There is a stark realism to the depiction of the life of Deanna Lambert in "Story of a Girl." From start to finish, the film has the feeling of real life being captured with nothing sounded scripted in grim details of a human life.
As she is completing her high school education, Deanna is tormented by her past, when at age thirteen, she had sex in a car with Tommy Webber, and the scene was captured on video. It later went viral, leading to a rupture in Deanna's family that has never completely healed, especially in her relationship to her father. The circumstances of the video being sent to Deanna's classmates is one of the secrets reserved for the end of the film.
Deanna takes a summer job at Craven's Pizza, working for a kind man named Michael, who provides her with some good advice. The life lessons from Michael are taken to heart, as Deanna tries to cope with her life in which the walls seem to be closing in on her.
There are things about Deanna that she finds repellent about herself, and the camera captures her self-destructive behavior unflinchingly. But the filmmakers also offer an indepth portrait of her motivation and how she is seeking surcease from the demons inside her.
The tragic implications of this film clearly portray young people like Deanna, her brother Darren, his partner Stacey, and even the feckless Michael Webber as all-too-human in the frailty and their courage in becoming responsible adults. The film's ultimate message is encapsulated in the lyrics of the final song: "This is your life!!!"
As she is completing her high school education, Deanna is tormented by her past, when at age thirteen, she had sex in a car with Tommy Webber, and the scene was captured on video. It later went viral, leading to a rupture in Deanna's family that has never completely healed, especially in her relationship to her father. The circumstances of the video being sent to Deanna's classmates is one of the secrets reserved for the end of the film.
Deanna takes a summer job at Craven's Pizza, working for a kind man named Michael, who provides her with some good advice. The life lessons from Michael are taken to heart, as Deanna tries to cope with her life in which the walls seem to be closing in on her.
There are things about Deanna that she finds repellent about herself, and the camera captures her self-destructive behavior unflinchingly. But the filmmakers also offer an indepth portrait of her motivation and how she is seeking surcease from the demons inside her.
The tragic implications of this film clearly portray young people like Deanna, her brother Darren, his partner Stacey, and even the feckless Michael Webber as all-too-human in the frailty and their courage in becoming responsible adults. The film's ultimate message is encapsulated in the lyrics of the final song: "This is your life!!!"