a cross between Elizabeth Taylor and Margaret Thatcher, and a prickly, dowdy Greta Scacchi, cast shrewdly against type. The influences of Twin Peaks and Picnic at Hanging Rock are evident but The Falling remains quintessentially, gloriously British.