{{Infobox Film
|DT = Dead Girl
|OT = The Dead Girl
|PL = USA
|PJ = 2006
|LEN = ca. 85
|OS = Englisch
|AF = 
|REG = Karen Moncrieff
|DRB = Karen Moncrieff
|PRO = Eric Karten, <br/> Gary Lucchesi, <br/> Tom Rosenberg, <br/> Kevin Turen, <br/> Henry Winterstern, <br/> Richard S. Wright
|MUSIK = Adam Gorgoni
|KAMERA = Michael Grady
|SCHNITT = Toby Yates
|DS = 
*Toni Collette: Arden 
*Piper Laurie: Ardens Mutter
*Giovanni Ribisi: Rudy 
*Rose Byrne: Leah 
*Mary Steenburgen: Beverley (Leahs Mutter)
*Bruce Davison: Leahs Vater
*Mary Beth Hurt: Ruth 
*Nick Searcy: Carl 
*Marcia Gay Harden: Melora
*Kerry Washington: Rosetta
*Brittany Murphy: Krista
*Josh Brolin: Tarlow    
}}
'''Dead Girl''' (Originaltitel: ''The Dead Girl'') ist ein US-amerikanischer 2006. Regie führte Karen Moncrieff, die auch das Drehbuch schrieb.

== Handlung ==
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Der Film besteht aus fünf Episoden, die im Umfeld des Mörders von Krista spielen. Die erste erzählt über Arden, die sich um ihre behinderte Mutter kümmert. Sie wird häufig von der Mutter beschimpft. Arden trifft sich mit Rudy, den Serienmörder faszinieren. Nach einem Streit mit ihrer Mutter übt sie gemeinsam mit Rudy sadomasochistische Praktiken aus.

Die Schwester eines verschollenen Mädchens, Leah, studiert. Ihre Eltern hoffen immer noch, dass die verschollene Schwester gefunden wird. Eines Tages wird deren Leiche entdeckt.

Ruth ist in ihrer Ehe mit Carl unglücklich. Sie entdeckt zwischen den Sachen ihres Mannes blutbeschmierte Frauenkleider. Eines Nachts will sie die Sachen der Polizei übergeben, aber sie überlegt es sich anders und verbrennt sie.

Kristas Mutter Melora wird von der Polizei verhört. Sie lernt später Kristas Mitbewohnerin und Geliebte Rosetta kennen, die von der Prostitution lebt. Melora erfährt, dass ihr zweiter Mann in der Vergangenheit Krista missbrauchte.

Die letzte Episode zeigt die letzten Tage im Leben von Krista. Sie reist per Anhalter und trifft dabei Carl, der sie in seinem Auto mitnimmt.

== Kritiken ==

Kirk Honeycutt schrieb in der Zeitschrift ''The Hollywood Reporter'' vom 8. November 2006, die Regisseurin vermeide Effekthascherei und verleihe dem Film ''„Integrität“''. Sie zeige die Probleme der individuellen weiblichen Charakteren in unwirtlichen Gegenden von Los Angeles, in den Menschen unter Hoffnungslosigkeit leiden würden. Der Film sei für risikobereite erwachsene Zuschauer bestimmt.<ref>[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=7381 Filmkritik von Kirk Honeycutt] in ''The Hollywood Reporter'', abgerufen am 8. April 2008</ref>

Robert Koehler schrieb in der Zeitschrift ''Variety'', dass das schwache Ende zeige, dass die Episodenstruktur zwar Potential habe, aber auch wie eine Falle die Wirkung gefährde.<ref>[http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/dead_girl/?critic=creamcrop#mo uk.rottentomatoes.com], abgerufen am 8. April 2008</ref>

{{Infobox Film
| name = The Dead Girl
| image = Dead girlposter.jpg
| caption = The movie poster.
| director = Karen Moncrieff
| producer = Eric Karten<br/>Gary Lucchesi<br/>Tom Rosenberg<br/>Kevin Turen<br/>Henry Winterstern
| writer = Karen Moncrieff
| narrator =
| starring = Toni Collette<br/>Brittany Murphy<br/>Marcia Gay Harden<br/>Rose Byrne<br/>James Franco<br/>Giovanni Ribisi<br/>Kerry Washington
| music = Adam Gorgoni
| cinematography = Michael Grady
| editing = Toby Yates
| distributor = First Look International
| released =  November 7, 2006<br/>  May 23,2007<br/>  April 26,2007<br/>  May 24,2007<br/>  May 25,2007<br/>  june 21,2007
| runtime = 85 min.
| country = United States 
| language = English
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| website =
| amg_id = 1:348836
| imdb_id = 0783238
}}
'''''The Dead Girl''''' is a 2006 film written and directed by Karen Moncrieff starring Toni Collette, Brittany Murphy and Marcia Gay Harden. The film was nominated for several 2007 Independent Spirit Awards awards including Best Feature and Best Director.<ref> </ref> The story revolves around the death of a young woman (played by Murphy) and the characters linked to her murder.

==Cast==
{|
|- style="background-color:silver;"
! colspan="2" |Principal Cast & Characters
|-
| Toni Collette ||as Arden
|-
| Brittany Murphy ||as Krista Kutcher
|-
| Marcia Gay Harden ||as Melora
|-
| Rose Byrne ||as Leah
|-
| James Franco ||as Derek
|-
| Josh Brolin ||as Tarlow
|-
| Giovanni Ribisi ||as Rudy
|-
| Kerry Washington ||as Rosetta
|-
| Mary Beth Hurt ||as Ruth
|-
| Piper Laurie ||as Arden's mother
|-
| Nick Searcy ||as Carl
|-
| Mary Steenburgen ||as Beverley, Leah's Mother
|-
| Bruce Davison ||as Leah's Father
|}

==Plot==
''The Dead Girl'' is a quintet of stories about seemingly unrelated people whose lives converge around the murder of a young woman (portrayed by Brittany Murphy). The characters in the film are linked not only by their connection to her murder, but also by the difficult hand that life has dealt them. The film scrutinizes their inner struggles to overcome or surrender to their misfortunes. 

The first story, entitled ''The Stranger'', focuses on Arden (Toni Collette), a quiet and diffident woman who lives with and cares for her verbally abusive, invalid mother (Piper Laurie). Arden is the character who finds the titular body and alerts the authorities, much to her mother's dismay. She later encounters Rudy (Giovanni Ribisi), a grocery clerk obsessed with serial killers, and agrees to meet him for a date. While preparing for the date in secrecy, Arden's mother calls for her assistance. Upon her arrival to her mother's room, Arden is berated with questions as to her appearance. Arden reacts angrily and attacks her mother before packing her suitcase and leaving home. She then meets Rudy and has masochistic sex with him.    

The second story, ''The Sister'', revolves around Leah (depressed forensics student who prepares the titular body for an autopsy. She is obsessed with the idea that the body belongs to her sister who went missing a number of years ago. She resents the fact that her parents (Mary Steenburgen and Bruce Davison) are still searching for her lost sister and won't accept that she is not coming back. When Leah convinces herself that the dead girl was her sister, she feels great relief and attends her colleague Derek's (James Franco) house party, where she sleeps with Derek. Their blossoming relationship is cut short, however, when she finds out that the dead girl is in fact not her sister. Leah is overwhelmed with sorrow and regret, but finds some solace in Derek, whom she asks for help.      

The third story, ''The Wife'', centres on Ruth (Mary Beth Hurt) who is unhappily married to Carl (Nick Searcy). She resents his frequent, largely unexplained absences, during which she has to stay at home and run his storage business, and then cook and clean for him thanklessly when he does return home. On one such occasion when Carl is away, Ruth discovers a chest of drawers in one of his storage units, filled with ripped and torn articles of women's clothing, some spattered with blood. She suspects her husband of murder, and one night takes the clothes to a police station. When she pulls up outside the station, however, she has a change of heart and returns home and burns the evidence.   