Opening Soon:

The Dead Girl
Grade: B+

Nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards including Best Feature, this is a bleak and generally effective psychological drama from writer/director Karen Moncrieff (Blue Car). Broken into five distinct sections with changing points of view, the story opens with the discovery of a murdered woman (Brittany Murphy) and ends with a sequence about her final hours. Murphy’s reckless performance comes off as a bad Courtney Love imitation, but the rest of the acting is top-notch. The formidable ensemble includes Toni Collette, Mary Steenburgen, James Franco, Mary Beth Hurt, Piper Laurie and Giovanni Ribisi.