The Starling Girl
1h 58m
Drama
About
Seventeen-year-old Jem Starling struggles to define her place within her fundamentalist Christian community in rural Kentucky. Even her greatest joy of dancing with the church group is tempered by worry that her actions are sinful, caught between an awareness of her own sexuality and her religious devotion. With the return of Owen, an enigmatic youth pastor, Jem soon finds herself attracted to him. Slowly, he draws her into a dangerous relationship that could upend their entire community.
Director
Laurel Parmet
Cast
Eliza Scanlen, Lewis Pullman, Jimmi Simpson
Rating
Year
2023
Country
United States
Language
English
Show Times
Main Trailer
Reviews
- "One of the smartest things about Parmet’s film is the way it portrays internalized misogyny in her female characters. THE STARLING GIRL is a complex, often disturbing portrait of the way women have been pressured to shrink themselves and pass on that shame to their daughters."
- The Hollywood Reporter - "THE STARLING GIRL is steeped with empathy, not just for Jem, but for every young woman, religious or not, who struggles to know herself and gives in to the desire to be seen, no matter the voyeur — just to feel alive, and like they matter"
- Collider - "The power of this sensitive and devilishly detailed coming-of-age drama is rooted in the friction that it finds between biblical paternalism and modern personhood."
- IndieWire - "Scanlen effectively embodies her character’s internal struggles, unable to vocalise her growing frustrations lest she forfeit her purity — which is seemingly her only value."
- Screen Daily
Awards
- Palm Springs Int'l Film Festival
Festivals
- Sundance Film Festival
- SXSW Film Festival
- Annapolis Film Festival