''The Moth Diaries'' is a 2011

gothic horror Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...

film written and directed by

Mary Harron Mary Harron (born January 12, 1953) is a Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter, and former entertainment critic. She gained recognition for her role in writing and directing several independent films, including '' I Shot Andy Warhol'' (1996), ''Am ...

, based on the 2002 novel of the same name by Rachel Klein. The film stars Lily Cole,

Sarah Gadon Sarah Lynn Gadon (born April 4, 1987) is a Canadian actress. She began her acting career guest-starring in a number of television series, such as '' Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' (1999), '' Mutant X'' (2002), and ''Dark Oracle'' (2004). She also ...

Sarah Bolger Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pi ...

Judy Parfitt Judy Catherine Claire Parfitt (born 7 November 1935) is an English theatre, film and television actress. She made her film debut in a minor supporting part in '' Information Received'' (1961), followed by supporting role in the BBC television ...

, and

Scott Speedman Robert Scott Speedman (born September 1, 1975) is a British-Canadian actor. He is known for portraying Ben Covington in the coming-of-age drama television series '' Felicity'', Lycan–Vampire hybrid Michael Corvin in the gothic horror–actio ...

. The plot follows Rebecca, a teenage girl who suspects that Ernessa, the new student at an all-girls boarding school is a vampire. An Irish-Canadian

venture Venture may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *The Ventures, an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 *"A Venture", 1971 song by the band Yes *''Venture'', a 2010 EP by AJR Games * ''Venture'' (video game), a 1981 arcade gam ...

, the film was co-produced by Samson Films and Mediamax. ''The Moth Diaries'' premiered at the

68th Venice International Film Festival The 68th annual Venice International Film Festival was held in Venice, Italy between 31 August and 10 September 2011. American film director Darren Aronofsky was announced as the Head of the Jury. American actor and film director Al Pacino was p ...

on 6 September 2011, and was theatrically released in Canada on 6 April 2012 by Alliance Films and in Ireland on 24 May 2013 by

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

. The film received generally negative reviews from critics.

Plot

At an exclusive boarding school for girls, 16-year-old Rebecca Cantor writes her most intimate thoughts in a diary. Two years earlier, Rebecca's father, a poet, took his own life by slitting his wrists. Her mother transferred Rebecca to the school, hoping to help her daughter escape the memory of her father's death. With the help of her best friend and roommate, Lucy Blake, Rebecca soon recovers. The following year, a mysterious, dark-haired girl named Ernessa Bloch enrolls into the school. Lucy quickly becomes best friends with Ernessa and becomes distant from Rebecca. Ernessa's presence makes Rebecca feel uneasy. She tries to confront Lucy about Ernessa's dark secrets, but her pleas are dismissed as jealousy. Eerie things start to happen. First, Charley gets expelled because of Ernessa. Dora dies in a freak accident shortly after spying on Ernessa's room, and a teacher is found murdered in the woods. Tension starts to grow at the school. To Rebecca, Ernessa is an enigma. She seems like she can walk through closed windows, and she is often seen lingering around the basement (a place that students are forbidden to go). Rebecca thinks Ernessa is a vampire. Ernessa slowly gets rid of Rebecca's close friends, leaving Rebecca to find out what is happening by herself. A new English teacher, Mr Davies, arrives at the school. Mr Davies shows particular interest in Rebecca. The two share ideas on Romantic literature and poetry. Rebecca soon learns that vampires do not necessarily drink blood, but they can drain the lively spirit out of their victims. Mr Davies addresses himself as a fan of Rebecca's poet father. Rebecca turns to Mr Davies for help, and, during their conversation, the two kiss but Rebecca pulls away. Lucy is sent to the hospital, but only Rebecca knows that Lucy is sick because of Ernessa. Rebecca tries to convince Lucy that Ernessa is the root of all their problems, but Lucy refuses to listen and profanes at her. She tells Rebecca that she is not the "old Lucy" anymore, and that Rebecca's refusal to see this is what has really spoiled their friendship. Although Lucy recovers for a couple days, she soon dies after Ernessa completely drains the life out of her. Ernessa confronts Rebecca in the library and presents her with a sharp razor and elaborates on the pleasure of death. Another time, Ernessa sings a disturbing nursery rhyme about " The Juniper Tree" then slits her own wrists, causing blood to rain down on her and Rebecca. Afterwards, Ernessa and the blood disappear. Rebecca steals the keys to the basement, and after entering, sees an old suitcase with Ernessa's full name written on it. From an old diary, Rebecca learns that many years ago Ernessa's father also killed himself, and Ernessa, unable to cope with the grief, took her own life thereafter. Rebecca soon learns that Ernessa has wanted Rebecca to kill herself. Shortly after, Rebecca returns to the basement to discover Ernessa sleeping in the suitcase. Rebecca pours kerosene on Ernessa and around the coffin and lights it before Ernessa wakes up. Rebecca walks outside to see a fire truck present and her classmates standing around. Through a door she sees the ghost of Ernessa, who slowly turns around and walks into the sun before vanishing. Knowing the authorities are suspicious of her, Rebecca is certain that Ernessa will not have left any remains. During the ride to the police station she pulls a razor blade out of her diary and drops it out of the window, staring blankly into the distance.

Cast

as Rebecca Cantor * Lily Cole as Ernessa Bloch *

as Lucy Blake *

as Mrs. Rood * Melissa Farman as Dora * Laurence Hamelin as Sofia * Gia Sandhu as Kiki * Valerie Tian as Charley *

as Mr. Davies

Release

The film was shown Out of Competition at the

Critical reception

''The Moth Diaries'' received primarily negative reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American 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, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has a rating of 14%, based on 46 reviews. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, it received a score of 38 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Neil Young 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 larg ...

'' criticised the films lack of narrative suspense and overall inert storytelling, stating that "''The Moth Diaries'' is about as scary and menacing as the harmless lepidoptera in the film’s title." On 4 May 2015, Scout Tafoya of RogerEbert.com included the film in his video series "The Unloved", where he highlights films which received mixed to negative reviews yet he believes to have artistic value. He stated that "unlike other young-adult adaptations, the ritual and hardship of being in high school is never edged out by the supernatural goings-on; Rebecca and her friends worry about boys and grades as much as vampires ... Harron was attempting to communicate honestly with teens and pre-teen girls, to make a movie with characters and situations they might recognize." Tafoya further added, "Where the world refuses to stop turning just because crisis mounts for one girl, and thanks to a careless if not downright malicious marketing and distribution strategy, its audience never got a chance to watch it alongside ''

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this i ...

'' sequels or

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics * ...

movies ... The film industry is only just learning it can't get away with ignoring women of all ages."

References

External links

IFC Films official site
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moth Diaries, The 2011 films 2011 horror films 2011 LGBT-related films 2010s mystery horror films 2010s supernatural horror films 2010s teen horror films Films set in boarding schools Canadian LGBT-related films Canadian mystery horror films Canadian supernatural horror films Canadian teen films Canadian vampire films English-language Canadian films English-language Irish films Films about suicide Films based on American horror novels Films directed by Mary Harron Films scored by Lesley Barber Films shot in Montreal Gothic horror films Irish LGBT-related films Irish mystery films Irish supernatural horror films Irish teen horror films LGBT-related horror films Teen mystery films 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films