

She realizes that Sierra is recreating paintings by the deceased artist Thomas Cole, and that the others are producing work from other dead geniuses. During art class Kit notices that all of Sierra's paintings are signed "TC" and searches the school's library for answers. Only the belligerent Veronica shows no progress, much to Madame Duret's annoyance. Kit and Izzy slowly begin to experience the same bad side effects, saying it was like someone else was using their bodies. Ashley writes beautiful poetry and stories that deeply disturb her.

Sierra is the first to show a troubling obsession with her work, losing sleep, refusing to eat, and going into odd trances while creating amazing works of art. The girls attend a variety of creative and intellectual classes, which begins to draw out unknown talents in them. Technology is rarely used, and the girls can only phone their families in the domineering presence of the headmistress. When she arrives at Blackwood, Kit meets eccentric headmistress Madame Duret and the school's only other students, four teenage girls with similar behavioral problems (Veronica, Ashley, Sierra, and Izzy). Kit Gordy, a difficult young girl, is sent to the mysterious Blackwood Boarding School after her delinquent behavior becomes too much for her school to handle. Critics surveyed by Rotten Tomatoes called it "more stylish than scary".

Summit Entertainment released it in select theaters and through video-on-demand in the United States on August 17, 2018. Down a Dark Hall is a 2018 supernatural horror film directed by Rodrigo Cortés and written by Chris Sparling and Michael Goldbach (as Mike Goldbach.) It is based on the 1974 novel of the same name by Lois Duncan.
