The Setup
Arden (Toni Collette) discovers a body. Leah (Rose Byrne) works in the mortuary and thinks the body might be that of her sister, who disappeared so very long ago. Ruth (Mary Beth Hurt) has suspected her husband of doing something strange on his late night drives for a very long time, then comes across something shocking in one of the storage units that they rent out. Melora (Marcia Harden) is the distraught mother of Krista (Brittany Murphy, the dead girl from the title) who meets Rosetta (Kerry Washington) who was Krista’s roommate.
Such is the premise for The Dead Girl, directed by Karen Moncrieff (Blue Car). The story is told in five vignettes, all from the perspective of a different protagonist, all who are ultimately drawn together by the brutal and senseless murder of Krista.
Women as the Focus
Moncrieff weaves a tale of women, all dealing with something in their lives that haunts them, holds them back, and has made them completely distraught. It is not so much that men have ruined their lives (save perhaps Ruth) but that they are non existent, and therefore unimportant. Arden’s live in mother is miserable, and as such Arden must be miserable. Leah’s mother has never allowed the thought of her missing daughter to die, which Leah so desperately wants, not because she wishes to forget, but because she needs to move on. Throughout the story we see female characters all at different stages of their lives, all connected through their grief and the way Krista’s murder impacts them. The startling point is that none of them save Melora and Rosetta ever even meet.
Independent Thought, Independent Film, and Choice
Moncrieff shows her tact and wit, putting her characters in uncomfortable, perilous situations. Every scene, at least to the focal character, is a situation she so desperately needs to leave behind, that it forces her actions, which amount to ultimately making a choice as to how her life will proceed. Some of the characters choose to move on or find redemption. Others choose to continue without change, fating themselves to a slow, painful continuation of their miserable lives.
There is one scene, in the middle of the film, which is inexplicable in the decision that is made, given the circumstances of not only what has just transpired, but of what has gone on for years and years before the circumstances we are shown. It is an absolute head shaker, and defines the movie, both in motif and performance.
Moncrieff makes the most of shooting a lower budget, independent film, mixing dark and grainy colors with taut dialogue and extended takes. She enjoys shooting in a small hotel room or having long conversations in a car, causing unease because of motion and confinement. Yet in these tense moments we also feel insulated and safe from the rest of the world, and the strength of the performances helps this. There is no explanation for the crime other than perhaps wrong place, wrong time, and wrong life situation. The randomness of life in and of itself creates ambiguity of right and wrong on all the characters. That is, perhaps what Moncrieff is driving at all along; no matter what you choose, destiny has a way of choosing for you.
All characters and actors referenced via IMDB.
