Lost Girls (2020)

Acting is overall good. Photo is good. But to tell this whole story in 1h 30mins is impossible. And that affects the outcome. It results in not getting to know the characters, there are gaps in the story and overall it is shallow. They could have done so much more with this (sad) story so it could have been developed into a mini series maybe. I would have liked more focus on the investigation. More focus on the characters living in Oak Beach. More on the daughters relation to their mother. And so on. Intent is good but it doesn't reach whole way through.

Fmovies: This is based on a truly tragic story, however I found this movie incredibly boring. What could have been an interesting & poignant opportunity was reduced to a collection of midday moviesque cliches. There are some really fine actors in this including Gabriel Byrne & Miriam Shor, but even their performances are flat. Every character is either one dimensional, unlikable or flat. A real waste.

"Lost Girls" is a dramatic thriller released by Netflix and based on Robert Kolker's book "Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery." The plot is engaging and based on the effort of Mari Gilbert, performed by the excellent Amy Ryan, in finding the truth about the fate of her missing daughter. The film shows the incompetence of the Suffolk police and how the victims, usually prostitutes, are considered expendable by the authorities. The serial-killer has not been found and his identity is unknown. The fate of the Gilbert family disclosed in the end is tragic. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Lost Girls - Os Crimes de Long Island" ("Lost Girls - The Crimes of Long Island")

Lost Girls fmovies. Lost Girls: Based on the Long Island serial killings. The story centres around Mari Gilbert (Amy Ryan) mother of missing Sex Worker Shannan. Mari's relentless campaign forced the police chief (Gabriel Byrne) to conduct a search for her daughter and to seek the serial killer(s) responsible for killing up to 16 women. Best acting plaudits though go to Thomasin McKenzie as Sheree Gilbert. Reed Birney is suitably creepy as a suspect. Terrible incompetence and dereliction of duty by the police is revealed. Directed by Liz Garbus. 7/10. On Netflix.

Since I watch a lot of murder mysteries this popped up on Netflix. Once it started I realized is was about the murders on Long Island. I knew a little, but nothing about the families involved.

The film does an excellent job of drawing you into the life of the mother who wouldn't settle for police indifference. There were details and an ending I never knew that adds to the heart break.

I didn't really have any anticipation for Lost Girls, but I do enjoy murder mysteries and the synopsis for this film sounded interesting to me. In the end, I didn't think it was particularly great, but I still had a decent time watching it. The annoying part was, I could see the bones of a truly wonderful film buried in the sloppy storytelling.

The performances across the board were fantastic, and it was nice seeing Thomasin McKenzie in a film after her incredible performance in Jojo Rabbit last year. I don't think she was as good in Lost Girls, but that's mainly down to how good she was in Jojo Rabbit, and not really a negative against this film.

The direction by Liz Garbus was also impressive, and it boasted some nice camera work. The cinematography was kept dark throughout, but that worked for the tone they were going for.

I liked the story that Lost Girls was trying to tell, but the execution wasn't as strong as I would have liked it to be. The ending was completely predictable, and the pacing was off. Some parts felt rushed, whilst others dragged out for much longer than they needed to.

I also didn't find any of the characters to be fleshed out all that much, and so it was hard to care about their story. Obviously, because this is based on real events, I wanted it to pan out a certain way, but they should have developed the characters more. This would have allowed me to have a deeper attachment to the outcome within the film itself. An extra twenty minutes would have probably benefitted the film, because it clocks in at under 90 minutes without credits.

Overall, Lost Girls was a decent watch, but probably not one I will revisit again.

SCORE: 63%