The Starling Girl
2023 · Movie · R · 116 min · ★ 6.4 · 75% critics
A 17-year-old girl wrestles with belonging in a strict religious community while trying to understand her own identity, desires, and future. When a charismatic youth pastor returns, her feelings and questions intensify, forcing her to weigh conformity and acceptance against personal freedom and self-discovery.
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Watch free on Tubi — also streaming on Netflix.
2 hours to watch.
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Details
- Years
- 2023
- Release date
- 2023-05-12
- Language
- English
- Rated
- R
- Runtime
- 116 min
- Max quality
- HD
- Critic score
- 75/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.4/10 (77 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want an intimate, faith-and-identity coming-of-age drama with strong performances and moral tension, similar in spirit to Wildlife; Not for you if you prefer fast plots or lighter stories.
Pros: thoughtful coming-of-age themes; compelling lead performance; intimate emotional pull | Cons: familiar story beats; pacing can drag; uneven visual clarity
Themes
- dance
- christianity
- sin
- coming of age
- religion
- love affair
- alcoholic father
- woman director
- shame
- unassuming
- father daughter relationship
- mother daughter relationship
- +6 more
Awards & recognition
- Sundance Producers Award · 2023
Cast & crew
Eliza Scanlen
as Jem Starling
Lewis Pullman
as Owen Taylor
Wrenn Schmidt
as Heidi Starling
Jimmi Simpson
as Paul Starling
Claire Elizabeth Green
as Rebecca Starling
Austin Abrams
as Ben Taylor
Chris Dinner
as Noah Starling
Paige Leigh Landers
as Kelsey
Kieran Sitawi
as Jeremy Starling
- JB
Jessamine Burgum
as Misty Taylor
Directed by Laurel Parmet