The decline of the erotic thriller has left audiences unfulfilled, bored, and frankly over sex in the movies. The unbridled ecstasy of 80s erotica is due for a renaissance, though we’re obviously nowhere near this. Some of us ache for more, and some of us are satisfied with none at all. Miller’s Girl, directed by Jade Halley Bartlett, teeters somewhere in the middle of this, resembling its passionate predecessors, but ultimately succumbing to mediocrity and missed opportunities.
The film stars Jenna Ortega as Cairo Sweet and Martin Freeman as Jonathan Miller. Ortega plays a precocious teenager who takes an interest in her English teacher (Martin Freeman) and subsequently entangles him in her web of deceit and seduction. Blindly believing the gothic romance clichés littered throughout our main character’s home, Cairo Sweet masterminds her way into the heart of the underappreciated Mr. Miller, pining for a love that exists only in Brontë novels. She resides in a rural Tennessee mansion while her rich lawyer parents travel the world (how convenient). The cinematography is average at best; it makes the film look like a straight to VOD movie that somehow got a theatrical release. The set designs are absolutely gorgeous though. Also worth mentioning is the editing which makes for a memorable opening sequence.
The two protagonists meet in a traditional classroom setting, decorated with wooden desks, lounge chairs, and bookshelves. It’s hard to believe that the high school outside of this room could be so grey and dreary. The contrast between the two settings further emphasizes their distance from reality in pursuit of this relationship. Cairo Sweet brings erotic fiction to class, Mr. Miller writes it, they’re bound to become entangled in a fateful affair.
The film isn’t nearly as controversial or shocking as it should be. Instead, Bartlett edges the audience for ninety minutes, never making any big payoffs or risks. Ortega and Freeman do the best they can with the script, but ultimately their mutual longing isn’t believable nor arousing. They smoke cigarettes together, sit across from each other and share pretentious quotes from their writing. This commonality in interests is all that links them together (and the fact that she’s the only one who “likes” his poetry). The teacher-student situationship rarely goes beyond a stare or a slight brush of the shoulder. Save for the fantasy sequence towards the end of the film in which Ortega’s character sensuously invites Freeman into her home to do what can only be described as Wattpad fan fiction come to life. Again, nothing quite goes as far as it should, and the problem lies in the script. Everything that’s going to happen is explained by the dialogue as well as why things happen. There’s no element of mystery that makes the twist ending of the film shocking, the story ends with a strange feeling of emptiness, and relief for the viewer that it is finally over.
The dialogue is cringe in its worst moments, but with Ortega’s stellar performance, I can overlook that. In one scene, she emotionally rips apart and scrutinizes Mr. Miller’s character for two minutes straight, towering over him, making him seem like the useless romantic lead in her broken fantasy world. Mr. Miller has become aware that he’s crossed a line that can only lead to dire consequences. The director was partly inspired by the #MeToo movement, which led to some changes in the script. The story is built upon the birth of a female villain, but I wonder if the mixture of this idea with the social commentary the film builds on actually says anything worthwhile, or if the director got lost in her movie, not knowing where to go. The movie is lacking a point—who is this for?
While Miller’s Girl has its visually appealing moments and a standout performance from Jenna Ortega, it ultimately fails to capitalize on its potential, making it a forgettable entry in whatever genre it occupies.
2/5 STARS