DVD Review - The Dead Girl
Karen Moncrieff's (Blue Car) latest film is a fascinating character study. Oh yes, it is suspenseful but I wouldn't call it a thriller.
The plot revolves around how one dead woman affects many lives. The film is broken down into five vignettes (chapters) that are all connected because of this death.
The film starts off with Arden (Toni Collette) who seems to have nothing in her life. She is a slave to her demanding mother (Piper Laurie). But Arden is the one who finds the dead girl and with that things start to change for her.
Leah (Rose Byrne) can't get move on with her life because her sister disappeared many years ago. Leah believes that her sister is dead. But her mother (Mary Steenburgen) will never give up hope. When the dead girl appears Leah has hopes of her own.
Ruth (Mary Beth Hurt) has a very strange marriage. You wonder why she is still with this man.
But as time goes on you are wondering about more than that.
Marcia Gay Harden is the dead girl's mother Melora. In order to understand her daughter Melora tries to get to know her roommate Rosetta (Kerry Washington).
And then there is Krista (Brittany Murphy), the dead girl herself. We have a chance to find out a bit about her.
I will not tell you any more about the plot. You should see this film. It is very well written and directed. Ms. Moncrieff certainly knows how to work with her actresses. And, yes, I said actresses. All of the women I mentioned gave terrific performances. You get the feel for their characters in a short amount of time because that is all they are given.
Ms. Moncrieff is certainly a woman to watch and I, for one, am looking forward to what she will do next.
The plot revolves around how one dead woman affects many lives. The film is broken down into five vignettes (chapters) that are all connected because of this death.
The film starts off with Arden (Toni Collette) who seems to have nothing in her life. She is a slave to her demanding mother (Piper Laurie). But Arden is the one who finds the dead girl and with that things start to change for her.
Leah (Rose Byrne) can't get move on with her life because her sister disappeared many years ago. Leah believes that her sister is dead. But her mother (Mary Steenburgen) will never give up hope. When the dead girl appears Leah has hopes of her own.
Ruth (Mary Beth Hurt) has a very strange marriage. You wonder why she is still with this man.
But as time goes on you are wondering about more than that.
Marcia Gay Harden is the dead girl's mother Melora. In order to understand her daughter Melora tries to get to know her roommate Rosetta (Kerry Washington).
And then there is Krista (Brittany Murphy), the dead girl herself. We have a chance to find out a bit about her.
I will not tell you any more about the plot. You should see this film. It is very well written and directed. Ms. Moncrieff certainly knows how to work with her actresses. And, yes, I said actresses. All of the women I mentioned gave terrific performances. You get the feel for their characters in a short amount of time because that is all they are given.
Ms. Moncrieff is certainly a woman to watch and I, for one, am looking forward to what she will do next.
posted by Film Fanatic | 8:05 PM
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