Female Film Critics 24/375
This first narrative feature from documentarian Liz Garbus offers exactly the sort of twist on a familiar story I would expect from a filmmaker like her, who has long been a champion for the girls and women our society misunderstands and overlooks. So I wish the film was more engaging, to bring in the audience that needs to see it most.
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Featuring a fearless star performance from Amy Ryan, documentary veteran Liz Garbus’ first dramatic feature, Lost Girls, is a wrenching story about a mother’s search for truth — and justice. It’s based on the real-life story of Mari Gilbert, a New York woman whose dogged determination to find out what happened to her missing daughter led to the discovery of serial killings in Long Island.
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The heart of Lost Girls is the connection forged by the survivors – the sorrowful sisters and guilt-ridden mothers who bond over the similar fates of their daughters. Amy Ryan is the hard-bitten engine driving this charge against simply shrugging off the disappearance of women, prostitutes or not. But the most soulful performance is given by Thomasin McKenzie as a daughter who supports her crusading mom even though her own needs are pushed aside.
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Netflix’s Lost Girls is powerful storytelling and it’s an absolutely riveting film. Documentary filmmaker Liz Garbus’ first narrative feature is a compelling thriller based on the true story of Mari Gilbert’s crusade to find her missing daughter.
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What makes Lost Girls stand out is the stellar performances by the actors playing characters based on real-life people who were dealing day-to-day with real-life tragedies, and the often subtle choices Liz Garbus makes as a director creating a film firmly planted in the female gaze.
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Director Liz Garbus is no stranger to difficult stories. With a decades-spanning career in documentaries, she has brought a lot of laughter and tears to the big and small screens. It’s not too surprising that her narrative film debut, Lost Girls, is a fictional account of a real-life tragedy.
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A frightened prostitute runs into dark night and seemingly disappears off the face of the earth, sending a frantic mother into a walking nightmare of official indifference in this tense, evocative drama, drawn from an actual case.
Documentary filmmaker Liz Garbus makes her fiction feature debut with an engrossing, character-driven film.
Oscar winners Ellen Burstyn and Emma Thompson, along with Thompson’s daughter Gaia Wise, are set to co-star in the film adaptation of The Lost Girls, a femme-focused coming-of-age spin-off on J.M. Barrie’s classic tale of Peter Pan.
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