At the heart of this wicked, disturbing, and often uncomfortable tale is a truly exceptional young cast that includes Florence Baker as Ragna, Luke Barker as Fred, Samuel D. Anderson as Ben, and Ksenia Devriendt as Elsa. However, spearheading the deeply unsettling atmosphere of Club Zero is the formidable performance of Mia Wasikowska. Club Zero arrives in selected cinemas nationwide on December 6.
Warning: Club Zero contains discussions and imagery relating to eating disorders that may be upsetting and triggering.
You won’t often find me quoting the bible when writing about a film. Still, in the case of Jessica Hausner’s eerie and uncomfortable Club Zero, one biblical quote from Matthew 7:15 immediately came to mind: “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
Miss Novak (Mia Wasikowska), a newly arrived teacher at a prestigious boarding school whose speciality is a deadly programme called “conscious eating,” is just such a wolf in sheep’s clothing. She is a gentle and unassuming prophet who carries messages that a small, vulnerable group of students are ready to hear, starting with “The slower you eat, the less food you’ll need” and then progressing to “eating destroys the planet and your body” before culminating in “You don’t need to eat!” But why are her young students ready to hear this message? In one way or another, they are all outsiders, each seeking connection, meaning and friendship. One cares passionately about the environment and believes the world will end without direct action, while another seeks security. At the same time, one wants to detach from consumerism, and another sees a potential school scholarship as the only route to success.
Every young person attracted to Miss Novak is searching for meaning, belonging and security, and this false prophet plays on their needs from the minute she arrives.
Jessica Hausner’s films thrive on ambiguity; her characters are colourful and beautifully crafted as she explores themes of emotional, psychological, and physical connection, as well as reality versus fantasy, and love versus obsession. From Lourdes (2009) to Little Joe (2019), Hausner’s films sit in a world that is both recognisable and obscure. Club Zero is yet another example of her ability to create a world that feels both uncomfortable and familiar, as well as nebulous and lucid.
In Hausner’s world, parents ship their kids off to a school that allows them to live free from the hassles of parenting (a familiar theme in many boarding school dramas). All but one of those parents, a loving and gentle working-class mum (Amanda Lawrence), seems oblivious to their kids finding meaning and purpose in the company of a false prophet. Here, Hausner takes a razor-sharp scalpel to absent, lazy parents who ultimately view their children as trophies of their own success and wealth, rather than as individuals who need their love, care, and company. However, the school, its teachers, and leaders don’t get away scot-free either. It is an educational establishment built on its outward image, from the strict androgynous uniforms to a head (Sidse Babett Knudsen) far more concerned with business than the young people in her care. This is a school where staff gossip, but no one speaks their mind; parent governors approve teaching appointments yet ignore their own kids, and false prophets thrive on a culture of silence.
At the heart of this wicked, disturbing, and often uncomfortable tale is a truly exceptional young cast that includes Florence Baker as Ragna, Luke Barker as Fred, Samuel D. Anderson as Ben, and Ksenia Devriendt as Elsa. However, spearheading the deeply unsettling atmosphere of Club Zero is the formidable performance of Mia Wasikowska. Quiet and unassuming yet devious, manipulative, and deadly, Miss Novak holds the impenetrable beliefs and psychological skills that make all false prophets and cult leaders dangerous to those seeking answers, connection, and love. As she preaches, she slowly turns each young person into a gaunt, hollowed-out version of the teenager they once were, becoming the centre of their world and the only person who can steer their course.
What is her endgame? Club Zero isn’t concerned with the end, but the journey that leads to it —a journey that is as cold and brutal as the architecture of a school where our kids first met Miss Novak and she found her eager disciples.
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