KSanders writesOutside and Inside: “Paradise Hills”

writte by Kyle Sanders

"We are our best when we are ourselves."

So says The Duchess, the flamboyant headmistress (played by Milla Jovovich doing her best "June Cleaver dressed as Effie Trinket") of the mysterious Paradise Hills, a school for the "not like other girls" girls. Yet this quote contradicts her maddening methods meant to help rebellious young women become the spitting image of perfection (or at least to disapproving families or impending husbands).

It's a quote the film should have listened to a bit more closely, as Paradise Hills does not seem to know its true self and therefore, is not quite the best its concept sets out to be.

The film opens with a sweeping bird's eye view shot of new bride Uma (Emma Roberts), serenading her husband with a song at their wedding reception. The film establishes the lavish world Uma lives in with the help of some impressively elaborate costumes and props (we see a floating car driving off from the festivities straight out of Back to the Future: Part II) but it's unclear if this is some sort of dystopian future or not-of-this-planet fantasy.

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