Set in a privileged world of rich young Italians, this drama follows the lives of four beautiful teenage girls and their charismatic queen who plots sexual revenge on a teacher she both likes and hates.

It is an unusually pop selection for a film festival, but why shouldn’t an admittedly derivative film (think Dangerous Liaisons meets the seemingly hundreds of Hollywood “rich kids in high school” dramas made over the years) be included, especially since it is vastly entertaining, socially biting and surprisingly dark? Elena, Michaela, Alice and Livia — four impossibly beautiful girls — attend high school among other upper-middle-class and rich Italians. Their lives revolve around school, casual sex, shopping binges and raucous parties. The gang’s leader is the charismatic, raven-haired Elena (Chiara Chiti) — part innocent little girl, part temptress and part scheming, cynical bitch. Elena is used to getting anything she wants — from her adoring friends, doting parents and subservient teachers — but when one of her new teachers, the masculine and attractive Mario (Filippo Nigro), sees through her, she plots a strangely sick, sexual game of revenge. While still pop, A Game for Girls carries more weight than its American counterparts, offering both a fast-paced story as well as a searing social drama and an indictment on the moralistic corruption of the Italian upper classes. (Italian with English subtitles) -- Raymond Murray