Tina Kakadelis
The Starling Girl begins with Jem Starling (Eliza Scanlen) and her fellow dance troupe members performing a choreographed routine set to a religious song. Jem’s entire worldview is that of an insular Christian fundamentalist community. She’s seventeen and trying to come to terms with her developing sexuality in a world where anything centered on oneself is seen as sacreligious. Jem is drawn to the charismatic young pastor, Owen (Lewis Pullman), by his easy-going nature and his less strict approach to religious teachings. She sees Owen as worldly and exciting because of the mission trips that took him abroad. He also treats her as an equal, which is a feeling Jem has never known. Of course the audience is well aware of what this relationship will become.
Scanlen is a chameleon. Her roles in Babyteeth and Sharp Objects could not be more at odds with her character in The Starling Girl. Jem is a marriage of the angsty teenage rage of her Sharp Objects character and the restrained, gentle kindness of her take on Beth in 2019’s Little Women. Jem feels completely rooted in honesty. It’s a testament to the script and Scanlen’s performance that a character can feel this genuine, even though neither Scanlen nor writer/director Laurel Parmet grew up in a religious group like this one. Scanlen effortlessly captures youthful longing and unadulterated rage, and swings easily between these emotions with an honest deftness. The way Scanlen throws herself into the role is nothing new for her, but it is electrifying to watch each time.
It’s easy to look at this world of fundamentalist religion and say it’s far removed from a secular upbringing, but that’s a reductionist understanding of the experience of teenage girls. Unfortunately, the deep-seated shame women have about their bodies, identities, and sexuality is not limited to the fundamentalist experience. In the opening scene, a member of the church chastises Jem for wearing a bra that can barely be seen through her dress. How is that any different than American schools sending girls to the principal’s office because their bra strap is showing? It will be uncomfortable for many to acknowledge that the secular and religious worlds aren’t so far apart, and that they can have equally stifling effects on teenage girls in America.
Watching The Starling Girl in such close proximity to You Can Live Forever highlights both films’ thoughtful approaches to different, but similarly insular religious communities. It would be easier to show these groups and these people as easy villains. To have them be overexaggerated to the point that they seem far beyond the possible. Both films succeed because they show the insidious nature of fundamentalist teachings. The relationship between Owen and Jem develops in the way that it does because of the way Jem was raised. She has been told that her life exists for a higher power and that there are people in her life, like Owen, who are closer to that higher power, so she must follow them. They couldn’t possibly hurt her, right?
The Starling Girl is not a thriller by the traditional definition. There are no epic, globe-trotting chase scenes or twisty, turny espionage, but there is an unrelenting sense of dread that runs through the entire film. What’s happening with Owen is obvious to everyone except Jem. He’s using his position of power and the groundwork of unquestioning belief that have been instilled in Jem by the church to take advantage of her. The pacing of their relationship by writer/director Parmet is unbearable. Everyone in the audience is desperately, internally screaming for someone to notice and help Jem, but it’s no use. Parmet forces the audience to watch this adult man take advantage of a teenage girl, but it’s never done in a way that’s gratuitous or exploitative. The Starling Girl is an honest, unflinching look at abuse within a Christian fundamentalist community.
By no means is The Starling Girl an enjoyable watch, in the sense that its subject matter is difficult to witness. In terms of filmmaking prowess, it’s shocking that this is writer/director Parmet’s feature-length debut. Every aspect of the film comes together so naturally and adeptly that The Starling Girl is essential viewing, a masterclass in acting, tension, and screenwriting.
The Starling Girl opens in NY and LA Theaters on May 12, 2023 and expands to additional cities on May 19.
