The Dead Girl
First Look International | Release Date: December 29, 2006
8.5
USER SCORE
Universal acclaim based on 41 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
34
Mixed:
4
Negative:
3
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User Reviews

User scoreBy dateMost helpful
9
MichaelL.Jun 2, 2007
Excellent film with an excellent cast. Yes, it's unpleasant, but it's real. The dysfunction and damage family systems create can wreak havock on lives for generations to come. This is truly a horror film--with a brain, unlike Eli Excellent film with an excellent cast. Yes, it's unpleasant, but it's real. The dysfunction and damage family systems create can wreak havock on lives for generations to come. This is truly a horror film--with a brain, unlike Eli Roth's torture porn. Because we know these people and we know these situations. Thank God there are filmmakers with intellect who are brave enough to tell stories that effect us more deeply than watching someone dismembered by a chainsaw.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
8
ChadS.May 16, 2007
The title, as we soon learn, is metaphorical as well as literal. There's more than one dead girl in "The Dead Girl". Six or seven, actually; more than one per chapter in some cases. During the first story, we can see that Arden's The title, as we soon learn, is metaphorical as well as literal. There's more than one dead girl in "The Dead Girl". Six or seven, actually; more than one per chapter in some cases. During the first story, we can see that Arden's mother(Piper Laurie, reviving the role she played in "Carrie") murdered her daughter(Toni Collette) a long time ago. Next up is Leah(Rose Byrne), a coroner-in-training, who(along with her mother) died the day her younger sister went missing. She'd rather hang out with corpses than with James Franco. Both women are on the verge of being reborn when it's thought that the "Jane Doe" Leah is working on might be their missing family member. "The Dead Girl" is not so much a downer, but it can be sobering, especially the final story; the story of the "dead girl", who ironically, turns out to be the most alive girl in the story. Krista(Brittany Murphy) had a hard-knock life, but she was, as they say, making lemonade out of lemons. Murphy is fierce. She really loved Rosetta(Kerry Washington). In life, Ruth(Mary Beth Hurt, from the chapter "The Wife"), stuck with her scumbag of a husband(Nick Searcy), is dying the slow death of an underappreciated housewife. "The Dead Girl" is always intelligent, always dead-on about the facts of life...and death.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
3
TayborneL.May 24, 2007
In the neo-indy tradition of racing to to bottom and trying to hit the most depressing note thats possible, this film succeeds. In term of being artful about it, ya, it's well made. But it still aims for the bottom, which is easy. The In the neo-indy tradition of racing to to bottom and trying to hit the most depressing note thats possible, this film succeeds. In term of being artful about it, ya, it's well made. But it still aims for the bottom, which is easy. The film makers here took the easy way out.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
7
StephenS.Jun 21, 2007
How come the critic reviews and user comments average in the 60s, as compared with the 70s scored by Blue Car, Moncrieff
0 of 0 users found this helpful
10
CallenK.Jul 5, 2007
A terrific movie from start to finish. The acting is wonderful throughout and the plot lines are fresh. This is a woman's movie par excellence.
0 of 0 users found this helpful
1
SamJ.Jan 14, 2007
What an unfocused, trashy film this is. A downer across the board.
0 of 0 users found this helpful
4
JamesM.May 16, 2007
Grim, bleak and uninvolving film whose premise is better than its execution. Given the divergent, fractured narrative, those involved are given to histrionics to compensate for the inherent shallowness. Mercifully brief at 90 minutes or so, Grim, bleak and uninvolving film whose premise is better than its execution. Given the divergent, fractured narrative, those involved are given to histrionics to compensate for the inherent shallowness. Mercifully brief at 90 minutes or so, although the opening sequence is so lifeless and inert, that those who choose to continue will inevitably be checking their watch.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
1
BeQ.Jun 19, 2007
This movie starts with the anticipation of good development of a story. However, it tanks at the end. This reminds me of the movie "Crash" in that is has separate vignettes of each character - but that is as close as it gets to Crash (good This movie starts with the anticipation of good development of a story. However, it tanks at the end. This reminds me of the movie "Crash" in that is has separate vignettes of each character - but that is as close as it gets to Crash (good movie). Don't bother trying to find any answers - nothing is really related nor interconnecting - it's just garbage.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
7
FilipeNetoSep 19, 2021
I was expecting something else when I decided to see this movie. Anyone who has the patience and kindness to read other reviews of mine will realize, perhaps, that I rarely read or try to know something about a film before watching it, so asI was expecting something else when I decided to see this movie. Anyone who has the patience and kindness to read other reviews of mine will realize, perhaps, that I rarely read or try to know something about a film before watching it, so as not to spoil the first impression too much, and only when I write about it is it that I try to read something to better document myself and not write many nonsense, among the many that I am writing, to the horror of those who know more than I do. So I was surprised to see the style of film I found, which reminded me a little of some Tarantino films (the strong images, the raw violence, the subdivision into chapters, etc.). It was an interesting resource from director Karen Moncrieff, and it worked very well.

The script is, along with the powerful interpretations of the cast, the best thing about the film. Unpredictable until the end, it works very well, and the segmentation of the story into chapters means that certain information only arrives in portions until the end, with the last chapter being the one where the others will all fit together. Therefore, it is not easy to summarize the story: we have several women, who do not know each other, but whose lives will be affected by the same crime: the death of a young prostitute.

The actors are good, and we have some familiar names here. Toni Collette is the first to enter the scene, and she really is amazing in her character, an extremely unsocial young woman who lives under the control of an elderly and abusive mother, played by an equally great Piper Laurie. Giovanni Ribisi, another well-known name, was pleasantly somber. Rose Byrne, the protagonist of the second frame of the film, also doesn't let us down by the way she gives her character. In fact, she is perhaps the most controversial character in the film, as she is a young woman who has lived all her life in the shadow of an absent sister, who has disappeared and is anxiously sought after by her family. She is eager to be freed from this page of her life, even if it is necessary to give her sister for dead. This eagerness puts her on a collision course with her mother, played by Mary Steenburgen, who, like any mother, refuses to accept this hypothesis. Much less remarkable or interesting is the contribution of Mary Beth Hurt. I thought the actress was too aged, I would have liked to see her more youthful, I think the character could handle it well. Marcia Gay Harden gives us the touching portrait of the dead girl's mother, emotional and devastated by the loss, but she doesn't go beyond that register. Brittany Murphy also shined in giving her character a dose of irreverence and ill-mannered rebellion, tempered by an evident maternal love. For me, it's only Kerry Washington who looked bad in this film, not because of the actress's work, which is impeccable, but because of the rude and unjustifiably disgusted way in which the character behaves with everything and everyone.

On a technical level, the film doesn't stand out. It has regular cinematography, good color and light. Also, the sets or costumes are not worthy of relevant mention, they only fulfill their role. The film's soundtrack is virtually non-existent, but what little there is works well. What I would really highlight on the positive side here is the post-production work, the harmony with which the various parts of the film come together, giving the film a pleasant rhythm, without losses or delays, without becoming heavy.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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