Blu-ray Review: Startlingly Amateurish ‘The Moth Diaries’ Fails to Frighten

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CHICAGO – Sarah Bolger is a truly lovely actress. She delivered one of the best child performances of all time in Jim Sheridan’s 2002 family drama, “In America,” and over the last decade, has blossomed into a real screen beauty. Hopefully it will only be a matter of time before the actress starts getting offered projects more worthy of her abilities. No one this lovely should be sentenced to a film as dreary as “The Moth Diaries.”

Here is one of the most curiously amateurish thrillers in many a moon. It was directed by Mary Harron, whose track record up until now has been peerless (“I Shot Andy Warhol,” “American Psycho,” “The Notorious Bettie Page”). The wit and urgency of her earlier work appears to have evaporated entirely from this flat horror fantasy with a scare factor equivalent to a particularly cheesy episode of “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” Characters continue to recite monotone journal entries long after they should be losing their minds.

Blu-ray Rating: 1.5/5.0

Bolger, who oddly receives third-billing despite the fact that she’s clearly the star, plays Rebecca, a sensitive teen troubled by memories of her father’s suicide. She seeks solace at her all-girls boarding school by clinging to her friend Lucy (Sarah Gadon), who doesn’t seem to have any problems of her own. There’s a level of possessiveness and homoerotic tension between the two women that’s mainly conveyed through Bolger’s performance, and provides the most engaging—if fleeting—texture of the entire film. Once Lucy exclaims, “This is going to be the best year ever!” it’s obvious that everything will go downhill from there. Enter Ernessa (Lily Cole), the unambiguously sinister new girl in school. Lucy quickly falls under Ernessa’s spell and gradually starts to drift away from Rebecca, who’s alarmed to find her friends disappearing one by one. By the halfway point, the film had me pining for “Jennifer’s Body,” which was also a failure, but had far more interesting things to say about teenage dynamics and unhealthy obsessions. As soon as Ernessa starts displaying supernatural abilities, the film swoops clean off the cliff of no return.

The Moth Diaries was released on Blu-ray and DVD on August 28, 2012.
Photo credit: IFC Films

To say the effects are terrible in this film would be like saying that Tommy Wiseau isn’t all that great of an actor. From the swarm of animated moths to the less-than-fluid flying sequences, this film’s special effects are so shoddy that they seem unfinished. You know there’s a problem when cast members are literally drenched in blood and all the audience can think is, “That must’ve felt sticky.” Cole has such a frightening face that it delivers a jolt whenever the camera cuts to it, but Harron gives her nothing to do besides glide through closed windows and spontaneously break out into song. My favorite moment occurs at the very end, as Bolger points her lovely face out of a car window while Marina and the Diamonds’ “Numb” starts playing on the soundtrack. It’s my favorite moment since a.) “Numb” is a great song, and b.) It signals that the film’s interminable 82 minutes are finally over.

“The Moth Diaries” is presented in 1080p High Definition (with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio), accompanied by English and Spanish subtitles, and includes an 18-minute featurette that proves the giggly cast is far more charming when they’re allowed to smile. Cole says she was most intrigued by the notion that Ernessa could be Rebecca’s alter-ego, as well as a figment of her imagination—both intriguing theories that the film mostly ignores. And for all of the script’s would-be eerie moments, the scene that seemed to give Bolger and her co-stars the most anxiety was when they were required to sing while playing Rock Band. Don’t worry ladies, your singing voices are the least of this film’s problems.

By MATT FAGERHOLM Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com matt@hollywoodchicago.com