Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Movies that have different storytelling techniques are always appealing to watch and "The Dead Girl" does it by segmenting the narrative structure into five chapters, all inter-connecting in the end. You definitely need to have a well-written script for even attempting such a film and I think that is where it falls a bit flat."The Dead Girl" tells the story young girl, played by the regretted Brittany Murphy, who is murdered and shows us the different people that were affected by or were directly affecting the death of the girl. The premise sounds stunning and the acting is astounding from the likes of a hugely talented cast, Brittany Murphy, Toni Collette, Giovanni Ribisi or Marcia Gay Harden just to name a few. Some segments made sense and were better than other, but there were a couple that simply didn't work out in my opinion."The Dead Girl" has an interesting take on the murder mystery genre but it's just not that entertaining in the long haul. I have seen a lot of praises for it, each to his or her valid opinions, but it just did not captivate me enough to say that it's a great movie.

I went ahead with "The Dead Girl" knowing little about the story, but knowing everyone involved with. Left myself to be taken by what it was about to be presented, following its surprises, trying to enjoy everything. Gathering and holding the pieces together revealed a little satisfying picture, I must say, whose biggest attractive was in the reunion of people like Toni Collette, James Franco, Marcia Gay Harden, Giovanni Ribisi, Rose Byrne, Mary Steenburgen, Bruce Davison, Brittany Murphy, Josh Brolin, Mary Beth Hurt, Kerry Washington, Piper Laurie and Nick Searcy. And if not them, what else then? "The Dead Girl" is a hyperlinked movie revolving missing persons, in this case a dead girl (Murphy) found by a poor woman (Collette), fact this that changes her life after meeting a strange (Ribisi) interested in the case. From that, the movie swindles between chapters offering us the many perspectives of people related with her death, in one way or the other, or only her disappearance depending on who's trying to find her. It's just about following those lives in a short period of time trying to figure what's next but most of it it's easily answered. One of the interesting connections made in the story relates to a young forensic (Byrne) who, along with her hopeful parents (Steenburgen and Davison), is searching for her missing sister and the recently found body could be of hers but it proves to be that it's not. It's from this point the film takes off by stating on how painful and difficult is the task of finding a missing person, specially when you're this close to the case, you care about the person and the only hope is to get some result from your searches, even if ulmitately a dead body. "The Dead Girl" works best only as a dramatic flick, often tiring in its suffocating slow pace and lacking of thrills to be a competent thriller. Mystery isn't so impactant or anything similar because it just answer to us what really happened but it never completes it to the characters. It just gives one turn in one ride, so the mother won't find about her daughter's destiny but she'll find some answers and one big surprise, just to give an example. As mentioned in the beginning this worths because of the cast included, most of them giving good performances, specially Mary Beth Hurt standing out as the killer's wife. Her segment is the most terrifying, and we feel a lot for her character from the moment her husband (Searcy) disappears, then people come after him and later she discovers the truth about him. Throughout the segments most of the time you don't buy the story because you're seeing the famous faces acting in it while in her segment it's feels real, she and Searcy are the characters (and it's strange because they're veteran actors with countless pictures but their lack of outstanding fame allows them to go deep in the performances, looking natural). Marcia Gay Harden's segment was also very good, she had powerful interactions with Kerry Washington. The saddest part of all was having to watch Piper Laurie doing a poor version of Carrie's mother again (but with Collette as daughter). Not only you get angry at her character and her abusive manners of treating her daughter but you feel even angrier at the people who cast her in this role. She already done that, why do it again? And it was a weak performance.Good movie, it might leave you thinking a lot of stuff for a bit but it's just another frame of mind. 6/10

Karen Moncrieff's 'The Dead Girl' tells the harrowing tale of five women whose fractured lives are affected by the discovery of a dead girl. There's the fragile and abused Arden (Toni Collette) who discovers the body, the tormented Leah (Rose Byrne) the medical examiner of the body, frustrated Ruth (Mary-Beth Hurt), the wife of the man who murdered the girl, a concerned Melora, mother of the dead girl and the title girl (Brittany Murphy) desperate to get presents to her daughter.Moncrief is a fine storyteller and she does it with profound depth. She grabs the viewers attention from the very beginning and manages to keep the film under control without sensationalizing the story. Her subtle writing and direction are exceptional. She divides the story into five chapters and she takes the method of non-linear storytelling to a new level. At first she starts off by showing us the perspective of the stranger who is only linked to the girl in the title because she found her mutilated body. Then she shows us the point of view of the medical examiner, followed by the killer's wife, mother and the girl in question. There is a lyrical quality in the way these five sad stories are portrayed. The score is efficiently used.'The Dead Girl' additionally shines with one of the finest ensembles that delivers poignant performances. Toni Collette, Rose Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, Piper Laurie, Mary Beth Hurt, Brittany Murphy, Kerry Washington, Mary Steenburgen, James Franco, Josh Brolin and Giovanni Ribisi are astonishing in their portrayal of broken people.'The Dead Girl' is a frightening, sad, poignant and beautifully crafted little film about shattered lives and their longing for something different. The haunting fade-out in the end lingers in the questioning mind.

An excellent film! Well written --and directed-- by Karen Moncrieff, and very well acted throughout. This movie is now poignanter with Brittany Murphy's death at the end of 2009 since her character has the pivotal role. How do movies like this get passed by on receiving awards...? This cast is as good as any ensemble I can think of. The material may be a little rough: murder, emotional and physical domestic abuse, distorted sexuality, homosexuality, child abuse, serial killing, mutilation, cover up, incest-------there isn't much left out in Moncrief's script. . . but all of it is relevant and in sync with the plot, and none of it is overdone.A note on Brittany Murphy's acting in particular: wonderful performance! She breathes total credibility into her character and runs the gamut of the emotional spectrum without missing a hue. This only reinforces what many have said about her passing: we have lost a very talented young actress. Each of the other performances are notably powerful. This movie is all about emotions, allegiances, betrayals, love, and hurt. . . it could not work without a first rate cast, and a director's sensitivity to the roles. Who better to direct it than the writer? Who knows best what the characters need to reveal? Moncrief did a great job.What really got me about this film was its brutal honesty. Piper Laurie's abusive invalid character could well be one of the strongest harpies on film. A nice casting touch---30 years earlier she played a religious zealot whose daughter, Carrie, ended up skewering her. That mother was surreally cartoonish; not so in this movie. Another very credible performance by a talented actress.Everyone in this film was excellent. Marcia Harden, Toni Collette, Mary Steenburgen, Rose Byrne, Kerry Washington, Mary Beth Hurt---all wonderful in their roles and all the women stand out as having a sensitivity missing in all but one male role, that played by James Franco, and to a lesser degree the character played by Bruce Davison.The males either do not care, or their misogyny disallows them to have genuine feelings toward women. Is it one-sided misrepresentational? Sure . . . but not in the context of the plot. This is not a film about loving, thoughtful menfolk. This IS a film about abusive and damaging men who opportunistically use women and to whom women are objects first, people second, equals never. What better way to portray the patriarchy than a murdered young woman? Perfect. Yet one of the thematically most troubling parts of the movie is collusion by one of the female characters.Women too, carry the sickness of being hurtful. . . women too, are portrayed as causing harm to others without considering the consequences of their actions. TDG isn't simply about bashing males. And why should it be?---the human condition transcends genders.Perhaps the only weakness to me of this film had to do with continuity from character exposition. It wasn't disjointed . . . it simply didn't have a seamlessness it might have had. Moncrieff's solution, to use chapter headings, did not interfere with the film flow. But switching between characters might have been handled differently with less pause between. It isn't bad, what she's done. And, it might have been done without the chaptering.I strongly recommend this movie to anyone who hasn't seen it. We don't get acting this powerful in that many movies. Well worth the visit.The thought occurs: is this a chick flick? Definitely. Women ought to see this. Men, too.