Fridae

Lesbian viewers may wish to catch this women's drama before they see anything else this week. Despite the unremarkable trailer you may have seen of the movie, The Dead Girl is actually quite an accomplished film with a cast that includes Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense), Marcia Gay Harden (Pollack), and Brittany Murphy (Girl, Interrupted).

The Dead Girl is an omnibus of short films that revolve around a dead girl. In the opening sequence, a lonely woman (Toni Collette) finds the body of the girl, which becomes the catalyst for her leaving home and her abusive mother (Piper Laurie). In the second, a forensics student (the lovely Rose Byrne) suspects that the corpse may be her runaway sister. In the third, a wife (Mary Beth Hurt) comes to realise that maybe her husband had committed the crime. In the fourth, a mother (Marcia Gay Harden) searches for her daughter and discovers that she may have been murdered. And in the fifth sequence, the film traces the events before the death of the girl (Brittany Murphy).

Even though it starts off slowly, the film gradually gathers steam and become a heartbreaking experience. It gets its strength mostly from the strong performances by its actresses. We're talking about Mary Beth Hurt who is extraordinary as a trailer park woman, and Brittany Murphy who proves why she is so much more talented than her fluffy teen flicks (Just Married, Uptown Girls) give her a chance to be.

Be warned though: It is a very gloomy and dark film. There is not a single humorous moment. If you're not into that, you'll hate it.