The Moth Diaries
Mary Harron ("Pet Semetary," "American Psycho") is back to the genre that made her famous with "The Moth Diaries." Set at a shockingly under-populated all-girl’s boarding school in Canada, the story (based on the book by Rachel Klein) focuses on Rebecca (Sarah Bolger -a dead ringer for Ellen Pompeo of "Grey’s Anatomy").
Rebecca may be excited to be back at school with her best friend Lucie (Sarah Gadon), but a new and unnervingly pale and frosty girl named Ernessa (Lily Cole) is about to bring about some nasty changes to the curriculum by way of her vampiric tendencies.
All this gothic undercurrent is foreshadowed in an English class where a hot new teacher (Scott Speedman) is giving the class lessons in -- you guessed it -- a female vampire. (This movie isn’t subtle.)
Poor Rebecca not only starts to lose her best friend to the weird new girl, but no one will believe her when she says Ernessa might otherworldly. Will the school administration come to their senses? Will Ernessa steal the soul of Lucie? Or is Ernessa just horribly misunderstood and being unfairly targeted because she has unusual, but beautifully creepy eyes?
All will be answered ... kind of ... in "The Moth Diaries" -- named, by the way, because Rebecca writes in a diary and there are moths hanging around in Ernessa’s room; not because the moths were keeping their own journals about life at a boarding school.
Because that would be silly.
Unlike an energy vampire at an all-girls boarding school.
To be fair, the movie is not without its pleasures. It sets a nice tone and the cinematography is excellent. Sarah Bolger is an immensely likeable actress, so despite the script being a bit shoddy overall, you still manage to stay with it even when the final act falls apart.
Bonus points go to Harron for using a Marina and the Diamonds song over the closing credits. Although it doesn’t fit at all, it’s a great song, so who cares?
Special Features include a 20-minute "Making Of" featurette, a 15-minute video diary by cast and crew, and the theatrical trailer.
"The Moth Diaries"
Blu-ray $29.98
www.mpihomevideo.com
