''The Blackcoat's Daughter'' (also known as ''February'') is a 2015

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

psychological horror Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre freque ...

film written and directed by

Osgood Perkins James Ridley Osgood Perkins (May 16, 1892 – September 21, 1937) was an American actor. Life and career Perkins was born in West Newton, Massachusetts, son of Henry Phelps Perkins Jr., and his wife, Helen Virginia (née Anthony). His maternal ...

in his feature-length directorial debut. The film stars

Emma Roberts Emma Rose Roberts (born February 10, 1991) Additional on October 9, 2016 is an American actress, singer and producer. Known for her performances spanning multiple genres of film and television, her work in the horror film, horror and thriller ...

Kiernan Shipka Kiernan Brennan Shipka (born November 10, 1999) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as List of Mad Men characters#Sally Draper, Sally Draper in the AMC (TV channel), AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), and Sabrina Spe ...

Lucy Boynton Lucy Boynton (born 17 January 1994) is an American-born English actress. Born in New York City and raised in London, she made her professional debut as the young Beatrix Potter in ''Miss Potter'' (2006). She appeared in television productions ...

Lauren Holly Lauren Michael Holly (born October 28, 1963) is an American actress. She has played the roles of Deputy Sheriff Maxine Stewart in the television series ''Picket Fences'', NCIS Director Jenny Shepard in the series '' NCIS'', and Dr. Betty Rogers ...

, and

James Remar William James Remar (born December 31, 1953) is an American actor. He has played numerous roles over a 45-year career, most notably Ajax in '' The Warriors'' (1979), Albert Ganz in '' 48 Hrs.'' (1982), Dutch Schultz in '' The Cotton Club'' (198 ...

. The film premiered at the

2015 Toronto International Film Festival The 40th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 September 2015. On 28 July 2015 the first wave of films to be screened at the Festival was announced. Jean-Marc Vallée's ''Demolition'' starring Jake Gyllenhaal and N ...

before it was released through

video-on-demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting ...

on February 16, 2017, by

DirecTV Cinema DirecTV Cinema (previously known as Direct Ticket, Blockbuster Ticket, Blockbuster Pay-Per-View Movies, and DirecTV Pay-Per-View) is DirecTV's video on demand and pay-per-view platform for film content. Films are released as is done on other pay- ...

. It was released theatrically in the United States on March 31, 2017, by

A24 A24 Films LLC, commonly referred to as A24, is an American Privately held company, independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. The studio is based in Manhattan. The company ...

. The film received generally positive reviews.

Plot

The plot is split into three timelines. The first two, "Rose" and "Joan", intercut between each other before a third timeline, "Kat", is introduced and comprises the film's climax. Rose In February, students at the prestigious Bramford Academy, a Catholic

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

, are about to be picked up by their parents for a week-long break. Kat, a freshman, and Rose, a senior student, are left behind. Suspecting she may be pregnant, Rose has lied to her parents about the vacation dates to buy time. Kat has a premonitory dream of her parents dying in a car crash. That night, Rose departs with her boyfriend to inform him of the pregnancy. Meanwhile, Kat receives a call. Hours later, Rose returns and finds Kat in the boiler room, repeatedly prostrating before the boiler. Kat speaks cryptically and claims her parents are dead, disturbing Rose. After Rose leaves, Kat's body starts convulsing and contorting in bed. The next morning, Rose and a sickly-looking Kat join the nuns for breakfast, where Kat behaves erratically, vomits, and curses at the nuns. After receiving an alarming phone call, the nuns order Rose to shovel the driveway "down to the earth" for the abrupt return of Headmaster Gordon. Gordon arrives with a policeman; as they enter the nuns' cabin, a bloodstain is seen on the wall, and the men react with shock to something offscreen. Joan A young woman, Joan, arrives at a bus stop after escaping a

mental institution A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe mental disorders. These institutions cater to patients with ...

. A friendly older man named Bill offers her a ride with him and his wife Linda. They stop at a motel and Joan showers, revealing a scar on her shoulder. A flashback shows her being shot by a policeman. Bill tells Joan that he picked her up because she reminded him of his deceased daughter, revealed to be Rose – the next day will be the ninth anniversary of Rose's death, on which her parents visit Bramford every year. Joan recognizes Rose's name and retreats to the bathroom, where she suppresses laughter. Joan is revealed to be a

fake name A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's ow ...

; the real Joan was a woman she killed to steal her ID. Kat During the days leading up to winter break, Kat is in contact with an

entity An entity is something that Existence, exists as itself. It does not need to be of material existence. In particular, abstractions and legal fictions are usually regarded as entities. In general, there is also no presumption that an entity is Lif ...

depicted alternately as a horned shadow and a gravelly voice on the phone. This entity informs her of her parents' impending death, and instructs her to kill everyone. After breakfast, the nuns receive a phone call informing them that Kat's parents have died. After Rose is dismissed to shovel the driveway, Kat murders both nuns. She pursues Rose; shortly after Rose has her

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Period (punctuation) * Era, a length or span of time *Menstruation, commonly referred to as a "period" Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (o ...

, confirming she is not pregnant, Kat stabs her to death and beheads her. Gordon and the policeman find Kat prostrating in front of the boiler again, with the severed heads of her three victims next to her. She exclaims "

Hail Satan ''Hail Satan'', sometimes Latinisation (literature), Latinized as ''Ave Satanas'' or ''Ave Satana'', is an exclamation used by some Satanism, Satanists to invoke the name of Satan in contexts ranging from sincere expression to comedy or satire. ...

!" before the policeman shoots her in the shoulder, revealing that "Joan" is Kat. Kat is detained in a

mental hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe mental disorders. These institutions cater to patients with ...

, where a priest performs an

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be do ...

. The exorcism is seemingly successful, but Kat begs the

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

not to leave her before it vanishes. "Joan", the Kat of nine years later, murders Bill and Linda when they pull over in Bramford. She beheads their corpses and brings the heads to the boiler room of the academy, seemingly in an effort to summon the demon she lost years ago. However, she finds the boiler cold and unused. Now completely alone, she leaves the academy and breaks down crying in the middle of the road.

Cast

Production

Although the film only received a wide release after ''

I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House ''I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House'' is a 2016 Gothic supernatural horror film written and directed by Osgood Perkins. It stars Ruth Wilson as a live-in nurse who suspects her elderly employer's house may be haunted, and also features ...

'' was shown, ''The Blackcoat's Daughter'' was filmed first, making it Perkins' debut film. Perkins noted that he intended to "tell a sad story" about loss, and used the horror genre and the possession subgenre, as a "

Trojan Horse In Greek mythology, the Trojan Horse () was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer, Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending ...

". Perkins noted that he could have made the film without this but felt its omission would have resulted in the audience's engagement with the story being different.

Financing Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm use ...

the film was particularly difficult, and Perkins attributed this to the "slumping" success of the horror genre, since the script was completed in 2012 but filming did not begin until 2015. Even though those to whom Perkins showed the script were enthusiastic about it, many of them believed that it would be impossible to make. After the casting of

and Emma Roberts was announced in April 2014 and the casting of Lucy Boynton, Lauren Holly, and James Remar was announced in February 2015, production began.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

for the film began in February 2015 in

Kemptville Kemptville is a community located in the Municipality of North Grenville in Eastern Ontario, Canada in the northernmost part of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. It is located approximately south of the downtown core of Ottawa and ...

, Ontario, Canada and the film's soundtrack was scored by Perkins' brother,

Elvis Perkins Elvis Brooke Perkins (born February 9, 1976) is an American folk-rock musician. He released his debut studio album, ''Ash Wednesday'', in 2007. He subsequently toured in support of the album with his band Elvis Perkins in Dearland, composed of ...

, a singer-songwriter. Perkins had never written a

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

before, and he found the medium confining, noting that the restrictions "almost killed him".

Release

The film had its premiere at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

on September 12, 2015. Shortly after,

and

acquired US distribution rights to the film. The Canadian distribution rights were acquired by ABMO Films. The film had its US premiere at the

Fantastic Fest Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas, focused on fantasy, horror, sci-fi, action and cult films, the largest genre festival in the United States. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse. Lisa Dreyer ...

on September 24, 2015. In November 2015, it was announced that the film had sold to various international territories at the AFM, including the United Kingdom, France, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Poland, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Middle East. The film was retitled from ''February'' to ''The Blackcoat's Daughter''. The film was scheduled to be released by

on July 14, 2016. This was pushed back to August 25, 2016, before opening in a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

on September 30. The film was then pulled from the schedule and pushed back to an undisclosed 2017 date. It was released on February 16, 2017, through

, before being released on March 31, 2017, in a

and through

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...

. On Netflix UK, it was released under the title ''February''.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

the film has an approval rating of 87%, based on 77 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10, and the site's consensus of the film reads: "Slow-building and atmospheric, ''The Blackcoat's Daughter'' resists girls-in-peril clichés in a supernatural thriller that serves as a strong calling card for debuting writer-director Oz Perkins." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a score of 68 out of 100, based on reviews from 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Leslie Felperin of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' wrote: "As with so many of the best mystery-horror films, the optimum way to enjoy a first viewing of this is try to remain as ignorant as possible about what happens. That said, it also brims with tiny, blink-and-you'll-miss-them details that will repay repeat viewings." Joe Leydon of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' magazine wrote: "In addition to everything else he does right in ''The Blackcoat's Daughter'', Perkins plays fair: When you replay the movie in your mind after the final fadeout, you realize that every twist was dutifully presaged, and the final reveal was hidden in plain sight all along." It was included in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' list of "13 Scariest Horror Movies to Watch" in 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackcoat's Daughter 2015 horror thriller films 2010s psychological horror films 2015 psychological thriller films 2010s supernatural films 2015 films 2015 horror films American horror thriller films 2015 independent films American psychological horror films American psychological thriller films American supernatural horror films American supernatural thriller films Canadian horror thriller films Canadian psychological horror films Canadian supernatural horror films Demons in film English-language Canadian films Films about exorcism Films about Satanism Films set in New York (state) Films set in schools Films set in boarding schools Films shot in Ottawa American religious horror films Canadian religious horror films Films directed by Oz Perkins 2015 directorial debut films 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films 2010s American films English-language horror thriller films English-language independent films