Starlet
Music Box Films | Release Date: November 9, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumNov 20, 2012
Sean Baker's singular little ultra-indie is a strikingly unsentimental study in female friendship between unmoored souls in L.A.'s bleached, glamour-challenged San Fernando Valley. Read full review
90
The New York TimesManohla DargisNov 8, 2012
The bright sun that blasts through Starlet, a thrillingly, unexpectedly good American movie about love and a moral awakening, bathes everything in a radiant light, even the small houses with thirsty lawns and dusty cars. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeNov 4, 2012
A mismatched-friends drama whose overall sensitivity is belied by a couple of clumsily contrived plot points, Sean Baker's Starlet pairs story and setting perfectly. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnNov 4, 2012
The story retains an inscrutable tone that sometimes makes its emotional qualities feel remote, but it still delivers a powerful message about the challenge of self-diagnosis by rooting it in universal experience Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleNov 8, 2012
It's a character study about faith in connectedness, with an unforced love for cross-generational companionship that's special indeed. Read full review
80
NPRScott TobiasNov 8, 2012
Starlet shows enough of her unbalanced, unsustainable situation to make sense of her connection to Sadie, however frail a ballast her new friend might be. Their need for each other is disarmingly sweet, but far from sticky. Read full review
75
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenFeb 28, 2025
Sean Baker’s movies see people for their humanity first and their circumstances second, an approach that has never been more clear than in Starlet. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaDec 6, 2012
Starlet sneaks up on you. Set in the same sun-dried, strip-malled precincts of the San Fernando Valley where "Boogie Nights" took place - and set, in part, in that same porn industry milieu - Sean Baker's low-key, low-budget indie traces the relationship that develops between a young actress and an isolated, elderly woman. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsDec 6, 2012
It's an odd film in some ways. The porn milieu is detailed in ways at once sparing, in terms of actual screen time, and bluntly explicit. The odd-couple relationship guiding the story has its familiarities. But where it counts, 'Starlet' ... allows its characters room to maneuver within the potential cliches. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertDec 6, 2012
The film itself deserves praise for its portraits of these two women and the different worlds they inhabit. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianMarc MohanNov 23, 2012
Convincing performances from Hemingway and the charmingly crabby Johnson and an unhurried pace ensure that Baker's film achieves its modest goals. Read full review
75
The PlaylistKatie WalshNov 8, 2012
Starlet is an interesting effort from indie filmmaker Sean Baker (this is his fourth feature), and signals the arrival of Dree Hemingway as one to watch. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinNov 7, 2012
Starlet is an unusually subtle, quiet character study - especially given the potentially salacious subject matter - that builds to a quietly powerful climax. Read full review
70
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonNov 7, 2012
Director Sean Baker, co-writing his fourth feature with Chris Bergoch, does some deft balancing of his own: His genuine admiration for these two women extends to their idiosyncrasies, yet they never become fools, whores, saints, or coots. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeNov 4, 2012
Though named after a party girl's pet Chihuahua, Starlet could just as easily describe the two exceptional first-timers making their debuts in this brittle, beautifully understated San Fernando Valley character study. Read full review
63
New York PostSara StewartNov 8, 2012
Jane's friendship with Sadie is the one thing that cuts through the numbness - though the film's so low-key, even emotional revelations feel pretty muted. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineDiego SemereneNov 8, 2012
The film works as a charming aesthetic exercise with its jerky camera and inadvertent cuts, as a contemplation on intergenerational female bonding. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfNov 6, 2012
Dree Hemingway, daughter of Mariel, commits to some unnecessary nudity, but also impresses with her subtlety. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanNov 20, 2012
The relationship is the best thing about the film, which otherwise feels hopelessly sad and tawdry. Read full review
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