Pointedly, they are microcosms without men. Her debut feature, Innocence (2004), set in an unspecified era of rotary phones and phonographs at a mysterious girls’ school in the woods, explores the prison of childhood. “Obedience is the only path to happiness,” instructs one of the institute’s two teachers, both women, to her prepubescent pupils, who are distinguished by differently hued hair ribbons that indicate their age. That declaration also serves as the credo in Evolution, Hadzihalilovic’s first feature since Innocence. Here those subjugated to the mysterious and terrifying rules of female overseers are tween boys; the ceremonies that the young must endure are more baleful, more graphic — and more wearisome.