Elephant

Elephant (2003) is a Gus Van Sant drama you can watch online on iFILM. It starts as an ordinary morning at an American high school — sunlight, long hallways, small talk. The camera trails the students step by step, and nobody on screen senses what this day is about to become.

Eli walks around with a camera, shooting whatever he sees. Nate cuts through the grounds after practice to meet his girlfriend. John hides his father's car keys. A few girls trade gossip in the cafeteria. Van Sant never explains or moralizes; he simply follows several quiet lives drifting toward a point of no return. Long unbroken takes, almost no score, barely a plot in the usual sense.

The film took the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the festival's best director prize. It runs just 81 minutes, with no stars and a cast of untrained teenagers, which only sharpens its edge. A cold, near-documentary look at school violence that lingers long after the screen goes dark. Stream Elephant (2003) online on iFILM.