Interesting story. A wealthy girl rebelling against her family wakes up on a strange island where she'll be trained to be a perfecr wife. Of course she doesn't take to it too kindly but she can't escape and waits to see what happens.

The subject is interesting, but you never quite know what is happening. If it was only because the mystery is part of the story, it would be fine, but it's also because most of the time the characters' reactions are really strange, pretty far from what one would do in their situation. In the beginning Milla Jovovich's character, the duchess, the director of the facility, seems to present it as "just stay there and see, it's nothing bad, please give it a try". OK, why not. Then there's the weird session on the mechanical horse that looks like pure brainwashing, but they say it was an error and they couldn't stop it. Maybe. But after it happens to everybody ? And after several sessions ? It also appears quite fast that they are prisonners and that the guards won't hesitate to manhandle them. How can all the girls just stay contently and have normal polite conversations with the duchess ? Why play the game and keep the appearance of cooperation ? It should also be clear really fast that [spoiler]they are drugged every night[/spoiler], but there's almost no reaction to that. How can they cooperate so nicely with their own brainwashing, even if they think it's not working ? That makes no sense from the beginning to the end. The main girls reaction becomes a little more rebellious when they realize that they could be really hurt, but come on, you've known for weeks that they were trying to brainwash you and that didn't elicit any reaction ? So that's really weird.

Another bad point is that the movie doesn't actually start by Uma awakening on the island, where the spectator would have been at the same information level as her, but there's first a scene from after she got out. This breaks the story for me as it is obvious it wouldn't be shown if there wasn't going to be a change after that. Even more after [spoiler]Amarna's song scene, that show that the song sung at the wedding is a rebellion act[/spoiler]. Every second of what happens when we're back after the first scene is 100% predictable, and this, even before seeing the island part. The simple fact that the movie starts here gives it away instantly. That really sucks.


Apart from this weird behavior, story and characters are ok. The interactions between the main girls are well thought. The visual style is very nice, with somptuous decors. The way the island works and the gradual discovery of what really happens is well handled. The meals, the robes, the music, the sessions on the horse, the island itself, every thing fits well and create a nice original universe.
Just one thing on the look, why does Uma needs this ton of makeup on and look like a clown ? It could be understandable if it was a fashion choice because it's in a futuristic and different world, so beauty cannons could be different (à la Hunger Games), but the others aren't, they look natural, specially Amarna that is a celebrity and is probably the perfect example of what beauty looks like in this world.
On the story point of view the appearance of [spoiler]Uma's lover[/spoiler] is a little useless. It's obvious that there's no way he could get in here, so it's a direct giveaway.

I also have mixed feelings on the ending part. It gives the same feeling as the girls behavior during the whole thing. A little surprising, a lot of totally predictable, and a lot of makes no sense. So the good, surprising part: [spoiler]they're not really brainwashing them, they're training replacement[/spoiler]. OK, that's interesting, I was more going for [spoiler]clones or robots[/spoiler] during the movie, I like being surprised. However, [spoiler]Yu's replacement makes total sense, and there's absolutely not a single shred of reason for Uma's to endanger herself that way[/spoiler].

The reveal on the duchess ([spoiler]she's a dryad like creature[/spoiler]) could have been interesting if it was used in the movie, but it is never. Yeah there are some suggestions that something is different about her, but it could also simply come from the place. We don't know if [spoiler]this kind of creature is common in this world or if she's a really weird thing[/spoiler], her specificities are never used and it just looks like a [spoiler]convenient way to get rid of the bodies[/spoiler].

In conclusion a nice idea and universe, a great work on the style, but some parts of the story are really not natural. Good job for a first movie though.