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Virgin (2003)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 20
Fresh: 8
Rotten:12
Average Rating: 4.8/10
Theatrical Release:Sep 3, 2004 Limited
Synopsis: Deborah Kampmeier offers a unique portrait of female adolescence and a challenging exploration of the often prickly relationship between women and Christianity in her directorial debut VIRGIN.... Deborah Kampmeier offers a unique portrait of female adolescence and a challenging exploration of the often prickly relationship between women and Christianity in her directorial debut VIRGIN. Hailing from a Baptist family steeped in the born-again traditions of their religiously conservative small town, emotionally adrift teen Jessie Reynolds (Elisabeth Moss, GIRL INTERRUPTED) seeks rebellion through drinking, smoking, and lusting after a boy named Shane (Charles Socarides). One night Jessie is raped by Shane while in a drunken stupor, and having no memory of the event, comes to believe that her "virgin" pregnancy was caused by a visit from God. But while Jessie comes to an almost rapturous acceptance of her role in the supposed immaculate conception, her family and small town turn against her with the full force of religious wrath. Robin Wright Penn turns in a strong supporting performance as Jessie's fundamentalist mother, but it's Moss who truly excels in capturing her character's deeply conflicted spirituality with a sensitivity that belies her young age. [More]
Starring: Robin Wright Penn, Elizabeth Moss, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Socorro Santiago
Starring: Robin Wright Penn, Elizabeth Moss, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Socorro Santiago, Peter Gerety, Charles Socarides
Director: Deborah Kampmeier
Director: Deborah Kampmeier
Screenwriter: Deborah Kampmeier
Producer: Raye Dowell, Sara Schenck
Studio: Artistic License
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Reviews for Virgin
At times I wasn’t sure that the movie knew exactly what it wanted to say. And yet it remains quite a powerful experience.
Moss' performance is solid, but undone by the palsied hand-held camerawork and the script's general lack of focus.
The more you consider the theological undertones of Virgin, the more radical it becomes.
Falls short of being satisfying, hurts a little to experience, and the next morning you're thinking it wasn't worth the trouble - sound familiar?
As a religious-themed movie, Virgin is as unconventional as they come.
An unfortunately muddled portrait of a teenage girl going through a moral and spiritual crisis.
A pretentious, unpalatable stew that serves up thematic elements touching on religion, feminism, psychosis, mysticism and guilt without stirring up any believable characters, engaging story, or emotional moments that might engage audiences.
Evinces too much of the Lars Von Trier influence (especially Breaking the Waves) while falling victim to some of its central character's overt strangeness.
[F]elt too much like a really impressive school project, film school project but not a complete feature film.
It all descends quickly into desultory melodrama, with broadly drawn nightmares of demon-male small-mindedness balanced against impeccable portraits of the sacred feminine in action.
Kampmeier reveals her inexperience as a feature filmmaker, and her effort struggles with the weight of its own subject matter and final ambiguities.
There are some powerful emotions coursing through Virgin, writer-director Deborah Kampmeier's raw first feature, and a tighter script would have made them even more affecting.
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