Girl (2020)

Girl is a lean, nasty little revenge-thriller that plays like a dusty backroad nightmare—slickly made, steeped in small-town menace, and confident enough to let silence do as much work as gunfire. Bella Thorne gives a surprisingly quiet, physical performance, carrying real emotional weight even when the movie is running on pure tension and bad intentions. Chad Faust’s debut has that satisfying B-movie snap: tight pacing, grimy atmosphere, and a sense that every friendly face might be part of something rotten. It’s not for viewers who want comfort or clean heroes, but if you like your thrillers mean, moody, and relentlessly watchable, this one earns the trip.

Girl is clearly aiming for a gritty, pulpy revenge-thriller with small-town noir vibes and a tough-as-nails heroine carving her way through ugly family history. The problem is the mystery doesn’t stay mysterious for long—twists feel telegraphed, and a lot of the tension gets replaced by characters explaining the plot instead of letting it unfold. It also has an uneven, “indie trying to be grindhouse” rhythm where confrontations should hit harder but land a bit wobbly. If you’re in the mood for a lean, stylish thriller with sharp surprises, this may frustrate you; if you can tolerate predictability for some grim atmosphere, a committed central performance, and a few nasty bursts of violence, it might still scratch the itch.