On a scholarship to the elite Parisan Ballet Academy, Kate (Diana Silvers) struggles at first to fit in at her new school.  Away from her home in Virgina, the former basketball player turned dancer tentatively makes some new friends and quickly makes enemies.  Tensions are high across the board for the pupils of Madame Brunelle (Jaqueline Bisset) as she puts them through a rigorous audition process for a contract with the Opéra National de Paris. 

Written and directed by Sarah Adina Smith, Birds of Paradise is a YA Thriller based on A. K. Small’s 2019 book.  Now streaming on Amazon Prime, it comes with all the trappings of the YA genre: a prestigious school, an air of mystery, adults that can’t be trusted, and of course raging hormones.  It does not do much to stand out from the crowded genre as far as the story elements go, but Smith and her team do create a visually interesting, albeit a bit repetitive, film. 

Borrowing its story greatly from Black Swan (2010) and atmosphere from Suspiria (2018), Birds of Paradise leaps right into the mysterious and endlessly theatrical world of ballet.  Rivalries and alliances are inevitable as the thirty-some dancers all compete for the prized contract that will be awarded to the top male and female dancer.  Smith’s script does a good job at introducing us to the ensemble cast, but the more intricate workings of their dynamics are somewhat underdeveloped. 

The driving relationship between Kate and Marine (Kristine Froseth) is well established as they quickly become frenemies.  Marine is the primadonna of the Academy, the daughter of the consulate and with a porcelain doll face, she is not without talent.  Forced to room with the boyish do-gooder, Kate, Marine has a dark and convoluted past ripped straight from the show notes of Riverdale that she slowly begins to reveal to her roommate.  The mystery helps frame some of the film, but the competition is still the driving force of the narrative.  As more of Mariane’s secrets come to light, or rather fall into the larger context of her family drama, a few of the plot points do play into the dance competition, but by and large her story is its own entity that takes up far too much time and adds little interest to the main story. 

Besides the two leads, the film does introduce us to a few other key players.  Gia (Eva Lomby) has an absolute heart of gold and is one of the few truly genuine people in Kate’s orbit.  The script does not do much to support their dynamic and it is strange that while Kate largely ignores Gia, she is often one of Kate’s fiercest supporters.  Then there is Filipe (Daniel Camargo), the key to the prize as the script will tell us.  He is the top male dancer in the class and his partner will almost certainly be awarded the female contract, too.  Filipe is aware of this and uses it to his own lustful advantage as the girls compete for his attention not just for an advantage in class, but because he is also the dreamy heartthrob at one point of every YA genre required love triangle.  Much like Gia, as a secondary character he is severely underdeveloped – even as far as empty-headed, handsome love interests are concerned.  While their roles may be thin, the acting from the entire ensemble cast is all fairly competent despite some cringeworthy moments, but those are mostly due to the sometimes absurd and often exaggerated stakes of the YA geared script.      

Birds of Paradise’s strongest and most consistent element is the set design.  Led by Pataki András, it is very well done with three distinct looks throughout the film.  Most of the 113-minute film takes place in the cozy, almost bohemian styled dorm rooms where the young dancers reside.  When class is done, they often sneak out to the hypnotic dance club, Jungle, which is probably the most enchanting of the three main locations.  Leave your tithing of €20 at the door, receive your communion from the saintly mother figure in the foyer, then and only then are you permitted to enter the neon-soaked dance floor covered in glitter and sweat.  The intercutting between what the dancers feel they are experiencing with the actual club atmosphere is one of the most visually striking parts of the entire film as they embrace the more primal, erotic aspects of the artform.  In stark comparison, the ballet room at the school is full of natural light, what walls, and floor length mirrors.  The dancers commit different sins in this room than they do in the club, envy and pride often get the best of them as they shed their relationships formed in passion for pursuit of their own selfish desire to be named the best. 

Birds of Paradise is, even with some of its striking visuals and costumes, fairly forgettable but thankfully not a chore to watch.  It is definitely skewed to a younger audience, but still mature for its demographic and refreshing to see it not rely on supernatural elements or dystopian settings.  At its core, it is a film about determination to overcome a corrupt system, and while it is surely flawed there is plenty to latch on to which makes it an enjoyable piece that is easily accessible through streaming.