Here is a strange beast: a perfectly conventional high-school movie with the addition of one novel twist. Brian Dannelly's satire takes place in a school administered by Christian fundamentalists, where the cool kids are those who save the most souls, writes Donald Clarke

Saved! sounds interesting, and bits of it are, but so half-hearted are the film's attacks on organised religion and so familiar are the social dynamics that it ends up being something of a soggy squib. That said, the picture does feature two terrific performances from its female leads. Jena Malone stars as (significant this, I fear) Mary, a smart kid whose world is shaken up when her boyfriend is sent off for re-education following the discovery of certain gay tendencies. Before he goes, she persuades him to have sex, believing that, because she is acting to "cure" him, God will forgive her and will arrange things so that no impregnation takes place. On the latter count at least, she is mistaken.

Malone's performance is believable and moving, but she is blown off the screen by, of all people, the hitherto supernaturally bland teen idol Mandy Moore. Playing the savagely blonde Hilary Fay, leader of the self-styled Christian Jewels, Moore conveys a keen understanding of the politics of passive-aggressive bitchiness.

Sadly, while extracting much humour from the self-righteousness of some born-again Christians, Dannelly feels obliged to end the film in a fashion that makes it clear that people of all faiths are equally capable of kindness.