Savage Flowers (2025) World Premiere at CIFF London | Film Review

Savage Flowers (2025)

Thriller, Coming-of-age

Directed by Brad Watson

The Worst Monsters are our own making, Savage Flowers (2025) is set in an infected dystopian world where children are the carriers. In an attempt to protect her, a young orphan is sent to find sanctuary at a ramshackle foster home by her father. Adapting to her new home she soon discovers it’s not the world outside that she should fear. It’s the girls she’s inside with.

It is incredibly powerful to watch a film that explores the complexities of girlhood, at its core Savage Flowers is a story of female resilience, friendship and power. The girls in this film are left to their own devices, left to fend for themselves and discover what they are capable of. With this comes natural conflict, watching the girls navigate their moral compass and tackle what is considered right and wrong was incredibly interesting. Savage Flowers, similar to films like Lord of the Flies (1963) dissects the concept of civilisation vs bestial nature. When people are isolated from civilization, they become animals, lacking human sensibility. 

The themes and execution of Savage Flowers reminded me of Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides (1999). Both tales are somewhat coming-of-age, watching a group of young girls navigating life, adapting and growing up. Both films delve into themes of obsession and grief, I found these parallels to be strong and compelling. Although Savage Flowers (2025) might sound light hearted, a group of young girls hiding in a foster home but the film is quite the opposite. Savage Flowers (2025) is true to its name, it is a savage film. The storyline develops into something dark, a looming commentary on loneliness, power and greed - Lily is the character who fuels all the hatred through the film and I loved her character development. 

Olivia-Mai Barrett as Rose and Maddie Mills as Lily were the stand out characters and performances, their characters had a strong conflict which kept me on my toes. Their relationship was strained, Rose being the newcomer to the group and Lily being the overpowering bully who keeps everyone in their place. I liked the cat and mouse game between them with the other girls stuck in the crossfire. Rose and Lily were the glue holding this film's story together and they performed brilliantly. I would also like to add the clever nuance in the girls' names that I noticed. Both Rose and Lily are named after flowers but distinctly oppose the typical association with their flowers. Rose, is the gentle, approachable, kind hearted character and Lily is the sharp, angry and temperamental character. I really liked this subtle sense of storytelling through something as simple as their names. 

The film's end was slightly anticlimactic and I found myself longing for more information, I needed more answers to the girls' backgrounds, their intentions and their plans for the future after the events of the film. In saying that, maybe I was invested in these characters and wanting to know more is a positive reflection on the film but I couldn’t help wondering what’s next for them? How were they going to work together and protect themselves from the outside world? The film started with high stakes, high tension and endless possibilities, I had no idea how the story was going to develop and what was going to transpire but when everything should have fallen into place it just ended. 

Savage Flowers (2025) surprised me. I was incredibly excited to experience this film's world premiere on the big screen at London’s Cine International Film Festival and overall I was drawn into the story but more specifically its characters. Savage Flowers (2025) is gripping and thrilling at times, some moments more enticing than others but nonetheless an interesting dive into female dynamics and survival.

Probe Points

★★★☆☆