54
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Written and directed by David Riker, who built his 1998 drama "La Ciudad" around immigrants in New York City, The Girl is stingy with backstory but rich with visual clues.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceHernandez is soulful and affecting, though, and Cornish embodies Ashley's self-centered character with nuance and subtlety.
- 67The PlaylistRodrigo PerezThe PlaylistRodrigo PerezAnyone who finds this conclusion a humanistic or socially reprehensible dealbreaker can hardly be faulted. Before these questionable issues come to a head and then falter in the finale, there is a lot of value in The Girl.
- 63Slant MagazineElise NakhnikianSlant MagazineElise NakhnikianUses the perils of immigrating to this country without papers as a backdrop for a poor white American woman's bumpy path to enlightenment.
- 60New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierNew York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierWriter-director David Riker's film is tough going, but worth it.
- 60Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyLos Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyThere are moving moments as Cornish channels the slow self-enlightenment necessary for Ashley's character arc. And the actress is particularly good in the scenes with the promising young Hernandez.
- 50The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisWhat at first came across as a tale of dawning conscience increasingly starts to feel rigged.
- 40Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearIn all aspects, The Girl can’t help it — this is headline-torn cinema du tearjerking at its most generic.
- 25New York PostKyle SmithNew York PostKyle SmithIf the poor really interested such filmmakers, these movies would have something to offer other than lugubriousness masquerading as seriousness, and clichés presented as hard truths.