Every year at the Sundance Film Festival, there are always dozens of films to anticipate, but then there’s the elite dozen or so, the ones that really get you excited for what they might offer. And arguably, the new indie drama “The Starling Girl,” starring rising star Eliza Scanlen was one of them.
Scanlen is a real rising star and broke out in a big way in 2018’s “Sharp Objects,” where she played a troubled teen and the younger version of Amy Adams in an HBO series directed by the late Jean-Marc Vallée. From there, she quickly bagged a coveted role in Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” and took off like a shot ever since and is highly in demand.
From writer/director Laurel Parmet, with apparently a lot of personal ties to the story, “The Starling Girl” is a bracing coming-of-age story in the Christian fundamentalist community, and on top of Scanlen stars Lewis Pullman (“Top Gun: Maverick”), and Jimmi Simpson (“Westworld”).
Our A-grade review from Sundance had super high praise for the film, calling it “almost indescribably moving,” highlighted Scanlen, naturally (“she seems utterly incapable of a false note”), and called the film “deeply felt.”
Here’s the official synopsis:
17-year-old Jem Starling struggles with her place within her Christian fundamentalist community, but everything changes when she finds herself drawn to her magnetic youth pastor, Owen.
Taking on patriarchal religion, substance abuse, and topics like grooming, THE STARLING GIRL is ultimately about a struggle for liberation and growing up in the church, but its themes will undoubtedly resonate with people—particularly women – who have experienced oppression in their upbringings.
Bleecker Street will release “The Starling Girl” in select theaters starting May 12. Watch the first trailer below.