The Dead Girl
Encyclopedia
The Dead Girl is a 2006 American film written and directed by Karen Moncrieff
, starring Brittany Murphy
, Toni Collette
, Rose Byrne
and Marcia Gay Harden
. The film was nominated for several 2007 Independent Spirit Awards
awards including Best Feature and Best Director. It is the story of a young woman's death and the people linked to her murder. It also features Mary Beth Hurt
, Kerry Washington
, James Franco
, Giovanni Ribisi
, Josh Brolin
, Mary Steenburgen
and Piper Laurie
. The film was premiered at the AFI
Film Festival (7 November 2006), and was given a limited US theatrical release
on 29 December 2006. It was generally well-received. It only ran for two weeks in US first-run theaters, and earned nearly all its revenue from overseas release.
Karen Moncrieff
Karen Moncrieff , is an American actor, director, and screenwriter. Her directing credits are in both television and features and she acted in the soap operas Days of our Lives and Santa Barbara. In 1985, she was crowned Miss Illinois and competed in the Miss America pageant...
, starring Brittany Murphy
Brittany Murphy
Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack , known professionally as Brittany Murphy, was an American actress and singer. She starred in films such as Clueless, Just Married, Girl Interrupted, Spun, 8 Mile, Uptown Girls, Sin City, Happy Feet, and Riding in Cars with Boys...
, Toni Collette
Toni Collette
Antonia "Toni" Collette is an Australian actress and musician, known for her acting work on stage, television and film as well as a secondary career as the lead singer of the band Toni Collette & the Finish....
, Rose Byrne
Rose Byrne
Mary Rose Byrne is an Australian actress.Byrne made her screen debut in 1994 with a small role in the film Dallas Doll...
and Marcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden is an American film and theatre actress. Harden's breakthrough role was in Miller's Crossing and then The First Wives Club which was followed by several roles which gained her wider fame including the hit comedy Flubber and Meet Joe Black...
. The film was nominated for several 2007 Independent Spirit Awards
Independent Spirit Awards
The Independent Spirit Awards , founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. In 1986, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit...
awards including Best Feature and Best Director. It is the story of a young woman's death and the people linked to her murder. It also features Mary Beth Hurt
Mary Beth Hurt
Mary Beth Hurt is an American actress of stage and screen.-Personal life:Hurt was born Mary Supinger in 1946 in Marshalltown, Iowa, the daughter of Delores Lenore and Forrest Clayton Supinger. Her childhood babysitter was actress Jean Seberg, also a Marshalltown native...
, Kerry Washington
Kerry Washington
Kerry Washington is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Ray Charles's wife, Della Bea Robinson, in the film Ray , as Idi Amin's wife Kay in The Last King of Scotland, and as Alicia Masters, love interest of Ben Grimm, The Thing, in the live-action Fantastic Four films of 2005 and 2007...
, James Franco
James Franco
James Edward Franco is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author, painter, performance artist and instructor at New York University. He left college in order to pursue acting and started off his career by making guest appearances on television series in the 1990s...
, Giovanni Ribisi
Giovanni Ribisi
Giovanni Ribisi is an American actor. His film credits include Gone in 60 Seconds, Boiler Room, Saving Private Ryan, The Mod Squad, The Gift, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lost in Translation and more recently, Public Enemies and Avatar...
, Josh Brolin
Josh Brolin
Josh James Brolin is an American actor. He has acted in theater, film and television roles since 1985, and won acting awards for his roles in the films W., No Country for Old Men, Milk and True Grit.-Early life:...
, Mary Steenburgen
Mary Steenburgen
Mary Nell Steenburgen is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Lynda Dummar in Jonathan Demme's Melvin and Howard, which earned her an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.-Early life:...
and Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie is an American actress of stage and screen known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks and the films The Hustler, Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God, all of which brought her Academy Award nominations...
. The film was premiered at the AFI
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
Film Festival (7 November 2006), and was given a limited US theatrical release
Limited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
on 29 December 2006. It was generally well-received. It only ran for two weeks in US first-run theaters, and earned nearly all its revenue from overseas release.
Plot
The movie is presented in segments, each bearing a title:- The Stranger: Arden lives with her abusiveChild abuseChild abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
, invalid mother. One day she discovers the naked body of a woman on the property. Arden becomes a minor celebrity, drawing the attention of Rudy, who tells her the dead woman is the victim of a serial killerSerial killerA serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
preying on young women in the area. Rudy asks her out. Arden gets into a fight with her mother, which compels her to finally leave. She has her date with Rudy. In the morning, she calls the police to report a woman (her mother) left alone at home. - The Sister: Leah is prepping the dead woman in the morgue when she notices a certain birthmark. She suspects that the dead woman is her sister, who was taken from a nearby park fifteen years ago. She asks the sheriff to match the dental records. She is certain the dead woman is Jenny, her missing sister, but her parents refuse to believe that Jenny is dead. The sheriff delivers the test result: the dead woman is not Jenny.
- The Wife: Ruth is angry that her husband, Carl, constantly leaves her alone night after night. The next morning, she discovers clothing, wallets, and ID's in ziplock bags inside a storage unit that is supposedly empty. She matches the IDs to names in the newspapers of the serial killer's victims. Carl comes back late at night with scratches on his neck. After another argument, he leaves the house to go to the car outside. He pulls a trash bag out of the trunk and goes to the storage unit. Ruth asks her husband if he knows anything about the dead women, and he says no. Later that night, she enters the unit and pulls everything out. She drives to the police station, but doesn't follow through with her plan to present the evidence to the authorities; instead she returns home to burn the evidence.
- The Mother: The dead woman has been identified as Krista Kutcher. Melora, Krista's mother, is notified. She goes to where Krista used to live and finds Rosetta, Krista's former roommate. During a tense conversation with Rosetta, Melora learns that Krista was a prostitute, that she had a daughter, and that Melora's late husband had sexually abusedChild sexual abuseChild sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
her. The following day, Melora takes Krista's daughter home with her. - The Dead Girl: Krista buys her daughter a stuffed animal for her third birthday. She gets her pimp Tarlow to drive her to Norwalk, where her daughter is, but he backs out at the last minute. She goes back to her room and finds Rosetta severely beaten. She believes a man named Tommy did it. She vandalizes Tommy's car and, when he tries to stop her, she beats him up and leaves on a borrowed motorcycle. When the motorcycle breaks down on the highway, she hitches a ride from Carl. The film ends with Krista smiling happily as she talks about her daughter.
Cast
- Toni ColletteToni ColletteAntonia "Toni" Collette is an Australian actress and musician, known for her acting work on stage, television and film as well as a secondary career as the lead singer of the band Toni Collette & the Finish....
– Arden - Brittany MurphyBrittany MurphyBrittany Anne Murphy-Monjack , known professionally as Brittany Murphy, was an American actress and singer. She starred in films such as Clueless, Just Married, Girl Interrupted, Spun, 8 Mile, Uptown Girls, Sin City, Happy Feet, and Riding in Cars with Boys...
– Krista Kutcher - Rose ByrneRose ByrneMary Rose Byrne is an Australian actress.Byrne made her screen debut in 1994 with a small role in the film Dallas Doll...
– Leah - Marcia Gay HardenMarcia Gay HardenMarcia Gay Harden is an American film and theatre actress. Harden's breakthrough role was in Miller's Crossing and then The First Wives Club which was followed by several roles which gained her wider fame including the hit comedy Flubber and Meet Joe Black...
– Melora - Mary Beth HurtMary Beth HurtMary Beth Hurt is an American actress of stage and screen.-Personal life:Hurt was born Mary Supinger in 1946 in Marshalltown, Iowa, the daughter of Delores Lenore and Forrest Clayton Supinger. Her childhood babysitter was actress Jean Seberg, also a Marshalltown native...
– Ruth - Kerry WashingtonKerry WashingtonKerry Washington is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Ray Charles's wife, Della Bea Robinson, in the film Ray , as Idi Amin's wife Kay in The Last King of Scotland, and as Alicia Masters, love interest of Ben Grimm, The Thing, in the live-action Fantastic Four films of 2005 and 2007...
– Rosetta - James FrancoJames FrancoJames Edward Franco is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author, painter, performance artist and instructor at New York University. He left college in order to pursue acting and started off his career by making guest appearances on television series in the 1990s...
– Derek, a love interest of Leah - Giovanni RibisiGiovanni RibisiGiovanni Ribisi is an American actor. His film credits include Gone in 60 Seconds, Boiler Room, Saving Private Ryan, The Mod Squad, The Gift, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lost in Translation and more recently, Public Enemies and Avatar...
– Rudy - Josh BrolinJosh BrolinJosh James Brolin is an American actor. He has acted in theater, film and television roles since 1985, and won acting awards for his roles in the films W., No Country for Old Men, Milk and True Grit.-Early life:...
– Tarlow - Piper LauriePiper LauriePiper Laurie is an American actress of stage and screen known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks and the films The Hustler, Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God, all of which brought her Academy Award nominations...
– Arden's mother - Nick SearcyNick SearcyNick Searcy is an American actor who currently portrays Chief DeputyUnited States Marshal Art Mullen on FX's Justified. He also had a major role in the Tom Hanks produced miniseries From the Earth to the Moon as Deke Slayton....
– Carl - Mary SteenburgenMary SteenburgenMary Nell Steenburgen is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Lynda Dummar in Jonathan Demme's Melvin and Howard, which earned her an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.-Early life:...
– Beverley, Leah's mother - Bruce DavisonBruce DavisonBruce Davison is an American actor and director.-Early life:Davison was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Marian E. , a secretary, and Clair W. Davison, a musician, architect, and draftsman for the Army Engineers. His parents divorced when he was three years old. He was raised by his...
– Leah's father