This thriller marks the return of Mary Harron, who also gave us the screen adaptation of American Psycho. Here, she’s adapting a novel by Rachel Klein. Lily Cole, Sarah Gadon, Sarah Bolger, Judy Parfitt and Scott Speedman star.
The Moth Diaries concerns a young girl named Rebecca (Sarah Bolger), a young girl who, haunted by her fathers suicide, enrolls in an elite boarding school for girls. Before long, Rebeccas friendship with the popular Lucy (Sarah Gadon) is shattered by the arrival of a dark and mysterious new student named Ernessa (Lily Cole). Lucy falls under Ernessas spell and becomes emotionally and physically consumed by her glamorous new friend. Rebecca, whose overtures of concern are rejected by Lucy, finds herself lost and confused.
She begins to develop a crush on her handsome English teacher, Mr. Davies (Scott Speedman) and immerses herself in the Gothic vampire novel Carilla for his class. Rebecca starts to suspect that Ernessa is a vampire, but, despite the suspicious deaths that begin to occur, her fears are treated as simple girlish jealousy. As the bodies of young girls pile up and the line between reality and the supernatural starts to blur, Rebecca decides to take matters into her own hands and get rid of Ernessa. Who can say what is real and what is unreal to the heart consumed by passion and a mind afire with loss?
The film is available now on SundanceNOW, Cable VOD, Amazon Streaming, iTunes and XBox Zune before its limited theatrical release on April 20th.
