Review of The Dead Girl (2006) by Walter M — 19 Jan 2008

[font=Century Gothic]"The Dead Girl" starts with Arden(Toni Collette) finding a body(Brittany Murphy) near her home where she takes care of her invalid and domineering mother(Piper Laurie) who hates all the media attention. But it also brings a different kind of attention to Arden in the person of an eccentric supermarket worker(Giovanni Ribisi).[/font].

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[font=Century Gothic]"The Dead Girl" is a movie divided into five segments, each about a separate woman occupying a different corner of the same universe, starting with Arden, and continuing with Leah(Rose Byrne), Ruth(Mary Beth Hurt), Melora(Marcia Gay Harden, thankfully dialing it down a notch) and finally the title character who by the end of the film has a name - Krista. After each segment, the audience gets to know Krista a little better. [/font].

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[font=Century Gothic]Writer-director Karen Moncrieff's intent is to exlplore the role of women in society. These women are more than just victims but still incomplete, as they are still only cleaners and caretakers.(In two cases, the cleansing ritual includes fire.) They are also missing something important which could be love.[/font].

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[font=Century Gothic]"The Dead Girl" is a strong, powerful movie and a definite improvement on Moncrieff's debut film, "Blue Car." Led by Toni Collette, it is very well acted by a great cast that also includes Kerry Washington, Mary Steenburgen, Bruce Davison and Josh Brolin.[/font].