The Dead Girl

"The Dead Girl joins Thelma and Louise and Boys Don’t Cry in the pantheon of wrenching, truly superb womens stories. Just don’t call it a chick flick."

"More ambitious than her 2002 debut, "Blue Car," Moncrieff's new film maintains her focus on women, expanding to include a range of ages, circumstances and psychologies. Picture's drama, however, is deliberately fractured into a quintet of stories that vary considerably in their overall impact..."

"Just when it seems as though the language of insult and humiliation couldn’t get any nastier, the movie escalates the barrage..."

"By the movie's end, writer-director Karen Moncrieff's The Dead Girl delivers considerable emotional impact. But that doesn't mean you've enjoyed the journey..."

"The film is also an impressive showcase for a large ensemble cast that also includes Josh Brolin, James Franco and Kerry Washington. The standout, however, is Hurt, who gives an almost unbelievably courageous performance as the movie's least sympathetic character..."

"The film is mired in gloom, not just sadness, but heaviness..."

"The Dead Girl is not for date night, and its not your pick if you've had a had a bad week and need some cheering up. It's sad, bleak and harrowing and laced with just a whisper of hope..."

"Handheld cameras, landscapes drained of colour and dim lighting may create a mood, but here the gloom never really lifts..."