Poe’s film has a VOICE and she is master at world building,

| Feb 13, 2024

Whether they are personal stories or a mixture of influential movies, Selah and the Spades is a fresh perspective of a genre that is quite the opposite of its predecessors.

| Jul 20, 2023

Poe’s debut feature is a highly stylized and engaging Juvenalian satire about today’s political climate that plays it too safe with its finale.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 28, 2022

A strong sense of style is on full display and makes for a fascinating watch, but occasionally overshadows the story.

| Original Score: 7/10 | May 20, 2022

There's enough here to keep my interest for the hour and a half running time. But there were a lot of potential to go into some darker places but they held back. This was a great cast though.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 8, 2021

This story didn't have enough to really want me to rewatch it. I needed a stronger story if you're going to have such a good cast.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 8, 2021

"The film's ending gives no neat endings and no real conclusions, but I was drawn to the way it studies the exacting nature of black girlhood."

| Mar 19, 2021

ike her two young stars, Poe should prove to be worth watching in the years to come. There's enough to like about Selah and the Spades that it's enticing to think about what she could do with a stronger story.

| Original Score: 2 | Feb 28, 2021

The film doesn't have much narrative momentum. The various stories don't add up to much, and there doesn't ultimately seem to be anything at stake.

| Feb 17, 2021

Visually stunning and filled with charismatic performances, it is a mix-and-match of high school movie tropes and film noir crime drama.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 30, 2021

It has a woozy, suggestive grip, dangling some questions, answering others. It isn't slick. It's singular - and Poe is clearly a name to watch.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 27, 2020

Selah and the Spades is a tremendous directorial debut from Tayarisha Poe demonstrated with acerbic wit and also, a superb acting showcase for breakthrough star Lovie Simone.

| Oct 1, 2020

Poe's grasp of the world that she creates is impeccable.

| Original Score: 3.0/4.0 | Aug 31, 2020

Because Selah and the Spades takes the misstep of having a central character with such a dead personality ... this movie that is clearly inspired by Heathers won't ever be considered a cult classic like Heathers.

| Jul 16, 2020

Dead Poets Society meets All About Eve in this stylishly offbeat addition to the boarding school genre.

| May 23, 2020

Selah is a fully written and expertly directed character; she's a force to be reckoned with. She's strong, beautiful, bold, and driven by power.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 16, 2020

Somewhere within the bones of Selah and the Spades is a terrific high school movie but sadly, there's a feel of missed opportunity that permeates this frustratingly opaque film.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 11, 2020

The film seems more interested in the brilliance of its image and in the vanity game of its characters than in constructing a complex story. [Full Review in Spanish]

| May 1, 2020

Poe's steady hand keeps the balance between realistic teen drama and the crime genre, allowing its examination of melodrama surrounding betrayal, rule-breaking and power-grabs to breathe true.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Apr 30, 2020

Writer-director Tayarisha Poe's film is worthy, but like Tales From the Loop, purports to be deeper than it really is.

| Apr 28, 2020