DVD Mini Review - Stephanie Daley

Stephanie Daley is an interesting little film that appeared at the Sundance Film Festival. It was written and directed by Hilary Brougher. It is a small film that got lost in the shuffle but it is definitely worth seeing - especially on DVD.

The story focuses on a forensic psychologist named Lydie Crane (Tilda Swinton) who is investigating the case of a young woman named Stephanie Daley (Amber Tamblyn). Stephanie is being of accused of murdering her baby after it was born. She claims that she was not aware that she was pregnant. Lydie herself is pregnant and suffered a pregnancy loss a few months before. This brings a good amount of tension to the tale. Both Lydie and Stephanie have to come to terms with their grief.

I have always liked Swinton - she is an amazing actress. And this film is just more confirmation of her acting skills. Young Tamblyn is wonderful in the title role. She certainly has a good future ahead of her. Timothy Hutton as Lydie's husband Paul is good as is the underrated Mellissa Leo as Stephanie's mom (there is a very good deleted scene between Swinton and Leo in the special features section of the DVD - I think that it should have been included in the released version of the film because it gives you some insight into why Stephanie is the way she is). And Brougher is a director to watch. I look forward to seeing what she will do in the future.

I hope that this film will gain an audience on DVD. It truly deserves to be seen.