Writer: Stuart Murdoch (Screenplay)
Starring: Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, Hannah Murray, Pierre Boulanger, Cora Bisset, Sarah Swire
Plot: As Eve begins writing songs as a way to sort through some emotional problems, she meets James and Cassie, two musicians each at crossroads of their own.
Runtime: 1 Hour 52 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict:
Story: God Help the Girl starts as we meet Eve (Browning) she is living in a mental home to help her deal with the emotional problems which have damaged her body. Eve isn’t happy here and when she can, she runs away to watch music, here she meets James (Alexander) who offers her friendship.
With the latest escape, Eve moves into the flat in the same building as James and the two-start helping each other and Cassie (Murray) to write songs, giving Eve the purpose she required in life, before they trio decide to start their own band.
Thoughts on God Help the Girl
Characters – Eve starts this film in a mental home because of her own personal problems, she needs to learn to rebuild her life after the problems which occurred, we don’t learn completely what the issue was early on. She writes songs to help her through the treatment, before escaping and meeting another musician, starting a band opening herself back up to the world. James is the one of the group who had been part of a band before, he offers Eve friendship as they both learn to enjoy the music once again. He doesn’t want to be a cliché when it comes to music, which only holds up the band from finding their own sound. Cassie is the girl from a rich family, she has always struggled to write her own songs, joining with the rest she can learn to perform to the world.
Performances – Emily Browning in the leading role shows of the acting skills here with her character needing to deal with the largest amounts of emotional problems with her life. We understand each emotion she is going through and she does hit off the singing too. Olly Alexander and Hannah Murray both fill the supporting roles, where they both get their moments to shine.
Story – The story is split between three people, the focus on Eve who has mental problems in her life, she is trying to help herself through music, we watch as she needs to put her life back together and see how much she is willing to risk to put herself back into the life she needs to be living, there are many important factors to understand what she is going through, which is the most important part of the story, learning to balance dreams and life can become difficult. The other two characters must learn this with their own reasons holding them back one not wanting to be cliché, the other needing to accept everybody for being the same in life. With the serious nature to the film, the randomness of the songs can sometimes take away the message, though most of the songs are here to express the emotions being felt through the film.
Musical/Romance – The music in the film has plenty of songs that are showing the emotions that the characters are feeling, which is great, though they don’t feel catchy as they want to be. The romance shows how the lives of these three young people are trying to find love over a summer of music.
Settings – The film is set in Scotland which gets to show the beauty in the busy streets and open country.
Scene of the Movie – Final performance.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The songs aren’t as catchy as you would imagine.
Final Thoughts – This is a musical that tackles serious mental health issues, while teaching us the ideas of balancing dreams and reality.
Overall: Musical that teaches life lessons.
Rating