The Moth Diaries 2011

     Based on a novel by Rachel Klein about a high school boarding school for girls.  Rebecca has been struggling for two years with the suicide of her father and her mother has also struggled.  Her best friend is Lucy, she has helped Rebecca with her depression and helped her though classes.  It’s the third year and all the students are excited about seeing each other again.  There is a new student this year, Ernessa.  Rebecca becomes very upset when Lucy is always sticking up for Ernessa and always wanting to be with her.  Rebecca feels the loss of her best friend and she starts to fall back into her battle with depression.

     This is a supernatural horror movie and Sarah believes that in Ernessa she is faced with the type of vampiric creature she is reading about?  The main theme seems about suicide.  The bodies begin to pile up and everyone thinks Rebecca’s suspicions are a product of her emotions and imagination?  There is a lot more going on here than teen friendships but not enough is going on.  This is take-off on the Twilight films due to their popularity but this is very calm, low-key and short, just slightly creepy.  There is a mix of teen angst but with gore and sex.  There are dead bodies with lots of blood.  Partial nudity and two women together.  Language is infrequent but lots of strong innuendo and sex talk.  Scenes of teens smoking pot with consequences.  3* (This movie is OK)

82 min, Suspense directed and written by Mary Harron and also written by Rachel Klein with Lily Cole, Sarah Bolger, Scott Speedman, Sarah Gadon, Judy Parfitt, Melissa Farman, Laurence Hamelin, Anne Day-Jones, Valerie Tian, Kathleen Fee, Gia Sandhu, Julian Casey, Steffi Hagel, Leif Anderson, Roxan Bourdelais.

Note:  Imdb 4.9 out of 10 with 6,208 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 13% critic 23% audience, Metacritic 38 out of 100 with 13 critic reviews (positive 3, mixed 5, negative 5), 6.3 out of 10 with 7 user scores (3 positive, 2 mixed, 2 negative), Letterboxd 2.4* out of 5*, Common Sense Media Jeffrey M. Anderson, age 17+, 2*, positive messages 0, role models, 0 violence, 4* sex, language 3*, consumerism 0, drinking drugs & smoking 4*, Amazon 4* out of 5* with 137 ratings, Slant Magazine 2 1/2* out of 4* Andrew Schenker.

Special Note:  The classical piece Ernessa plays on the piano is Chopin’s Nocturne No. 1.  Lily Cole suggested a few different pieces to the director Marry Harron and she chose this piece.  Mary had never heard it before.  The novel studied in Mr. Davies’ class is Camilla by Sheridan Le Fanu.  The illustrations are by David Henry Friston.  He illustrated the story when it appeared in serial form in The Dark Blue, a literary magazine of the 1870’s.