Killer Queen
2026 · 2m
Directed by Lola Duval
Genres: coming-of-age, drama, thriller
Tones: contemplative, dark, tense
Lily gets ready for her prom, convinced this night will be decisive; as the school celebrates youth, beauty, and popularity, the invisible tensions structuring this adolescent world reveal the hidden violence behind an idealized tradition.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Killer Queen does the obvious thing—dark coming-of-age thriller subverting prom mythology—and executes it competently, but there's nothing here that makes me lean forward and think 'wait, what?' It's the film everyone expects it to be.
Duval demonstrates formal control in a tense two minutes, situating herself within the lineage of adolescent-as-pressure-cooker cinema; the restraint is admirable, though the premise itself has been well-trodden since Heathers.
What elevates this is the invisible tensions—Duval commits fully to suggesting rather than showing the violence, and that sound design choice (or edit rhythm, or the specific performance beat she's chosen) is what transforms a familiar premise into something that actually breathes with real dread.