The Dead Girl Release Date: December 29, 2006 (NY, LA; wider release: January 12, 2007;
wide release: January 19) Studio: First Look Studios Director: Karen Moncrieff
Screenwriter: Karen Moncrieff Starring: Josh Brolin, Rose Byrne, Toni Collette, Bruce Davison,
James Franco, Marcia Gay Harden, Mary Beth Hurt, Piper Laurie, Brittany Murphy,
Giovanni Ribisi, Nick Searcy, Mary Steenburgen, Kerry Washington Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller MPAA Rating: R (for language, grisly images, and sexuality/nudity) Official Website:
FirstLookStudios.com/DeadGirl
Plot Summary: "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 generated by the discovery creates an opening for her to break away
from her abusive mother's (Piper Laurie) control and form an unlikely bond with
the mysterious Rudy (Giovanni Ribisi).
"The Sister," a forensics graduate student (Rose Byrne), is torn between her
mother's (Mary Steenburgen) pressure to hold onto hope for her abducted sister's
return and her longing to move forward with her own life. When she examines the
dead girl, she is convinced that she has found the body of her missing sister,
finally releasing her from her burden.
"The Wife" (Mary Beth Hurt) is trapped in an intense hate/love relationship with
her husband (Nick Searcy). A terrible discovery about his connection to the dead
girl's murder forces her to confront what she though she knew about him—and
herself.
"The Mother" (Marcia Gay Harden) searches for answers about her runaway
daughter's life and is confronted with a series of revelations that change the
course of her own life. She gets help in her quest from another troubled young
woman—the prostitute (Kerry Washington) who lived with her daughter.
"The Dead Girl" (Brittany Murphy) is a fireball: hyper, volatile,
self-destructive and subject to hair-trigger bursts of uncontrollable rage. She
also has an innocent and child-like side. She dreams about improving her life
and becoming a good mother to her young daughter.
The characters in "The Dead Girl" are linked not only by their connection to a
brutal murder but also by the difficult hand that life has dealt them. The film
scrutinizes their inner struggles to overcome or surrender to their misfortunes.
As in "Blue Car," Moncrieff creates multidimensional portraits of women as they
seesaw emotionally through a tangle of conflicting desires and fears.
Riveting and ultimately heartbreaking, "The Dead Girl" confirms the promise of
"Blue Car," and heralds the arrival of Karen Moncrieff as a major American
independent filmmaker.
"The
intensity of the work and the urgency of the subject carry the day" Ron Wilkinson: Monsters and
Critics
A well crafted five part ensemble drama of the toughest
sort. Tight dialog, first rate acting and searing images make their
statement on the tragedy of runaway abduction...more
"one
is forced to say, “So. And your point is?” " Andy Klein: Los Angeles Citybeat
I neither gained any knowledge nor experienced
pleasure or deep emotion of any sort; the best that can be
said is that I wasn't bored or offended....more
"The
Dead Girl is more than the sum of its five segments" Scott Weinberg: Cinematical
If you're weary of crime stories that follow the
conventional path on the way to a generically inevitable
conclusion, The Dead Girl is a title you might want
to throw a red circle around...more
We would love to know what you think, sound off on the
movie message boards and let us know how you liked the movie!
Release Date: December 29, 2006 (NY, LA; wider release: January 12, 2007;
wide release: January 19)
"one
is forced to say, “So. And your point is?” "