Movie review
June 23, 2017 · 93 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for The Beguiled.
Woke representation / casting
All-white cast aligns with the historical Southern setting; no audience-visible identity signaling or quota-style choices.
Woke political dialogue
No modern activist or identity-based dialogue present.
Identity-driven story themes
Story centers on historical gender dynamics and personal rivalries without modern identity politics.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Explores repression and desire in a period context; no activist-style critiques of patriarchy or Western norms.
Review
The Beguiled is a 2017 Southern Gothic drama set at a Virginia girls’ boarding school during the Civil War. An injured Union soldier is taken in by the women and girls there, sparking sexual tension, jealousy, and power struggles. Sofia Coppola adapted the story to center on female perspectives and intimate dynamics in a confined historical setting, with no modern activist framing or identity themes visible to viewers.
Woke character or canon changes
Removal of the slave character was presented as avoiding stereotypes, not an ideological addition; ordinary adaptation choice.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No documented anti-woke or right-leaning complaints about activist messaging.
Creator track record context
Coppola’s body of work focuses on women’s inner lives; classical female-centric storytelling without recurring DEI or identity activism.
Production
