The Girl Is in Trouble

Released Apr 3, 2015

1 hr. 34 min.

Mystery & Thriller

List

56%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

41%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

After sleeping with a mysterious woman, a failed DJ finds evidence of a murder involving a drug dealer and a billionaire's son. Desperate for money, he tries to blackmail the killer, and follows his lover into escalating danger.

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Audience Member

I'll give it and E for effort. It probably resonated with the 13-17 male crowd, but anyone older than that may want more than a "how many guys can bang the girl plot".

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I enjoyed this film. Interesting story and narrative. Interesting to see "Fez" playing a serious role

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The movie's style and story are enough to keep you interested but I think the ending was anti climatic.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

troy k

It's watchable, but nothing special here.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

There's a good noir plot set in concrete jungle, though it's also buried deep beneath excessive narration and exhaustingly slow pace. It's rare to see a movie character utters this quantity of monologue, The Girl Is in Trouble might just beat Sin City for time spent narrating. It starts off well, cinematography is sleek for urban setting, the earlier scenes are intriguing and actors' performances are admirable. Sadly, the persistent rambling plods the pace severely, not to mention it tries to switch back and forth through different timelines and perspectives, even those of unnecessary characters. August (Colombus Short) has experienced strings of unfortunate events, though they pale in comparison when he finds a snuff video on the phone of Signe (Alicja Bachleda). Situation gets worse as the persons on the video are tied to wealthy company and gangster. The actors do a fine job, they fit their roles very well. Colombus Short is presentable as the lead, he also narrates most of the movie, this part can be annoying though it's mostly the fault from the script. Jesse Spencer as Nicholas, the rich guy and Wilmer Valderrama as Angel, the brother of a missing drug dealer perform their bests. They deliver a sense of dread and cunning nature in tandem. While most of the cast mainly dabble in TV shows, the acting department is very solid. Camera work highlights the ambiance of the street and this is particularly useful on creating the gangster or crime thriller atmosphere. Narration pretty much hampers the entirety of the movie. August just won't stop blabbering. It seems he's psychic as well because he knows the most intimate moments of others. He is also historian, since he gives lecture about immigrants and history of the district. This goes on until the end, he even manages to cover that one friend from social media or that one lesbian fling. All of this with sudden shift in timeline and useless trivia. The audiences will be most likely numbed by the constant jabbering before it reaches the climax. Nevertheless, the lively feel of the city and its occupants are good enough to overcome the distracting narrative, barely.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

So, this indie has things going for it. The story is interesting with some nice twists and turns and the acting is good. The thing that is suffers from is that it tries way too hard to be "interesting". By doing cutaways, text over the picture, insightful voice over monologues, etc. Honestly, it really just needed to tell the story. Some of the interesting stuff was fun to look at, but it didn't contribute a whole lot to the story as a whole. Like I said though, the acting is good. This is a far cry from Fez and Handy Manny for Wilmer Valderrama and he does a really nice job. Columbus Short (from Scandal), Jesse Spencer (from House), and Alicja Bachleda round out the cast well. It also has a fun remix of My Moon My Man by Feist, which is a great song. But overall, it just tries too hard.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

Full Review

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Julius Onah

Director

Columbus Short

August

Wilmer Valderrama

Angel

Alicja Bachleda

Signe

Jesse Spencer

Nicholas

Miriam Colon

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Brian Tallerico

RogerEbert.com

Onah doesn't quite stick the landing narratively, although he has such filmmaking energy that his work here merits comparison to that of the film's executive producer, Spike Lee.

Rated: 3/4

Apr 3, 2015

Full Review

Jeannette Catsoulis

New York Times

Onah - whose movie began life as his thesis project at New York University - seems more keen on showing how the tensions of immigration and gentrification have shaped the Lower East Side than on fashioning a credible thriller.

Apr 2, 2015

Full Review

Ben Kenigsberg

Variety

A textbook noir premise gets an overamped and undercompelling treatment ...

Apr 2, 2015

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Like many of the titles it invokes, style can’t compensate entirely for substance, and third act inevitabilities find the film’s initial energy plummeting before the end credits.

Rated: 2.5/5

Mar 6, 2024

Full Review

Carla Renata

The Curvy Film Critic

The film’s crime-thriller vibe has elements of the Walter Mosely’s film, Devil in the Blue Dress starring Denzel Washington and started off a little slow. However, when it picked up steam, it moved like a train with an express stop destination.

Mar 6, 2024

Full Review

Brent Simon

Paste Magazine

A well-executed crime drama that, on a narrative level, finds itself too bogged down in the familiar to achieve genuine lift-off -- let alone anything memorable.

Rated: 5.8/10

Apr 16, 2015

Full Review

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Synopsis

After sleeping with a mysterious woman, a failed DJ finds evidence of a murder involving a drug dealer and a billionaire's son. Desperate for money, he tries to blackmail the killer, and follows his lover into escalating danger.

Director: Julius Onah
Executive Producer: Jonathan Bird, Ricardo Costa Reis, Rui Costa Reis, Marcelo Gandola
Screenwriter: Julius Onah, Mayuran Tiruchelvam
Distributor: eOne Entertainment
Production Co: Deer Jen Films, Toy Closet Films
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 3, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016

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