The Starling Girl | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

92% Tomatometer 90 Reviews 97% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings

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 and she is caught between a burgeoning awareness of her own sexuality and her religious devotion. With the return of Owen, an enigmatic youth pastor, Jem soon finds herself attracted to his worldliness and charm. Slowly, he draws her into a dangerous relationship that could upend their entire community.

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The Starling Girl

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Critics Consensus

Sensitively and intelligently crafted by writer-director Laurel Parmet, The Starling Girl is a well-told coming-of-age story centering around a young woman's struggles with her spiritual faith.

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Critics Reviews

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The Starling Girl | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Jenny Nulf Austin Chronicle The Starling Girl’s thoughtfulness and lingering optimism toward a story that is predictably sorrowful is a necessary balance. Rated: 3.5/5 Nov 17, 2023 Full Review The Starling Girl | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Monica Castillo RogerEbert.com “The Starling Girl” lives and breathes through Scanlen’s stellar performance. Rated: 3.5/4 May 24, 2023 Full Review The Starling Girl | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Glenn Kenny Boston Globe Laurel Parmet makes a striking, assured feature directorial debut with “The Starling Girl,” which serves double duty in solidifying Eliza Scanlen’s already pretty solid reputation as a young actor worth watching. Rated: 3/4 May 19, 2023 Full Review The Starling Girl | Rotten Tomatoes (4) David Bax Battleship Pretension The Starling Girl‘s most direct criticism of these fundamentalists is that they are far less concerned with living according to Christian teaching and philosophy than with appearing to do so in a kind of ongoing intracommunity competition. Oct 2, 2024 Full Review The Starling Girl | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Sarah Vincent Sarah G Vincent Views Watching “The Starling Girl” is scarier than watching any horror movie. May 25, 2024 Full Review The Starling Girl | Rotten Tomatoes (6) Kristian M. Lin Fort Worth Weekly Laurel Parmet’s low-budget drama features yet another terrific performance from Eliza Scanlen... Mar 18, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Chris It's an interesting teen drama that is well made. Tackles issues with relationships, religion, and parenthood with a fresh perspective. Love that it sort of pokes holes in each issue and leaves it up to you to draw conclusions. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/14/23 Full Review Gregory The Starling Girl was a poignant come-of-age story that was at times, sweet and tender, but also hard-driven and suspenseful. Compellingly directed by Laurel Parmet, (The Edge of Seventeen) The Starling Girl at its core, is a story of innocence lost. The Starlings are a very devout Christian family with a disconnected mother and a reformed but weak alcoholic father trying to raise two young daughters in a deeply Christian environment in rural Kentucky. The oldest daughter Jem, masterfully played by Eliza Scanlen, is seventeen and is tortured by her attraction to Owen an older and adult married man. She struggles to contain her feelings and sexual urges, but ultimately fails to control her temptations and falls emotionally and sexually for Owen. I won't go beyond that plot line but I will say that it is Eliza that drives the movie toward its fitting climax with her masterful performance of teen angst and desire vs inherent goodness and godliness. Watching her performance, you can see and feel her torment and conflict as she fails to control her sexual impulses against a rearing of very strict and devoted Christian values. This compelling movie is well-written and competently acted, but it's the amazing performance of Eliza Scanlen that stands out as does the touching and nuanced direction of Laurel Parmet. A tale of innocence lost masterfully told and highly recommended. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/29/23 Full Review Carlos E. Diaz Fantastic movie well put together Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/29/23 Full Review Ghederick Eshmont Eliza Scanlen roars in a slightly bloated Southern Gothic family tale. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/27/23 Full Review Roy J Kept my attention throughout Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/25/23 Full Review Stephen T incredibly cast, believable, well-told real life story Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/20/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

Laurel Parmet Director Eliza Scanlen Jem Starling Lewis Pullman Owen Taylor Jimmi Simpson Paul Starling Wrenn Schmidt Heidi Starling Claire Elizabeth Green Rebecca Starling
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Synopsis 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 and she is caught between a burgeoning awareness of her own sexuality and her religious devotion. With the return of Owen, an enigmatic youth pastor, Jem soon finds herself attracted to his worldliness and charm. Slowly, he draws her into a dangerous relationship that could upend their entire community.

Director
Laurel Parmet

Producer
Kevin Rowe, Kara Durrett

Screenwriter
Laurel Parmet

Distributor
Bleecker Street

Production Co
2AM, Sons of Rigor Films, Pinky Promise

Rating
R

Genre
Drama

Original Language
English

Release Date (Theaters)
May 12, 2023, Limited

Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 11, 2023

Box Office (Gross USA)
$158.3K

Runtime
1h 56m
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