Review of The Dead Girl (2006) by Julie F — 02 Feb 2009

At first, I was disappointed that we were going to be subjected to yet another "Madison Avenue" faceless, marginalized, anonymous woman that is brutally murdered - because, face it, "The Dead Boy" doesn't conjur up the images or curiosity we need to draw a crowd.

Thankfully, in the last vignette, Moncreiff gave her a name, a face, a life. I also felt that although her life may have seemed to be a life we would not choose for the women in our lives, that her death did have meaning in how it affected the sister, wife, stranger and mother.

Yes, it was bleak and dark (fabulously so), but there is light in darkness. Because she found the body, the stranger received attention in her abused life, and there was such a sense of freedom and release in her final scene.

The sister ended up reaching out for help - despite her mother's embodyment of our society's insane obsession of "life and any cost", eternal optimism, and complete disrespect for the role that death plays in our lives.

The mother lost her daughter, but gained perspective, truth, and a second chance. For me, the most disturbing vignette was that of the wife. Even though she fails to do the right thing, she, too, sheds the past, and there is hope that she will truimph in her own way.

As for "The Dead Girl", what a survivor. She was brave, strong, vibrant, and was making the best decisions she could given her circumstances. Although the purpose of the film is not to look into the psyche of the killer, I am amused by the "reviews" that insist on blaming the victim and not the perpetrator.