Review: 'The Starling Girl' is a hard-hitting look at faith twisted with control, with a star-making performance by Eliza Scanlan

The irresistible force of a teen girl’s sexual awakening hits the immovable object of her church in writer-director Laurel Parmet’s potent drama “The Starling Girl.”

Jem Starling (Eliza Scanlen), is 17, the oldest child in a sprawling Christian family in a small Kentucky town. She’s very faithful to Jesus, and channels that faith in her prayers and in her participation in her evangelical church’s dance troupe, known for its heartfelt and chaste routines set to hymns.

So when Jem starts having impure thoughts, and follows up by slipping her hand under her nightgown when she’s in bed, Jem starts to worry that Satan is trying to tempt her toward the dark side. Those feelings get stronger when the pastor’s son, Owen Taylor (Lewis Pullman, son of Bill Pullman), returns from missionary work in Puerto Rico. There are a few complicating factors, like Pastor Taylor (Kyle Secor) having arranged with Jem’s parents (Jimmi Simpson and Wrenn Schmidt) to have the pastor’s younger son Ben (Austin Abrams) court her — and that Owen is 28 and married to Misty (Jessamine Burgum).

Meanwhile, Jem’s father is going through his own faith crisis — and a recurrence of the alcoholism that we’re told nearly destroyed him before he converted to his current faith.

Amid a strong cast, Scanlen is the standout. Best known for her roles in “Sharp Objects” and Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of “Little Women” (she was Beth), Scanlan channels the fervor of Jem’s religious devotion, as it curdles under the influence of this hunky young pastor.

Parmet has fashioned a harrowing drama — partly inspired, she says, by her own teen experiences — and a scathing indictment of the patriarchal systems that punish girls like Jem while letting their older male counterparts off the hook.

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‘The Starling Girl’

★★★

Opens Friday, May 26, at Broadway Centre Cinemas (Salt Lake City) and Megaplex at The District (South Jordan). Rated R for some sexuality. Running time. 116 minutes.

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This review originally appeared on this site on Jan. 23, 2023, when it premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.