The Sisters of Briar Glen (2025)
Lauren Clark
USA
Lauren Clark, Sarah Lawrence College
Duration:
14 minutes
a spoiler-free review by Kraken Film Reviews
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The Sisters of Briar Glen" is a student short film directed by Lauren Clark, an emerging filmmaker from Sarah Lawrence College.
Like many debut works from student directors, the film has certain limitations in terms of production scale and technical execution, but it also showcases promising creativity and ambition.
When four freshman girls at an elite college begin investigating their professor’s mysterious death, they uncover far more than they bargained for—a web of institutional misconduct, racism, and violence lurking beneath their school’s pristine facade.
The Sisters of Briar Glen, a student short film directed by Lauren Clark, follows this tight-knit group as their pursuit of the truth turns deadly. After one of their own becomes the next victim, the surviving trio must race to expose the school’s dark secrets before they, too, are silenced.
As an experimental project, “The Sisters of Briar Glen” presents several compelling qualities, particularly in its strong tonal and aesthetic influences.
The narrative style and visual approach are heavily inspired by classic teen dramas—most notably early-2010s series like Pretty Little Liars—imbuing the short with a nostalgic yet contemporary appeal.
While rough around the edges, the film demonstrates Clark’s potential as a director with a distinct voice in genre storytelling, weaving together the addictive mystery of PLL, the bold visual flair of “Riverdale”, and the self-aware thrills of “Scream Queens” into a promising debut.
The Sisters of Briar Glen reveals a thoughtful grasp of teen drama archetypes—the outsider, the skeptic, anxious overachiever, the idealist—each designed to mirror the complexities of adolescence.
There’s a commendable sincerity in how these roles are written and framed. Clark’s direction shows a keen eye for the genre’s emotional beats, particularly in quieter moments where body language and glances speak louder than dialogue.
Where the script particularly shines is in its willingness to let characters occupy moral gray areas—a student’s righteous investigation might mask selfish motives, or a vulnerable follower’s loyalty could tip into complicity. This complexity is hallmark of elevated teen drama (see: Cruel Summer’s shifting perspectives, Riverdale’s gothic hypocrisy), proving Clark’s ambition to transcend ‘whodunit’ into ‘who failed them’.
While some dialogue occasionally veers into exposition—a common pitfall when balancing mystery with character depth—the foundation here is sharp enough to suggest that with refinement.
This short balances a sort of playful aspect, with some more thriller and crime aspects.
When crafting a teen drama with horror elements, nailing the tonal balance is everything. Too serious, and you risk alienating your young audience with unrelenting grimness. Too playful, and the stakes feel weightless (Goosebumps for teens, but without the bite). The key? Anchoring your scares in emotional realism while letting the characters’ youth shine through.
Thrillers work when the danger ties to the characters’ identities. The threat should be personal. In Pretty Little Liars, the terror isn’t just "someone’s watching"—it’s "someone knows your secrets." Example: If a character’s phone lights up with a threatening text mid-party, the horror isn’t the message—it’s that the villain is in the room, weaponizing their social world.
In this case, the personal “tie” was connected to the deep relationship the students had with their professor, so the story is already hinting at the most important elements of a good teen-drama/crime story.
Why does this approach work for Lauren Clark's The Sisters of Briar Glen? The short film's Riverdale and Pretty Little Liars influences already masterfully capture that essential "sexy-dangerous" aesthetic.
This signature vibe—a hallmark of shows like Riverdale, Pretty Little Liars, and Elite—walks a tonal tightrope that perfectly merges glamour with menace, crafting a world where attraction and threat become deliciously intertwined. The aesthetic proves particularly effective for teen thrillers as it mirrors adolescence's heightened emotions: the electric rush of a first crush, the gnawing paranoia of betrayal, the intoxicating (and sometimes terrifying) power of secrets.
This is teen thriller magic at its finest: danger that doesn't just lurk in shadows, but slinks through homecoming dances with perfect, knowing smiles. The Sisters of Briar Glen doesn't just borrow this aesthetic—it claims it as its own, expertly wrapping adolescent yearning and razor-wire suspense into one irresistible package.
The short’s confident tone, stylistic homages, and tightly wound suspense already reveal Clark’s personal focus on crafting atmospheric, character-driven thrillers. While the technical execution may still bear the marks of an early-career work, the vision behind it is unmistakable. Clark’s passion for this kind of high-stakes, youth-centered drama shines through, leaving no doubt that she has a distinct voice in genre cinema. It’s an exciting starting point—and we can’t wait to see how her craft evolves in the years to come.
Highlights:
Screenplay: 7/10
Cinematography: 7/10
— Kraken Film Reviews.