The Dead Girl (2006)
74 %
Reviews Counted: 77 Fresh: 57 Rotten:20 Average Rating: 6.7/10
Consensus:
This dark thriller boasts a fresh approach, but it can still get bogged down by its heavy subject matter.
Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins
Theatrical Release: Dec 29, 2006 Limited
Synopsis: THE DEAD GIRL, the new film from acclaimed writer/director Karen Moncrieff (BLUE CAR), is a quintet of stories about seemingly unrelated people whose lives converge around the murder of a young woman. "The Stranger" is about the woman (Toni Collette) who finds the body. The publicity... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Toni Collette, Brittany Murphy, Marcia Gay Harden, James Franco, Josh Brolin
Director: Karen Moncrieff
Screenwriter: Karen Moncrieff
Producer: Tom Rosenberg, Henry Winterstern, Gary Lucchesi, Eric Karten, Richard Wright, Kevin Turen
Composer: Adam Gorgoni
Screenwriter: Karen Moncrieff
Producer: Tom Rosenberg, Henry Winterstern, Gary Lucchesi, Eric Karten, Richard Wright, Kevin Turen
Composer: Adam Gorgoni
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
The tone is fittingly dark, the writing impressively poetic, and the performances excellent absolutely across the board.
Comment
08/26/08
The masterful film, which was also released on DVD this week, sends shivers up your spine and devastates you five times over, then has you longing to wipe the sweat off your brow and start watching all over again.
12/14/07
The Dead Girl segues from one turgidly-paced, soul-crushing sequence to another with very little reason to continue watching.
06/25/07
Click to read the article
06/23/07
Intriguing and unpredictable, this multi-layered film delivers a profound ripple effect as it explores the complexities of anger, grief, denial and retribution
06/15/07
THE DEAD GIRL provides several of terrific actresses with meaty roles and for that reason alone (let alone Moncrieff's fluid direction and solid, if uneven, scripting) it deserves to find an audience.
05/07/07
Unblinking and critical about female-rooted and female-specific concerns.
04/26/07
s she stands, so perversely resistant and so utterly naked, Ruth embodies the grief and torment of being a live girl.
04/01/07
Karen Moncrieff's previous film, the shallow and pretentious Blue Car, in no way prepares you for this superbly acted, emotionally acute picture.
03/22/07
Top Critic
With The Dead Girl, this technique of breaking the narrative apart and then piecing it back together has led to a sort of narrative vacuum at its center -- an empty hole where a thing called exposition would typically reside.
03/21/07
The five-story format is intriguing, the performances first rate, and a couple of the stories, particularly those involving Collette, Harden and Washington, are moving.
03/16/07
Those who pass on The Dead Girl are missing something. Moncrieff has assembled a remarkable (and mostly female) cast, and there are moments in this film that are as powerful as anything currently in theaters.
03/16/07
The stories don't exactly add up to anything you can put your finger on, but they're absorbing as they're happening, and director Karen Moncrieff has a smooth, sure visual style.
03/15/07
Growing less lurid and more poignant as it builds its story through a series of linked vignettes, this film by Karen Moncrieff provides a showcase for its predominantly female cast.
03/09/07
Some chapters are more useful than others, but I'm not sure you could omit any of them, either, as each stroke provides a color that contributes to the overall picture.
03/07/07
Five stories compose the heart of "The Dead Girl," Karen Moncreiff's disturbing new drama that's so unsettling, it likely will leave those who see it in an unqualified funk.
03/05/07
Moncrieff never gets melodramatic with subject matter that easily could have been; she won’t make you feel good, but she will make you feel.
03/02/07
Moncrieff manages to get beneath the skin of several of these characters, a nifty trick considering what a crowded world she's created. In all, it's a grueling, emotionally taxing, discomfiting film.
03/02/07
All Screams aside, movies about serial killing are rarely chipper affairs. But few are as glum as The Dead Girl.
02/23/07
Top CriticRelated Forums
Karen Moncrieff's THE DEAD GIRL skedded to open Dec. 29th w/ a roll-out in Jan. 2007!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 12/16/06
by: REEL_REVIEWER 12/16/06
Karen Moncrieff's THE DEAD GIRL skedded to open Dec. 29th w/ a roll-out in Jan. 2007!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 12/16/06
by: REEL_REVIEWER 12/16/06
Trailers & Clips
News
Critical Consensus: "Dreamgirls" Hits The High Notes; "Black Christmas" Gets A Lump Of Coal
posted by RT Staff December 28, 2006
This week at the movies, we've got the rise and fall of a girl group ("Dreamgirls," starring Jamie Foxx,...
posted by RT Staff December 28, 2006
This week at the movies, we've got the rise and fall of a girl group ("Dreamgirls," starring Jamie Foxx,...
RTIndie: "Little Miss Sunshine," "Half Nelson" Lead Indie Spirit Award Noms
posted by Tim Ryan November 28, 2006
It's time again to celebrate the best that indie-land has to offer. The Spirit Award nominees are out, with...
posted by Tim Ryan November 28, 2006
It's time again to celebrate the best that indie-land has to offer. The Spirit Award nominees are out, with...
IGN RSS Feeds