There’s no doubt that Selah and the Spades is a unique high school drama. Its story is infused with the Mafia’s influence and subtle teenage angst, such as the desire to fit in and the melodrama of having to be perfect, all in a rarefied setting. For example, the protagonist, 17-year-old Selah, played by the dynamic newcomer, Lovie Simone, looks at herself in the mirror and practices smiling, even though that doesn’t necessarily reflect how she feels.

The desire to feel fit in is a universal woe among us all, but what the movie captures is that there’s more burning beneath the surface than just the need to be accepted. Selah wants to become someone powerful, and she refuses to let anyone take that away from her, especially because she is only 17. Her eyes, fixated directly into the camera, let the world know she means business. Her motto: “When you’re 17, you’ve got to grab control wherever you can.”

Taking place in the northeastern private and prestigious Haldwell boarding school, there are five factions that reign: the Seas; the Skins; the Prefects; the Bobbys, who are the rivals for the ruling clique: last but not least, the Spades. If it’s one thing the student body knows they can get from the Spades, it’s drugs. While Selah runs operations, her partner, Maxxie (Jharrel Jerome), obtains the drugs. Aside from risking their own lives to attain their products, they threaten the student body by beating up those who have not paid.

The two soon meet Haldwell newcomer, Paloma (Celeste O’Connor), who is also a photographer. Thanks to Paloma’s complementary snapshots of Selah, the two embark on a mentorship. When Maxxie gets into trouble, Paloma takes over the role of lieutenant to Selah. Paloma is at first innocent, trusting, and optimistic. Selah is confident, controlling, but does not want to lose her grip on her empire. When her power starts to unravel, she lowers her guard, and we see a sad, lonely girl who wants to hurt others because perhaps she’s really hurt herself.

The performances are definitely worth giving the film a try, and writer/director Tayarisha Poe’s dialogue is compelling and sharp. When the characters speak to one another, they negotiate business, and perhaps war strategies. The delivery of the conversations flows like a steady beat between each teen. Additionally, the combination of violence and dark comedy works because it depicts how the struggle for power could influence us at any age, and perhaps implies it is a human instinct to protect our wants and desires at any irrevocable cost.

Selah and the Spades stands out from other films in the teen genre for its characters, dialogue, and pared down setting. It refreshingly doesn’t centralize around love and romance but portrays interactions in an alarmingly strategic and hierarchical manner. Ultimately though, the open-ended finale gives viewers their own interpretation. Mine was: I hope everything is going to be okay.