The Unlikely Girl (2012)

Powerful

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is not a very good movie, but curiosity made me watch it till the end. The dialogue is often very spelled out, and things are said very literally. For example, when an old neighbour meets one of the main characters after again after a very long time, she literally talks about how she has changed so much and lost so much weight (something that will be relevant later on in the story). Anyway, while I like open endings and mysteries, I would like some sort of clue of how we as a viewer are supposed to think of it in various ways. In this film I thought it was all a bit too unclear. In addition to that, it is not very realistic for the innocent American Good Girl to go through such lengths to find the truth and become so aggressive for something that goes way over her head.The acting wasn't the best either, especially from the American girl. But that may also have been because my English is better than my French, so perhaps I don't really hear/see how bad the French actors were.

The Unlikely Girl is a bit of an unlikely movie. If you read the description on Netflix you won't even understand that what you are seeing is the right movie until about 20 minutes in. It is confusing at times, but on second viewing, as in many great misdirection movies, things become clear(er).The story is somewhat about the American exchange student as Netflix advertises, but she is more of a foil for the story itself and serves as a stand in for us the viewers as we live through the twists and turns of life.The who's the what's and the why's are ours to determine but it is undeniable that Wei Ling Chang has brought a lot of talent to this effort and she largely succeeds in a compelling story, well acted (Shane Lynch's Jamie is obnoxious but grows on you and is well pretty much the girl next door and that honesty and innocence is important) The incredible thing is that the more you watch the more you discover, the more you discover the less you know . . .and yet it all works.Bravo Wei Ling Chang. I can't wait to see what else you can do.

Incest is the unspeakable subject in a family, and this film portrays it brilliantly. First, we are intrigued by Cecile, a lovely, innocent-looking teenager (the gifted actress Hande Kodja was nearly 30) who is on a private income provided by her reluctant mother. We realise that she is a thief and a slut who has no shame about seducing her brother on the train. She goes to her home (from boarding school in Nice) and lives there with only her neuroses for company, until an exchange student, Jamie (Shane Lynch) turns up, and loses her virginity (at 19) to Cecile's childhood friend Luc (Pierre Boulanger). Cecile seems plagued by jealousy, but the girls make up and Cecile admits that her jealous brother raped her before she turned 14 years old. The story develops from there, and the family remains utterly blinkered, while the daughter is obviously still the victim. This is a small film, written and produced by the TV director Wei Ling Chang, but it packs a mysterious punch. Recommended.