The Moth Diaries (2012)

15% of critics liked it
(26 reviews)
29% of users liked it
(4,414 ratings)

Acclaimed director Mary Harron returns with the chilling story of Rebecca (Sarah Bolger), a young girl who, haunted by her father's suicide, enrolls in an elite boarding school for girls. Before long, Rebecca's friendship with the popular Lucy (Sarah Gadon) is shattered by the arrival of a dark and… More Acclaimed director Mary Harron returns with the chilling story of Rebecca (Sarah Bolger), a young girl who, haunted by her father's suicide, enrolls in an elite boarding school for girls. Before long, Rebecca's friendship with the popular Lucy (Sarah Gadon) is shattered by the arrival of a dark and mysterious new student named Ernessa (Lily Cole). Rebecca, whose overtures of concern are rejected by Lucy, finds herself lost and confused. Rebecca starts to suspect that Ernessa is a vampire, but, despite the suspicious deaths that begin to occur, her fears are treated as simple girlish jealousy. As the bodies of young girls pile up and the line between reality and the supernatural starts to blur, Rebecca decides to take matters into her own hands and get rid of Ernessa. -- (C) IFC

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 22 min.
Directed By: Mary Harron
Written By: Rachel Klein
Genres: Drama, Horror

In Theaters: Apr 20, 2012 Limited
Studio: IFC Films

Critic Reviews

Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
Roiling with jealousy, suicide and latent lesbian urges, "The Moth Diaries" dances on the border between hallucination and reality without fully committing to either.
Kathleen Murphy, MSN Movies
The Moth Diaries fails to frighten, titillate or otherwise engage the imagination.
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News
Harron can do little with this bloodless drama, a shadow of such quiet vampire treats as "Let the Right One In" and "The Addiction."
Rex Reed, New York Observer
Where are the shivers? The girls are properly fragile, ethereal and neurotic, but the way Ms. Harron gingerly moves them around like porcelain dolls is too careful to stir up much terror.
Nick Schager, Village Voice
Lesbian desires, fears of mortality, and adolescent jealousies are all handled as bluntly as the unintentionally corny black-and-white flashbacks and gauzy dream sequences.
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Defeats Harron's talent for exploring darkness on the edge of kinkiness.
Brian Tallerico, HollywoodChicago.com
Those incredibly volatile days when a teenage girl comes to terms with her own family history, her changing friendships, her sexuality, and more make for interesting fiction but often come apart on their way to the big screen.
Ron Wilkinson, Monsters and Critics
Good overall plot and production that do not come together in the sharp focus of a conventional horror film. Entertaining nonetheless.
Scott Weinberg, FEARnet
Sleeping Pill: The Movie
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com
The problem with a movie this unimaginative and amorphous that tries to be ambiguous is that we're not sure how to take anything it shows us. Ambiguity becomes meaningless game-playing.
Bill Gibron, Filmcritic.com
Sex, blood, and death may be the givens of any Dracula-inspired fright film. The Moth Diaries skimps on all three.
Brian Orndorf, BrianOrndorf.com
It's a missed opportunity for Harron, who can't figure out a game plan for the source material's mysteries, leaving the picture to spin helplessly, wasting enticing genre ingredients.
Todd Jorgenson, Cinemalogue.com
... favors supernatural dazzle over the exploration of deeper, character-driven issues.
Betty Jo Tucker, ReelTalk Movie Reviews
Despite impressive performances by three young actresses, 'The Moth Diaries' lacks sufficient scare power.
Caitlin Colford, Paste Magazine
The Moth Diaries serves up a great helping of symbolism and interesting suggestions in what could have been an exceptional story, but that is about as far as it goes.
Kurt Loder, Reason Online
There's a heavy air of Sapphic attraction-which might have been more fun if fun were what the director had in mind.
Stephanie Zacharek, Movieline
It offers glancing pleasures of the atmospheric kind - the impact is the equivalent of a filmy cobweb brushing against your cheek. It tickles more than it bites.
Scott Tobias, AV Club
Harron, a supremely intelligent adaptor who did wonders with the screen version of Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho, simply doesn't have the chops to give this story the florid kick it needs.
David Fear, Time Out New York
Whither the filmmaker who gave us such memorable monsters as Patrick Bateman and Valerie Solanas, or such complex females as Bettie Page? Someone has apparently stolen the director's identity and is making movies under her name.