The Dead Girl
The Dead Girl ★★ 2006 (R)
Moncrieff's troubling drama showcases one victim of a serial killer from five female perspectives. The title character is runaway druggie hooker Krista (Murphy), whose body is found by downtrodden Arden (Collette). Forensic student Leah (Byrne) first thinks the body is that of her missing sister, while enabling wife Ruth (Hurt) suspects her husband (Searcy) is the killer. Then Melora (Harden) rounds out the story when Krista is identified and the grieving mom is forced to confront how her daughter was living. 93m/C DVD . US Toni Collette, Rose Byrne, Mary Beth Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Brittany Murphy, Kerry Washington, Giovanni Ribisi, Nick Searcy, Piper Laurie, Josh Brolin, James Franco, Mary Steenburgen, Bruce Davison; D: Karen Moncrieff; W: Karen Moncrieff; C: Michael Grady; M: Adam Gorgoni.