Review of The Starling Girl (2023) by Tvjerry — 01 Jun 2023

Eliza Scanlen plays a teenager whose family is a member of a fundamentalist Christian community in rural Kentucky. She enjoys dancing with the church group, but her fascination with the youth pastor (Louis Paxton) and her burgeoning sexuality causes the inevitable disastrous dramatic conflict.

Since viewers can pretty much determine the outcome, it's up to writer/director Laurel Parmet to create interesting characters in compelling situations. She succeeds well enough to create an engaging small drama about faith, shame and desire.