Lick The Star

Lick the Star, the first project written and directed by filmmaker Sofia Coppola, is a 14-minute black and white short film shot in 16mm and centres around a group of four girls and their cunning plan to weaken to boys.

For Coppola, the film would work as a platform for some of her later work, laying the foundations for themes which would influence her going forward such as the feelings of loneliness, anxiety, segregation and isolation. The plot of the film revolves around a close clique of four girls who devise a plan to weaken the boys at their school with arsenic. The warped, devious plan is to slowly poison the boys through their lunches which has been inspired by the “queen bee” Chloe’s obsession with the novel Flowers in the Attic.

“As the plan progresses the history class discusses slavery,” the synopsis reads. “Chloe makes a chance remark, about realising that her friendship with Nadine, who is black, would not have been possible as she would have been a slave. A case of broken telephone creates a gossip ring that leads to Chloe’s eventual downfall.”

The cast, meanwhile, is relatively unknown but two familiar faces in Peter Bogdanovich and Zoe Cassavetes appear as the school principal and PE teacher. For those eagerly observant among us, you’ll notice that Coppola’s own eye also appears in one dream-like shot.