Selah and the Spades

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Selah and the Spades

R

2019

1h 37m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

87%

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113 Reviews

46%

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50+ Ratings

Five factions run the underground life of a prestigious east coast boarding school. The head of The Spades walks a fine line between being feared and being loved.

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Critics Consensus

A smart, well-acted, and refreshingly messy coming-of-age story, Selah and the Spades suggests a bright future for debuting writer-director Tayarisha Poe.

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Tim Robey

Daily Telegraph (UK)

It has a woozy, suggestive grip, dangling some questions, answering others. It isn't slick. It's singular - and Poe is clearly a name to watch.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 27, 2020

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Steve Pond

TheWrap

Poe's feature debut, though, has a style all its own, spare but rich and able to make the umpteenth teen movie we've all seen feel fresh.

Apr 28, 2020

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Charlotte O'Sullivan

London Evening Standard

Poe - a new kid on the block who already feels like a major talent - calls a spade a spade but manages to be dreamily oblique, right to the end.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 21, 2020

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Marya E. Gates

Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack)

Poe’s film has a VOICE and she is master at world building,

Feb 13, 2024

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Nuha Hassan

Nuha Hassan (Medium)

Whether they are personal stories or a mixture of influential movies, Selah and the Spades is a fresh perspective of a genre that is quite the opposite of its predecessors.

Jul 20, 2023

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M.N. Miller

Ready Steady Cut

Poe’s debut feature is a highly stylized and engaging Juvenalian satire about today’s political climate that plays it too safe with its finale.

Rated: 3.5/5

Aug 28, 2022

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Audience Member

With an extremely interesting and refreshing point of view, Selah and the Spades intelligently narrates the quasi-criminalistic divisions in a school and, although it feels a bit exaggerated at times, it does its job by painting a portrait of the youthful confusion brought to life by the great work of its young cast.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Dialogue was not that great, but some of the visuals and scenes following Selah is amazing. Refreshing and different type of teen movie

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

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Audience Member

Whatever this movie was trying to be, it wasn't. By the time anything interesting starts happening, the movie ends.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

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Audience Member

The camera movement added amazingly with the background sound made the movie unique and outstanding, the entire directing was inspiring and the acting was 10/10 too.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The entire movie falls flat. It tries to cultivate this intrigue and mystique but is more like a high school acting class- where not even the actors are convinced of what they are doing. Painful waste. Like trying to show gang violence on a rich boarding school level.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

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Audience Member

A tale about high-school intrigue and betrayal that sometimes takes itself a little too seriously... which is true to the spirit of adolescence in general. Lingering, stylistic, and ultimately a refreshing watch.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

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Tayarisha Poe

Director

Lovie Simone

Selah

Jharrel Jerome

Maxxie

Celeste O'Connor

Paloma

Ana Mulvoy-Ten

Bobby

Jesse Williams

Headmaster

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New on Amazon Prime Video in April 2020

Selah and the Spades: Trailer 1

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Selah and the Spades: Teaser Trailer

1:35

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Synopsis

Five factions run the underground life of a prestigious east coast boarding school. The head of The Spades walks a fine line between being feared and being loved.

Director: Tayarisha Poe
Producer: Jill Ahrens, Drew P. Houpt, Lucas Joaquin, Lauren McBride, Tayarisha Poe
Screenwriter: Tayarisha Poe
Production Co: Cinereach, Argent Pictures, MVMT, Novel Pictures, Secret Engine
Rating: R (Language|Teen Drug Content)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 17, 2020
Runtime: 1h 37m

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