Sarah Bolger stars in The Moth Diaries. Courtesy of Alliance Films
Are movies that premiere at a film festival automatically given a higher stature over films that do not? The answer is a resounding no, and The Moth Diaries, which premiered at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) last year, is a perfect example of this.
In this movie, a teenage boarding school student is losing her best friend to a new girl suspected of having supernatural abilities.
It’s hard to believe that filmmakers and studios automatically feel the need to lower the standards of their work depending on their target audience. Most every aspect of this movie is mediocre at best.
The cast of adult actors playing teenagers, including Sarah Bolger, Lily Cole, Sarah Gadon, Valerie Tian, and Melissa Farman either received poor direction or they simply can’t act. Either way, there is no connecting with the characters or their dilemmas.
Mary Harron (American Psycho), who wrote and directed the movie, could have done a much better job adapting Rachel Klein’s novel. More or less, the entire story is a “paint by numbers” portrait of teenage drama with a weak horror twist.
In the end, this film would find a better home in the made for television genre rather than a feature film.
Bottom Line: If you’re looking for a higher dose of entertainment from a superior film, check out The Craft (1996) and keep your distance from this movie.
Grade D-
Runtime: 82 minutes
IMAX: No
3D: No
