GamerTab That was an excellent one.

UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The Couchpotatoes I think most of the reviewers got a bit carried away here on IMDb, making it look like The Dead Girl was one of the best movies ever. I don't say it was a bad movie, not at all, it's certainly worth a watch, but it's not a masterpiece either. The acting is good, from everybody, but I didn't really like the concept of the story telling. For example if you like Toni Collette, like I do, you better be prepared watching her role in the beginning and then never see her again. I don't think that was a smart move in this movie. But that's how this movie works, you get to watch small independent stories about the event. I would have scored it a bit higher if it was not for the ending that I thought was weak. Other than that it's not a bad movie but we've all seen better.

Chrysanthepop Karen Moncrieff's 'The Dead Girl' tells the harrowing tale of five women whose fractured lives are affected by the discovery of a dead girl. There's the fragile and abused Arden (Toni Collette) who discovers the body, the tormented Leah (Rose Byrne) the medical examiner of the body, frustrated Ruth (Mary-Beth Hurt), the wife of the man who murdered the girl, a concerned Melora, mother of the dead girl and the title girl (Brittany Murphy) desperate to get presents to her daughter.Moncrief is a fine storyteller and she does it with profound depth. She grabs the viewers attention from the very beginning and manages to keep the film under control without sensationalizing the story. Her subtle writing and direction are exceptional. She divides the story into five chapters and she takes the method of non-linear storytelling to a new level. At first she starts off by showing us the perspective of the stranger who is only linked to the girl in the title because she found her mutilated body. Then she shows us the point of view of the medical examiner, followed by the killer's wife, mother and the girl in question. There is a lyrical quality in the way these five sad stories are portrayed. The score is efficiently used.'The Dead Girl' additionally shines with one of the finest ensembles that delivers poignant performances. Toni Collette, Rose Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, Piper Laurie, Mary Beth Hurt, Brittany Murphy, Kerry Washington, Mary Steenburgen, James Franco, Josh Brolin and Giovanni Ribisi are astonishing in their portrayal of broken people.'The Dead Girl' is a frightening, sad, poignant and beautifully crafted little film about shattered lives and their longing for something different. The haunting fade-out in the end lingers in the questioning mind.

zetes The body of a young woman is discovered naked in a field. This film tells four short stories about the people around this person, and a fifth about the girl herself. It is an amazing achievement, like if Alejandro González Iñárritu made a film where the story worked. The first segment deals with the woman who finds the body (Toni Collette), her unbearable mother (Piper Laurie) and the possibly dangerous stranger she meets (Giovanni Ribisi). The second story is about a young woman (Rose Byrne) whose own sister has been missing for the past 15 years. Of course she misses her sister, but her life has been consumed by her mother's desperate belief that her daughter is alive (Mary Steenburgen plays the mother and Bruce Davison her father). When Byrne, working as a mortician, comes upon the young girl's body, she thinks it may be her sister. Or at least she hopes so. James Franco also stars as Byrne's co-worker who wants to be more. The third segment is about the killer himself (Nick Searcy) and his long-suffering wife (Mary Beth Hurt), an extremely religious and oppressive woman who has probably driven Searcy to multiple murders. Hurt discovers her husband's dirty secret. The fourth segment is about the dead girl's real mother (Marcia Gay Harden), who has to come to grips with her own failure as a mother (her daughter ran to L.A. to become an actress and instead ended up a prostitute). The fifth and final stars Brittany Murphy as the girl. It's pretty hard to watch so soon after her death. It's absolutely devastating. Most of the movie is quietly devastating. The second segment, even if it didn't directly connect with Murphy's character, was the most powerful to me. Byrne and Steenburgen are both undervalued actresses, and the climactic argument between them is extraordinarily powerful. My second favorite would be the fourth segment. Marcia Gay Harden is another actress who can almost never do wrong, and she delivers here (in a film of great performances, hers is definitely the best). I liked the other three segments a lot, too. Writer/director Karen Moncrieff falls into melodrama once in a while, especially during the final sequence (though she ends it at a perfect moment, encapsulating the film's major theme, of mother/daughter relationships) - junkie prostitutes are a film subject that is maybe a little too overexplored. But mostly she creates three-dimensional characters and moving situations. Her direction is not unique, but I'd rather have it straight than showy (screw you Iñárritu). Plus, the most overlooked aspect of direction is bringing out the performances, and she does that over and over again here. It's a remarkable film (that certainly did not deserve to be released pretty much straight to DVD, though I definitely see how hard this one would be to sell). I want to see her first feature and I hope to see Moncrieff find a place in actual theaters in the future.

KineticSeoul This movie is about five different people finding out about the dead girl and is dividing into 5 chapters. The Stranger, The Daughter, The Mother, The Wife, and finally The Dead Girl. and it mostly revolves around the dead girl and how people in the movie deal with it since related people are interwoven around the murder of the dead girl played by Brittany Murphy who does a great job with the role that is given to her on the last act. Although every actor and actresses bring great acting to this movie, each chapter is shot a bit differently, the difference is slight but if you pay attention to the movie you can see it, which is actually a good thing. This is a dark tale and has a dark atmosphere to it but is still intriguing at the same time, this was like watching a puzzle get put together with every chapter adding a piece to the mystery. But if your expecting a movie that is a thriller, you will be disappointed cause this movie is far from being a thriller. But what it is, is a haunting and intriguing film that is worth checking out. Every actor and actress put on a good show without going over the top, and I found that Brittany Murphy's performance was noteworthy.7.5/10