Holly (2006)

63% of critics liked it
(24 reviews)
65% of users liked it
(400 ratings)

A two-bit criminal gets a shot at redemption while traveling through Southeast Asia in this 2006 drama from director Guy Moshe. Ron Livingston stars Patrick, a low-level con man who scores a gig transporting some stolen goods from Cambodia. When Patrick is sidelined at a brothel, he finds himself… More A two-bit criminal gets a shot at redemption while traveling through Southeast Asia in this 2006 drama from director Guy Moshe. Ron Livingston stars Patrick, a low-level con man who scores a gig transporting some stolen goods from Cambodia. When Patrick is sidelined at a brothel, he finds himself drawn to helping the title character, a 12-year-old Vietnamese prostitute played by Thuy Nguyen. Featuring one of the final performances by actor Chris Penn, Holly screened at the 2006 Edinburgh Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 54 min.
Directed By: Guy Moshe
Written By: Guy Jacobson, Guy Moshe
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Nov 9, 2007 Limited
On DVD: Jan 27, 2009
Studio: Priority Films/Slowhand Cinema Releasing

Critic Reviews

Michael Snyder, San Francisco Chronicle
Ultimately, Holly might have been more effective as a documentary.
Kyle Smith, New York Post
Despite a strong performance by Livingston, the film is sunk by sluggish pacing, straight-ahead plotting and an unresolved ending -- not to mention its inability to convince us that anything much can be done about sexual slavery.
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
Half drama, half social tract, Guy Moshe's feature debut is meant to illustrate the horrors of child prostitution in Southeast Asia. The intentions, unfortunately, are more notable than the execution.
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
There's a riveting story lurking inside Holly; It's just not the one the filmmakers want to tell.
Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter
An unsparing look at child prostitution is a hard sell for audiences, but this movie is a memorable achievement.
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
A dawdling, myopic drama.
Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times
Despite its best intentions, Holly never achieves the dramatic clarity it needs to put its human suffering into galvanizing perspective.
Josh Bell, Las Vegas Weekly
Well-meaning but terminally dull.
William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
It's realistic enough to admit that there's probably no way to ever completely eradicate an evil for which there seems to be such an eager demand.
Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews
Moshe and co-screenwriter Guy Jacobson use their white protagonist not cynically to exploit white guilt, but to excavate it and examine its possibilities and failings with an anthropological eye.
Luke Y. Thompson, New Times
...it's easy to imagine how another director might have felt the need to switch to slo-mo and cue the violins.
Cynthia Fuchs, PopMatters
While Yaron Orbach's camera repeatedly evokes Patrick's naïveté and yearning, the setting also remains resolutely "foreign."
Maitland McDonagh, Time Out New York
The film's meandering narrative, melodramatic conclusion and underdeveloped characters overshadow the genuinely shocking abuses it condemns.
Susan Green, Boxoffice Magazine
Gritty and wrenching, Holly is fiction with the heart of an expose.
David Noh, Film Journal International
A grittily realistic picture of a very unpretty world.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Nicki M

Not bad. Felt very watered down, but still a good movie raising awareness of child prostitution. The young girl who plays 12 year old Holly is very good, as is Ron Livingstone as the man who tries to help her escape.

Cast

Ron Livingston
as Patrick
Virginie Ledoyen
as Marie
Thuy Nguyen
as Holly

Chris Penn
as Freddie
Udo Kier
as Klaus
Adi Ezroni

See full cast

Holly (2006)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Nicki M

Cast