The Dead Girl

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The Dead Girl

R

Released Jan 19, 2007

1h 34m

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

75%

Tomatometer

81 Reviews

65%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

In a quintet of stories, the murder of a young runaway (Brittany Murphy) connects a group of unrelated women. Lonely Arden (Toni Collette) discovers the body; Leah (Rose Byrne), a forensics student, thinks the victim may be her long-missing sister. Melora (Marcia Gay Harden) arrives in Los Angeles to piece together the last days of her daughter's life, while Ruth (Mary Beth Hurt) makes a disturbing discovery in the storage facility she and her husband manage.

Critics Consensus

This dark thriller boasts a fresh approach, but it can still get bogged down by its heavy subject matter.

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Richard Brody

The New Yorker

The film is visually passive, and the score is portentous. Even so, these lapses don't break the spell of honest feeling or blur the hard-won wisdom that emerges from the experience.

Dec 20, 2021

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Eleanor Ringel Cater

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.

Rated: B

Mar 22, 2007

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Moira MacDonald

Seattle Times

Those who pass on The Dead Girl are missing something. Moncrieff has assembled a remarkable (and mostly female) cast, and there are moments in this film that are as powerful as anything currently in theaters.

Rated: 3/4

Mar 16, 2007

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Debbie Lynn Elias

Behind The Lens

Despite its shortcomings, [Karen] Moncrieff's unconventionality and inventiveness should keep The Dead Girl alive long enough to have your own mini-breakdown before hitting the box office.

Nov 7, 2019

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Tara Thorne

The Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

There's not a laugh to be had, but the humanist Moncrieff is grabbing for your heart, rarely showing violence but letting the potential of it seep in from every corner, making fear itself the uncredited star.

Jul 12, 2016

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

A dreary Chick Flick serial killer film, that puts a human face on the vic as it focuses on all the women affected by the serial killer.

Rated: B-

Sep 14, 2010

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Iamwhoi M

As with everything in life (and death), it's all about perspective. This film deals with that by draping perspective over the body of a dead Jame Doe. As the film progresses, you see how those perspectives shift between people. I thought it was a great movie, and Brittany Murphy did a great job of bringing the dead girl to life.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/22/24

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Regina P

Decent film. Everyone's acting was just fine. I like how it was structured. Not something I am going to revisit, though.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/24

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martin f

A very bleak anthology. Each segment do their best to be as broody than the last so, as spectators, we can never take a breath between desolate characters at the bottom of their life. The 5 segments develop a main story about a dead girl and her murder. Those stories are all linked by how the corpse affects the protagonist's live. There are some great actors there but it sometimes hard to take their role seriously as their characters really need you to know how miserable they are. There are still some good in it, it's interesting to collect the pieces about what happened to the dead girl until the (somewhat simple) reveal and some stories (especially the wife one) are pretty good on their own and have interesting twist.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Audience Member

Really enjoyed the film. Great cast and well directed. Somber movie which I really dug and you have to pay attention to the story to get the most out of it. Wish it was available in the US on blu-ray or even iTunes, but for now will just hold onto my steelbook DVD of the film.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

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Audience Member

The 5-way splintered non-linear structure makes this grim murder-mystery quite compelling as it's bolstered with an ensemble cast of powerhouse actors.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/22/23

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jorge g

Slow and heavy at times, but very realistic film, with some great performances especially by Murphy, Harden and Washington. Worth a watch.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Karen Moncrieff

Director

Toni Collette

Arden

Rose Byrne

Leah

Mary Beth Hurt

Ruth

Marcia Gay Harden

Melora

Brittany Murphy

Krista

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Synopsis

In a quintet of stories, the murder of a young runaway (Brittany Murphy) connects a group of unrelated women. Lonely Arden (Toni Collette) discovers the body; Leah (Rose Byrne), a forensics student, thinks the victim may be her long-missing sister. Melora (Marcia Gay Harden) arrives in Los Angeles to piece together the last days of her daughter's life, while Ruth (Mary Beth Hurt) makes a disturbing discovery in the storage facility she and her husband manage.

Director: Karen Moncrieff
Producer: Eric Karten, Gary Lucchesi, Tom Rosenberg, Kevin Turen, Henry Winterstern
Screenwriter: Karen Moncrieff
Distributor: First Look
Production Co: Lakeshore Entertainment, First Look Pictures Releasing
Rating: R (Nudity|Language|Grisly Images|Sexuality)
Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 19, 2007, Wide
Release Date (DVD): May 15, 2007
Box Office (Gross USA): $17.3K
Runtime: 1h 34m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS