Paradise Hills (film)

Paradise Hills is a 2019 American-Spanish fantasy drama film, directed by Alice Waddington in her directorial debut. It stars Emma Roberts, Danielle Macdonald, Awkwafina, Eiza González, Milla Jovovich, and Jeremy Irvine.

It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2019.

Cast

 * Emma Roberts as Uma
 * Danielle Macdonald as Chloe
 * Awkwafina as Yu
 * Eiza González as Amarna
 * Milla Jovovich as The Duchess
 * Jeremy Irvine as Markus
 * Arnaud Valois as Son
 * Daniel Horvath as Favorite I

Production
In November 2017, Emma Roberts and Danielle Macdonald joined the cast of the film, with Alice Waddington directing from a screenplay by Nacho Vigalondo and Brian DeLeeuw, with Adrián Guerra and Núria Valls producing under their Nostromo Pictures banner. In March 2018, Eiza González joined the cast of the film. In April 2018, Milla Jovovich, Jeremy Irvine, and Awkwafina joined the cast of the film.

Filming
Principal photography began in April 2018.

Release
It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2019. Shortly after, Samuel Goldwyn Films acquired distribution rights to the film.

Reception
The film has received mixed reviews, with praise for its costumes, feminist approach and production design but criticism for the script. Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Words can't do justice to the truly lavish sets and costumes on display here which are so dazzling, intricate and bizarre they serve as a useful distraction (...) " Louisa Moore, writing for Screen Zealots, similarly stated " (...) is so well made and has something so interesting to say that it would be a crime not to applaud the effort." . Carlos Aguilar of The Wrap wrote: "Challenging the narrative frameworks, the film turns obsolete archetypes into individuals with agency. (...) Princesses don’t need a knight to escape their prisons; they can blow them up themselves". To date it holds an average rating of 67 percent (out of 100) on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.