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5 reasons The Beguiled is worth seeing this weekend

In a summer jammed with big budget action movies, The Beguiled is a welcome alternative.

<p>Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning star in the moody, Civil War thriller <em>The Beguiled</em>.</p>

In a summer jammed with big budget action movies, The Beguiled is a welcome alternative.

But that doesn’t mean it’s boring.

The film is a moody, memorable thriller set during the Civil War. When an injured Union soldier seeks refuge in a southern school for girls, tension and betrayal lead to a gripping story.

If that doesn't convince you to buy a ticket, here's five other reasons it's worth seeing:

1. Word about the production spread quickly on social media when people realized it was filmed, in part, on the same plantation used in Beyonce's Lemonade.

"It was just a coincidence, I didn't know until Kirsten (Dunst) and Elle (Fanning) took a picture of the chair there,” said Sofia Coppola, who directed and wrote the screenplay. “It was a real plantation so there's a lot of history and stories from there."

2. Coppola's film is considered a more feminist version of the 1970 movie starring Clint Eastwood.

This time, Colin Farrell is the sexy but untrustworthy stranger, Nicole Kidman is the school's head mistress, and Dunst is the unhappy teacher.

3. The actresses took etiquette classes before filming began for maximum realism.

“A woman came in and taught us what was expected, like how to hold your dress. You'd never gather your dress up, you'd always swish it to the one hand and pick it up only in the one hand,” Dunst said.

4. Georgie native Elle Fanning felt especially comfortable in her role.

“I did understand it,” she said. “My grandmother lives with us and I definitely have strong southern roots in my family, so bringing out my accent - it was actually fun to get to do that."

5. Despite the era and setting, the human experiences in the movie are timeless.

"I showed some friends when I was editing and one woman was like, 'Oh I dated this guy,’” Coppola said, laughing. “You know you probably shouldn't trust him but you want to. I feel it's really universal, but in this other world or setting."

The Beguiled is rated R and opens June 30.

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