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

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

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

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.

| Original Score: B- | Sep 14, 2010

The tone is fittingly dark, the writing impressively poetic, and the performances excellent absolutely across the board.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Aug 26, 2008

The masterful film, which was also released on DVD this week, sends shivers up your spine and devastates you five times over, then has you longing to wipe the sweat off your brow and start watching all over again.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Dec 14, 2007

The Dead Girl segues from one turgidly-paced, soul-crushing sequence to another with very little reason to continue watching.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 25, 2007

Intriguing and unpredictable, this multi-layered film delivers a profound ripple effect as it explores the complexities of anger, grief, denial and retribution

| Jun 15, 2007

THE DEAD GIRL provides several of terrific actresses with meaty roles and for that reason alone (let alone Moncrieff's fluid direction and solid, if uneven, scripting) it deserves to find an audience.

| Original Score: B | May 7, 2007

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| Original Score: 2/5 | May 3, 2007

Unblinking and critical about female-rooted and female-specific concerns.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Apr 26, 2007

s she stands, so perversely resistant and so utterly naked, Ruth embodies the grief and torment of being a live girl.

| Apr 1, 2007

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 | Original Score: B | Mar 22, 2007

With The Dead Girl, this technique of breaking the narrative apart and then piecing it back together has led to a sort of narrative vacuum at its center -- an empty hole where a thing called exposition would typically reside.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 21, 2007

The five-story format is intriguing, the performances first rate, and a couple of the stories, particularly those involving Collette, Harden and Washington, are moving.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Mar 16, 2007

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.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 16, 2007

The stories don't exactly add up to anything you can put your finger on, but they're absorbing as they're happening, and director Karen Moncrieff has a smooth, sure visual style.

| Original Score: B | Mar 15, 2007

Growing less lurid and more poignant as it builds its story through a series of linked vignettes, this film by Karen Moncrieff provides a showcase for its predominantly female cast.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 9, 2007

Some chapters are more useful than others, but I'm not sure you could omit any of them, either, as each stroke provides a color that contributes to the overall picture.

| Original Score: B | Mar 7, 2007

Five stories compose the heart of "The Dead Girl," Karen Moncreiff's disturbing new drama that's so unsettling, it likely will leave those who see it in an unqualified funk.

| Original Score: A- | Mar 5, 2007