Alena – ABC Film Challenge – Comic Book/Graphic Novel – D (Daniel di Grado) – Alena – Movie Review

Director: Daniel di Grado

Writer: Kerstin Gezelius, Alexander Onofri, Daniel di Grado (Screenplay)

Writer: Kim W Andersson (Graphic Novel)

Cast

• Amalia Holm (Fort Salem)
• Rebecka Nyman
• Helena Af Sandeberg
• Johan Ehn
• Molly Nutley

Plot: When Alena arrives at her new elite boarding school, Filippa and the other girls start to harass her. But Alena’s best friend Josefin won’t let her take anymore beating. If she won’t strike back, Josefin will do it for her. Hard.

Runtime: 1 Hour 23 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Alena starts when young Alena (Holm) joins a new boarding school. She is the outsider of the school, with Filippa (Nutley) leading the bullying against her, despite warnings from above. However, meeting fellow outsider Josefin (Nyman) sees the attitude change and a more rebellious side come through.

As Alena starts trying to adapt to the changes in her life, a new aggressive side appears. One that sees the bullies facing the consequences of their actions. However, the mystery about what is causing it remains up in the air.

Verdict on Alena

Alena is a horror thriller following a new boarding school student who comes face to face with bullies. However, another student shows her how to deal with them, leading to a series of bloody events around the school.

This is a horror that gets to dive into the typical high school dynamics of bullying. However, it brings a more disturbing revenge to those behind it. It uses the horror creation and the mystery about Alena’s past to help highlight what the problems might be. This is based on a graphic novel so expect a few larger-than-life characters along the way too. It ends up feeling fun in a horror way as we wait to see where things will go next.

Final Thoughts –Alena is an over-the-top high school revenge movie.