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Toni Collette, Rose Byrne, Mary Beth Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Brittany Murphy ... see more see more... , Kerry Washington , Piper Laurie , Giovanni Ribisi , James Franco , Mary Steenburgen , Bruce Davison , Nick Searcy , Josh Brolin , Christopher Allen Nelson , Dennis Keifer , Elizabeth Pernoll , Gillian Pernoll

Karen Moncrieff, the Independent Spirit Award-nominated director of Blue Car, assembles a stellar cast comprised of Toni Collette, James Franco, Giovanni Ribisi, and Mary Beth Hurt to tell the tale of... read more read more... one girl's mysterious death, and how the tragic actions of the people who surround her eventually led to her savage murder. When the brutalized and lifeless body of a once-vital young girl (Brittany Murphy) is discovered, a community is scarred by the unspeakable horror of seeing one of their own so viciously desecrated. But the discovery of the body is just the beginning of the story, and now as a wife uncovers her husband's dark secret, a mother searches frantically for her missing daughter, and a series of other, seemingly unrelated occurrences slowly begin to converge, the heartbreaking truth behind a tragic act of violence will shake the very foundation of a once close-knit community. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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63% liked it

11,758 ratings

Critics

75% liked it

79 critics

R, 1 hr. 34 min.

Directed by: Karen Moncrieff

Release Date: December 29, 2006

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DVD Release Date: May 8, 2007

Stats: 1,586 reviews

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The Dead Girl (2006)
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Flixster Reviews (1,586)

  • middleeasternfilms
    January 17, 2011
    middleeasternfilms
    Several different, complex stories intertwine to give you a look at the death and discovery of a young girl's decomposing body in a field. A pretty good cast put together here, but the movie may be a bit too dark and dreary for some. Still, the acting was pretty good. The only di... read moresappointment here is that you don't actually see the murder take place, only allusions to it. Watchable, but that's about it.
  • matertenebraum
    December 27, 2009
    matertenebraum
    Karen Moncrief has written and directed this terrifying, searching, agonizing, and exceptionally fine story of the responses of five different people to the discovery of a dead girl. By dividing her story into chapters named after The Stranger, The Daughter, The Mother, The Wife,... read more The Sister, and The Dead Girl she offers us fully realized characters, each of whom is affected by the opening discovery of a mutilated young dead girl's body. The technique of non-linear film is not new, but Moncrief raises it to a new, powerful level, a fact that makes this film one of the more sophisticated and successful of the past few years.

    Arden (Toni Collette) is a homely frail girl who accidentally discovers the dead girl, taking a necklace from the corpse before reporting the discovery to the police. She is a caretaker for an invalid, foul-mouthed cruel mother (Piper Laurie) who berates Arden for being so ugly and for involving them in a murder case. Arden flees, meets The Stranger Rudy (Giovanni Ribisi), a tattooed, scary appearing guy who is attracted to Arden because she appears so innocent. He courts her with tales of serial killer manners and yet eventually gains Arden's fractured self-perception trust with physical contact. The next chapter introduces Leah (Rose Byrne) who works with Derek (James Franco) in the mortuary where the dead girl's body has been deposited for autopsy. Leah discovers markings on the dead girl that convince her this is the sister who has been missing for 15 years, a fact that her parents (Mary Steenburgen and Bruce Davison) refuse to accept. Leah's tenuous hold on reality is altered by Derek's consolation and physical attention.

    The Wife episode offers a view of Mary (Mary Beth Hurt) and Carl (Nick Searcy), a married couple with mutual distrust: Mary knows Carl has flings with prostitutes while Carl feels Mary is too controlling. Mary discovers a chest of torn bloody underwear in one of their business Storage Containers, connects the items with Carl in a suspicion that Carl may be related to the death of the dead girl, and burns them. In The Mother we finally meet the true mother Melora (Marcia Gay Harden) of the dead girl Kritsta (Britanny Murphy) as she traces the clues from the body to a seedy motel where she meets Rosetta (Kerry Washington), Krista's roommate and lover, only to discover that the dead Krista ran away from home to become a prostitute and drug addict in response to a childhood abuse problem with her father. Melora is informed that Krista has an illegitimate three-year-old daughter Ashley whom Krista loved and Melora seeks to care for the only remains of the dead girl - her granddaughter and her lover.

    This film beams with brilliant performances: Collette, Harden, Byrne, Laurie, Hurt, Searcy, Washington, Steenburgen, Franco and Ribisi are poignant in their depiction of damaged people whose lives are altered by the Dead Girl. This is ensemble acting of the finest category. The production values are strong and the director's control of what could have been a meandering saga is firm and keeps the story from becoming sensationalized. This is yet another brilliant little film that deserves a very wide audience. Grady Harp
  • LitelBluHli
    June 6, 2009
    LitelBluHli
    I totally forgot to rate this movie, but I did see it some time last year. The acting was great from everyone...definitely a must see!
  • 76Majikat
    January 16, 2009
    76Majikat
    Having not received many reviews or recommendations for this film, I thought it was sure to be a very average film and yet I was pleasantly surprised, it?s definitely my type of film.

    Centred around all the main people effected when a dead girl is found and creatively chaptere... read mored, to enable the viewer to experience the effects and emotions felt by each individual surrounding the storyline, it was a unique style used for this type of film and with a good standard of Actors, this was a very enjoyable film.
  • superclerk25
    January 5, 2009
    superclerk25
    While it was an interesting film there wasn't enough there to keep me from getting up and looking for snacks in the kitchen without pausing the movie.
    It's a story of murder split into five parts as we look into the lives of the people the dead girl has affected with her death.
    A... read more big cast fills the roster and all of them play the parts well.
    The first section had me looking at my watch but the last three were pretty good.
    It's a little bit of a bummer movie though. Have a comedy handy for afterwards.
  • paulsandberg
    May 26, 2008
    paulsandberg
    After the incredibly slow opening segment (which I also found to be a predictable premiss - odd, seemingly slow girl, repressed by overbearing mother, finally breaks free - Hmm, sounds like Carrie to me, only without the gore) - I was condsidering pulling the plug on this film - ... read morebut I was glad I didn't.

    The second piece sucked me in, and from there, it was quite a ride.
    In retrospect, I realize that the first segment set the tone for the film, and while dark and dreary, sure set up the overall theme of women trapped in situations that they find difficult to escape from. The Mary Beth Hurt segment was especially telling. She knew what her husband was, and yet cannot break free from the feeling of rote that her life has become; which echos Mary Steenbergen in the previous piece, who has thrown her entire being into clinging to the hope that her missing daughter is still alive; an existence that cripples all those around her, especially her daughter, who understands the need to move on.
    The acting and writing throughout seemed spot on - not a false emotion to be found anywhere. All the confusion, aimlessness and yearnings were natural and in no way seemed a contrivance to advance the story line.
    Many do not like the segmented nature of this film, finding that it stunts charactor growth - but for me, I found this film to be about deep personality sketches that connected to each other in oblique and subliminal ways.
  • xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    December 18, 2007
    xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    The movie simply didn't convince me as a good movie at least. It was pretty dull and lack of a climax. "The Dead Girl" 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 who finds the... read more body. "The Sister," a forensics graduate student, is torn between her mother's pressure to hold onto hope for her abducted sister's return and her longing to move forward with her own life "The Wife" is trapped in an intense hate/love relationship with her husband. 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" 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. "The Dead Girl" 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. These characters 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.
  • dunmyer
    July 8, 2007
    dunmyer
    [size=3]Thank God I rented "The Dead Girl." [/size][size=3]Add it to the long list of superb American films of the last couple years that haven't gotten anywhere near the attention they deserve. I am hereby editing my Top 10 list of 2006 and putting "The Dead Girl" on it.[/size]
    ... read more[size=3][/size]
    [img]http://images.apple.com/moviesxml/s/independent/posters/thedeadgirl_l200612221217.jpg[/img]

    [size=3]Writer/director [b]Karen Moncrieff[/b] is a major, major new talent, with the best shot at becoming the next Martin Scorsese. And no one is talking about her?! It's mind-boggling. What a colossal oversight.[/size]

    [size=3]Perhaps the film's blunt, scary title made people think it was an exploitation film. [/size][size=3]Nothing could be further from the truth. [/size][size=3]There is not a drop of on-screen violence in this film. But it does have a tough quality. It doesn't mince words or pull punches, and I appreciate that. [/size]

    [size=3]Its subject matter is dark, and its approach is ultra-realistic. I respect that it forces us to look squarely at a terrible truth in American life: an alarming number of American girls and women are brutalized, sexually assaulted (many times in their own homes) and in some cases murdered. But the film is not fascinated with this violence. It laments it. It doesn't focus in on the explicit episodes of brutality. Instead it looks into the shattered hearts of those whose lives are touched by it.[/size]

    [img]http://www.worstpreviews.com/images/thedeadgirl.gif[/img]

    [size=3]It explores a range of different vantage points. Typically a story about brutality focuses just on the girl who experiences it. Here we get that story. (The girl who is murdered is played by [b]Brittany Murphy[/b].) But we also learn something about the girl's mother, played by the powerhouse actress [b]Marcia Gay Harden [/b](who deserved the Oscar for "Mystic River"). The different vantage points are explored in separate vignettes, each with its own title. The final one, called The Dead Girl, focuses on the girl herself. Harden's segment is called The Mother.[/size]

    [size=3]Added to this are a few surprising perspectives that expand the story in unique and effective ways. The first sequence is called The Stranger and has to do with the woman (played by the always superb [b]Toni Collette[/b]) who finds the body. Perhaps the most shocking vignette, called The Wife, brings us into the world of the murderer. But it's not him that we learn about, it's his wife (played brilliantly by [b]Mary Beth Hurt[/b]). We drop into her life precisely on the day she figures out what her husband is doing.[/size]

    [size=3]There's also a wonderful sequence involving a young woman who initially thinks that the dead girl is her long-lost sister who was abducted 15 years earlier. It turns out not to be her sister, but this storyline brings us into the lives of yet another family similarly shattered by violence.[/size]

    [size=3]"The Dead Girl" is an absolute must-see. One of the best films of 2006. We all owe Karen Moncrieff a debt of gratitude for bringing a work of art into the world of such uncommon artistry, intelligence and compassion.[/size]
  • fb1144932598
    October 4, 2008
    fb1144932598
    I have passed by this one many times, thinking it to be merely another slasher psycho thriller, a genre I despise. It is so not that. Strong performances by the actors and a tight script that allows each vignette to stand on its own make this a powerful statement about the ways i... read moren which an unrelated group of people are deeply affected and changed by the discovery of a dead girl. The cumulative impact of these people and their forever changed lives leaves the viewer with enough food for thought to set a banquet table. If there was a common thread through each of the episodes save one, it is the connections and disconnects between mothers and their daughters. Some of the characters grow, become stronger, and move on to the next chapter of their lives. Others decide to remain within the fantasy worlds they have built for themselves, even if that has become a prison. And still others deny the truth, even when it slaps them full in the face, and become enablers of the behavior that they have railed against. Some choose salvation, or at least sanctuary when it is offered, while others refuse any act of kindness out of feelings of unworthiness. Dark in both tone and lighting, a film that demands a response from the viewer. Incredibly well done.
  • gator681
    January 19, 2008
    gator681
    [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 Ard... read moreen in the person of an eccentric supermarket worker(Giovanni Ribisi).[/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [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]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [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]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [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]

View All The Dead Girl Reviews

Critic Reviews

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
March 22, 2007
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Karen Moncrieff's previous film, the shallow and pretentious Blue Car, in no way prepares you for this superbly acted, emotionally acute picture. Full Review

Christy Lemire
March 2, 2007
Christy Lemire, Associated Press

Moncrieff never gets melodramatic with subject matter that easily could have been; she won't make you feel good, but she will make you feel. Full Review

Amy Biancolli
February 23, 2007
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle

All Screams aside, movies about serial killing are rarely chipper affairs. But few are as glum as The Dead Girl. Full Review

Roger Moore
February 16, 2007
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

Murphy, devouring a bad girl role to go with her image, makes her the most alive person in what is most certainly not your typical Hollywood serial killer movie. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
February 9, 2007
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

It must be said that The Dead Girl is a film of considerable integrity. But before that, something else must be said: That's about as unappetizing an opening to a film as can be imagined. Full Review

Teresa Budasi
February 9, 2007
Teresa Budasi, Chicago Sun-Times

The use of multiple plots can be a dangerous exercise if not skillfully executed, making viewers feel cheated and wanting more, but Moncrieff works it out, ably shifting from one story to the next and... Full Review

Michael Phillips
February 8, 2007
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

A stern account of how the brutal murder of a young woman affects an array of far-flung characters. Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
January 27, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Seeing multiple responses to a sexually motivated murder allows us to reconsider our understanding of sex crimes. Full Review

Joe Morgenstern
January 19, 2007
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

The Dead Girl has such a glacial pace, and with such tonal monotony -- most of the first 20 minutes are either grim, in the dark or both -- that audiences will follow at their peril. Full Review

Andrew Sarris
January 17, 2007
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

Ms. Moncrieff's ambitious second film is a bit of a disappointment after the promise shown in her more tightly structured debut effort, Blue Car. Full Review

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