K-12

K-12 (2019) is a fantasy musical film you can watch online on iFILM. Melanie Martinez wrote the script, directed the project, and plays the lead — a girl called Cry Baby who arrives at a boarding school that runs on obedience and erases anyone who doesn't fit the mold.

The principal controls the students. The staff enforces a kind of cheerful compliance that has nothing cheerful underneath it. Cry Baby isn't alone — her best friend refuses to abandon her, and together they start pulling the institution apart from the inside, aided by magic, stubbornness, and other students who have had enough. The entire film is structured as a visual album, each scene tied to a track from Martinez's 2019 studio album of the same name.

Made entirely outside the studio system, K-12 is a singular piece of pop-art filmmaking. Watch K-12 (2019) online on iFILM.