The Starling Girl

Name: The Starling Girl
Genre: Drama
Released: May 12, 2023
Duration: 116 min
Rating: 78
Cast: Austin Abrams, Brianna Bronger, Chris Dinner, Claire Elizabeth Green, Eliza Scanlen

2023

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 6 Ratings

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6.0

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6.0	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 6 Ratings

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The Starling Girl: Do Not Tell Your Mama

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Movie Details & Credits

Bleecker Street | Release Date: May 12, 2023 | Not Rated

Starring: Austin Abrams, Brianna Bronger, Chris Dinner, Claire Elizabeth Green, Eliza Scanlen, Ellie May, Ike Harrell, Jessamine Burgum, K.J. Baker, Paige Leigh Landers

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Jem Starling (Eliza Scanlen) struggles to define her place within her fundamentalist Christian community in rural Kentucky. Even her greatest joy of dancing with the church group is tempered by worry that her actions are sinful and she is caught between a burgeoning awareness of her own sexuality and her religiousSeventeen-year-old Jem Starling (Eliza Scanlen) struggles to define her place within her fundamentalist Christian community in rural Kentucky. Even her greatest joy of dancing with the church group is tempered by worry that her actions are sinful and she is caught between a burgeoning awareness of her own sexuality and her religious devotion. With the return of Owen, an enigmatic youth pastor, Jem soon finds herself attracted to his worldliness and charm. Slowly, he draws her into a dangerous relationship that could upend their entire community.… Expand

Director: Laurel Parmet

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 116 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

The Playlist Jason Bailey

Jan 22, 2023

This is a movie that barely speaks above a whisper, even when its characters are howling in pain inside. Read full review

Jourdain Searles

Jan 25, 2023

One of the smartest things about Parmet’s film is the way it portrays internalized misogyny in her female characters. The Starling Girl is a complex, often disturbing portrait of the way women have been pressured to shrink themselves and pass on that shame to their daughters. Read full review

IndieWire David Ehrlich

Jan 22, 2023

The power of this sensitive and devilishly detailed coming-of-age drama is rooted in the friction that it finds between biblical paternalism and modern personhood. Read full review

Ross McIndoe

May 7, 2023

The film is an impressively complicated and compassionate drama about shame and desire. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

May 31, 2023

This is a movie that lets us understand the foibles and dark underpinnings of a movement that seems to have transcended removing itself from “this world’s” everyday concerns to embracing the ugliest elements of its dogma — superstition, dogmatic intolerance, “control” and a disregard for any American or American institution that doesn’t fit their myopic worldview. Read full review

Ann Hornaday

May 16, 2023

As a portrait of a young woman testing the limits of the shame-based system that has controlled her, The Starling Girl plays like a warmer, more radiant companion piece to last year’s “Women Talking." Read full review

The Film Stage Michael Frank

Jan 22, 2023

There’s not necessarily anything new in Parmet’s script, despite her care towards this character of Jem. The film lacks surprise, and in this case, is missing a level of engagement. Read full review

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User Reviews

MovieReviewMave

Aug 8, 2023

IN A NUTSHELL:

A 17-year-old girl struggles with her place in the world and in her Christian fundamentalist community. When a young pastor returns to her church, new challenges of faith emerge. The film was directed and written by Laurel Parmet. She has already won the "Directors to Watch"IN A NUTSHELL:

A 17-year-old girl struggles with her place in the world and in her Christian fundamentalist community. When a young pastor returns to her church, new challenges of faith emerge.
The film was directed and written by Laurel Parmet. She has already won the "Directors to Watch" award. The movie was also nominated for the "Grand Jury Prize" at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and the "Audience Award" at the SXSW Film Festival.

THINGS I LIKED:

Eliza Scanlen does a fantastic job as the lead. Everyone in the cast crushed it. The cast includes Lewis Pullman, Jimmi Simpson, Wrenn Schmidt, Claire Elizabeth Green, and Ellie May.
The dialogue is sensitive and often insightful, but the quiet moments are powerful too.
The movie takes place in Kentucky. My nephew just moved there!
Beautiful cinematography by Brian Lannin.
Great camerawork and editing by Sam Levy.
Lovely musical score by Ben Schneider.
The film does a good job of painting a picture of life in a small, religious community.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE:

I didn't like any of the characters and couldn't relate to any of them.
What's so sinful about chewing gum? Why did the pastor make such a big deal out of that?
I've never understood a woman who could be with a married man.
Some scenes are very dark which will make it difficult to see what's happening if you watch this on a small streaming device.
Some viewers won't like the ambiguous ending.
It was interesting to watch the girls dance as a form of worship. Not very many Christian churches do that.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Kids will be extremely bored.
We see unmarried people have sex. It's dark, so we don't see skin, just facial expressions and hear sounds.
We hear someone throw up.
We see someone in a hospital bed.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TVJerry

Jun 1, 2023

Eliza Scanlen plays a teenager whose family is a member of a fundamentalist Christian community in rural Kentucky. She enjoys dancing with the church group, but her fascination with the youth pastor (Louis Paxton) and her burgeoning sexuality causes the inevitable disastrous dramaticEliza Scanlen plays a teenager whose family is a member of a fundamentalist Christian community in rural Kentucky. She enjoys dancing with the church group, but her fascination with the youth pastor (Louis Paxton) and her burgeoning sexuality causes the inevitable disastrous dramatic conflict. Since viewers can pretty much determine the outcome, it's up to writer/director Laurel Parmet to create interesting characters in compelling situations. She succeeds well enough to create an engaging small drama about faith, shame and desire.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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