WFG RATING: B+

Lionsgate presents a Good Universe/Point Grey Pictures production. Written and directed by Jade Halley Bartlett. Produced by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Mary-Margaret Kunze, Josh Fagen, and James Weaver. Cinematography by Daniel Brothers. Edited by Vanara Taking.

Stars Jenna Ortega, Martin Freeman, Bashir Salahuddin, Gideon Adlon, and Dagmara Dominczyk.

A teacher and a student delve into a web that becomes a cat-and-mouse game in this emotional debut of filmmaker Jade Halley Bartlett.

Cairo Sweet is an 18-year-old student who doesn’t have much of a home life. However, she finds literature to be her outlet. She enrolls in the class of Jonathan Miller, an aspiring writer who seems have trouble with his latest work. Miller himself seems to have a troubled life at home as his wife tends to constantly berate him and spends a lot of time drinking. The only one he can rely on at times is his friend and high school coach Boris.

Cairo’s only friend is Winnie, who has a massive crush on Boris while Cairo slowly begins to have feelings for the married Miller. When Miller offers to give Cairo the midterm assignment early, what he learns is something shocking. When he realizes what Cairo meant by her submission, he rebuffs her immediately despite having some emotions inside. Upset at the revelation, Cairo takes drastic measures to ensure that she will get her way, or she will ruin Miller.

Based on a play she had written, Jade Halley Bartlett makes an emotionally charged debut where one thing is for sure. There are no protagonists of the film as the cast of characters have their own set of demons that overtakes them and leads to dire consequences and regrets among them.

The film comes from the viewpoint of Cairo, played by last year’s Breakout Star, Jenna Ortega. Here, she comes off as the aristocratic daughter of rich folk who are never home. While she seems to have a sense of loneliness, she finds her outlet in literature and reading but yet, she has an ally in Winnie, played by Gideon Adlon. Winnie comes off as the one likely to be promiscuous without a care in the world, especially with her crush on high school coach Boris, played by Bashir Salahuddin. It is Winnie who seems to plant the seeds in Cairo when it comes to her slow-moving obsession with her teacher.

Martin Freeman is great in the role of Miller, who has his own struggles in his marriage, only to be fueled by his fantastical obsession with Cairo. What Bartlett does to convey this hidden relationship between the two is the use of Ortega’s voice reading the story as we see Miller visualizing the assignment but comes off as subtle despite the graphic nature of the text. The third act is an eye opener as the dark revelations of the core cast arrive and it takes a new meaning of the term “intense”.

Miller’s Girl may not be for everyone because those expecting any likable characters will be disappointed. Those who enjoy Jenna Ortega will get to see a side of her unlike what we are used to and her cat-and-mouse game with Martin Freeman leads to a chaotic third act. An emotional debut for newcomer Jade Halley Bartlett.

The film will be released exclusively in theaters on January 26, 2024.