Tanner Hall opens beautifully. As Fernanda (Rooney Mara) is driven to boarding school she recalls an event from childhood which taught her that bad things don’t just happen, sometimes people do bad things; danger exists inside everyone. Ok, so it’s kinda clunky foreshadowing but I’m willing to suspend disbelief because everything happening onscreen—the scenery, the people—is so darn pretty. The prettiness continues, but sadly the suspension of disbelief does not. One contrived scene upon the next conspires to make even Amy Sedaris (playing house mum Mrs. Middlewood) annoying. I know. The directors (Tatiana von Furstenberg and Francesca Gregorini) did go to boarding school and I didn’t, but that doesn’t take away the fact that the shower scene is gratuitous. The most fulfilling character portrayal is of Lucasta (Amy Ferguson), who grapples with complex feelings toward Hank (Shawn Pyfrom).
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