The Starling Girl

Bleecker Street | Release Date: May 12, 2023

6.0	USER SCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 6 Ratings

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TVJerryJun 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 sexualityEliza 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

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MovieReviewMaveAug 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 LaurelIN 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

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