''God Help the Girl'' is a 2014 British

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

romantic drama Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

film written and directed by Stuart Murdoch of the band

Belle and Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" comes ...

. It follows three friends who form a band in Glasgow. The film was preceded by an album of the same name released in 2009. It received mixed reviews.

Plot

Eve escapes from the psychiatric hospital where she is being treated for

anorexia nervosa Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gre ...

and makes her way to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

, hoping to become a musician. At a gig, she meets James, a lifeguard and aspiring songwriter. He introduces her to his guitar student Cassie, and the three become friends. Eve meets Anton, the arrogant singer of a Glasgow band attracting attention from a local radio station. She gives him a tape of her music to pass on and they begin seeing each other. James convinces Eve she needs bass and drums to finish her songs. They and Cassie form a band, God Help the Girl, with some local musicians. Anton admits he never gave Eve's tape to the radio producers, saying she needs better production and musicianship, and they argue. James discovers Eve's relationship with Anton and becomes distanced from her. Feeling alone, Eve takes drugs and returns to hospital. She tells James she plans to attend music college in London, and they reconcile. After God Help the Girl performs their final concert, the radio station plays Eve's tape. The next day, she leaves for London.

Cast

Emily Browning Emily Jane Browning
. Celebritywonder, retrieved 30 June 2011 (born 7 December 1988

as Eve *

Olly Alexander Oliver Alexander Thornton (born 15 July 1990) is a British singer and actor. He is best known as the lead singer of Years & Years and for his performance as Ritchie Tozer in the Channel 4 drama series, ''It's a Sin''. Early life Alexander w ...

as James *

Hannah Murray Tegan Lauren-Hannah Murray (born 1 July 1989) is an English actress. She played Cassie in '' Skins'' (2007–2008, 2013) and Gilly in the HBO fantasy series ''Game of Thrones'' (2012–2019), for which she has been nominated along with her cast ...

as Cassie *

Pierre Boulanger Pierre Boulanger (born 8 August 1987) is a French actor. He is known for the 2003 film ''Monsieur Ibrahim'', where he played a young Jewish boy, Moises "Momo" Schmidt and for 2008 film '' Nos 18 ans'' where he played Richard. The young actor wa ...

as Anton

Release

''God Help the Girl'' premiered in-competition in the "World Cinema Dramatic Competition" at the

2014 Sundance Film Festival The 2014 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 16, 2014 until January 26, 2014 in Park City, Utah, United States, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance Resort in Utah. The festival opened with '' Whiplash'' directed by Da ...

on 18 January 2014. It opened the ''Generations section'' at the

64th Berlin International Film Festival The 64th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 6 to 16 February 2014. Wes Anderson's film ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' opened the festival. British film director Ken Loach was presented with the Honorary Golden Bear. The Golden ...

on 9 February 2014. After its premiere at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

, Amplify acquired the distribution rights of the film. It was released theatrically and

video-on-demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

on 5 September 2014 in the United States.

Reception

''God Help the Girl'' received mixed reviews. Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reports a 67% approval rating based on 76 reviews, with an average score of 5.69/10. The site's consensus reads: "While it may strike harder-hearted viewers as excessively twee, ''God Help the Girl'' floats by on its sweet charm and talented cast." Dennis Harvey of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote that ''God Help the Girl ''"is a slender exercise in self-conscious charm". David Fear of ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman a ...

'' praised it as "rife with the kind of giddy thrills and hormonal flushes you associate with being a teen". Jonathan Romney of ''Film Comment Magazine'' said that "it's easy to categorize Murdoch's film as a vanity project, but if it is, it's a very honest one". David D'Arcy of ''

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'' said the film "has a soft whimsy that connects to a time before video clips put editing rhythms into overdrive". Xan Brooks of the ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...

'' gave the film three out of five, writing: "It's warm and generous, verging on the sentimental; a film that crystallises the best and worst of Belle and Sebastian's songwriting skills." In ''Vulture'',

Nathan Rabin Nathan Rabin (; born April 24, 1976) is an American film and music critic. Rabin was the first head writer for ''The A.V. Club'', a position he held until he left the ''Onion'' organization in 2013.

named the film one of 10 Sundance movies that "should have been hits", writing: "Murdoch has long been an extraordinarily cinematic songwriter, with a gift for conjuring up melancholy worlds with his words and music. With ''God Help the Girl,'' he proves to be a predictably literary and musical filmmaker ... ''God Help the Girl'' represents the perfect cinematic representation of Belle and Sebastian’s worldview, which, depending on your opinion of the group, is either high praise or a terrific reason to stay away." Leslie Felperin of the ''Guardian ''gave ''God Help the Girl'' two out of five stars and called it "disastrous, fatally flawed by a shoddy script and poor direction, like something made by the most ostensibly talented guy at art school ... It's not funny or clever, or even musically very interesting. It's just bad." Rodrigo Perez of ''

Indiewire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

'' wrote: "A major gaffe, ''God Help The Girl'' finds a great artist taking on a huge challenge and stumbling painfully on its ambition almost every step of the way." David Rooney of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' called the film "an indie musical that feels like one long B-side". Sarah Sahim, writing for ''Pitchfork'', called the film "an egregious mess" that romanticises

eating disorder An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that negatively affect a person's physical or mental health. Only one eating disorder can be diagnosed at a given time. Types of eating disorders include binge eating d ...

s. She criticised the film's lack of racial diversity as "a microcosmic view of what is wrought by racial exclusivity that is omnipresent in indie rock". Murdoch responded to Sahim's article on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, an ...

, writing: "God knows I've yearned to know and love women and men of many nations, but being a poor sick white boy from Scotland has dashed my ambitions."

Accolades

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:God Help the Girl 2014 films 2014 directorial debut films 2014 independent films 2014 romantic drama films 2010s coming-of-age drama films 2010s musical drama films 2010s romantic musical films British coming-of-age drama films British independent films British musical drama films British romantic drama films British romantic musical films Coming-of-age romance films Films about music and musicians Films based on albums Films produced by Barry Mendel Films set in Glasgow Films shot in Glasgow HanWay Films films Sundance Film Festival award winners 2010s English-language films 2010s British films