Miller's Girl: The Controversial Jenna Ortega & Martin Freeman Movie, Explained
One is a British comedy icon. The other is a former Disney Channel child star turned indie movie darling. They’re not exactly a pair you’d ordinarily put together for a romantic thriller, and yet here we are.
Eyebrows were raised when Martin Freeman and Jenna Ortega were cast in Miller’s Girl. However, what started out as intrigue ended up being indifference, and even outrage from some critics and audiences.
The film caused such a stir, in fact, that Amazon Prime Video removed Miller’s Girl from its library after a short stint on the platform. So, what’s all the fuss about, and what the actors themselves said about this controversial project?
What is Miller’s Girl about?
While the themes at play in Miller’s Girl are complex, its general premise is far more simple. A lonely, young girl, Cairo Sweet (Ortega), forms a plan to seduce her creative writing teacher, Jonathan Miller (Freeman).
As the pair get closer and Cairo’s writing gets more scandalous and personal, questions start to be asked about their relationship. Has this older man acted appropriately or has he taken advantage of one of his students? It’s her word against his, and lives are going to be ruined one way or another.
Why Miller’s Girl was Critically Panned
Miller’s Girl has a pretty miserable 30% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. The general consensus is that this film is lifted by the talents of Ortega and Freeman, but that even they can’t save Jade Halley Bartlett’s erotic thriller from falling foul of a messy narrative and cringeworthy dialogue.
Samantha Schuster claims the film “starts promisingly, introducing its characters with subtlety, intrigue, and naturalness,” but by the end, “the twist feels rather rushed, and the conflict is resolved hastily.”
Likewise, Hayley Croke writes in her review that the “first half of the film is an intriguing depiction of the magnetic pull [between] these two characters.” However, “the movie falls flat in charm, appeal and story development” as it progresses, and Croke also took issue with Cairo being painted as the villain – regardless of her actions, it simply doesn’t sit right.
Tonally, the movie is all over the place, too. That’s according to Craig D. Lindsey, who describes Miller’s Girl as “an erotic thriller that isn’t that erotic or thrilling.” That’s not an issue for everyone, though, with Marya E. Gates branding the film a “heightened, psychosexual romp” which is “equally as disturbing as it is alluring.”
For many critics, it’s all a case of style over substance, though. As Tasha Robinson puts it in her review, “Miller’s Girl just skims the surface, and settles for making that surface look visually sumptuous.” Tackling heavy themes is all well and good, but if the film doesn’t actually have anything meaningful to say, what’s the point?
Why Audiences Have Been Divided About Miller’s Girl
Sometimes, films like this get a bad rep from critics but still manage to strike a chord with general audiences. Even terrible movies become guilty pleasures if they find the right balance of cheesiness, but Miller’s Girl has a paltry audience score of 47%, which essentially means it’s not even in the ‘so bad it’s good’ territory.
Naturally, the controversial age-gap between the characters was a big bugbear for casual filmgoers. It’s always been a sensitive topic; even as far back as the ‘60s with films like Lolita and The Graduate, audiences have found it difficult to digest problematic relationships with uneven power dynamics.
Now, with the #MeToo reshaping the industry and the stories being told, those dynamics between men in positions of power and young women are scrutinised more than ever, and rightly so.
Beyond that, though, it seems general viewers were just as frustrated with the film’s journey to a fruitless destination. A quick scan of the user reviews on Rotten Tomatoes tells us as much, with one claiming Miller’s Girl is “pretentious and leads nowhere,” and another saying the “story took forever to engage, and when it finally did the movie ended with no resolution.”
What Jenna Ortega & Martin Freeman Have Said About the Film
Interestingly, Martin Freeman has spoken openly in defence of the movie, insisting this is a project that is “grown up and nuanced” in an interview with USA Today.
He also claimed the film was made with the intention of making audiences uneasy. That aligns with his own reaction to the story – he told Collider that when he first read the script he felt “very uncomfortable,” but that he also appreciated how “gutsy” and morally ambiguous it was.
Meanwhile, Ortega has said far less about Miller’s Girl, but in an interview with Forbes she did corroborate Freeman’s claims that the divisive elements of the film were absolutely deliberate. She also wanted to remind us all that depiction does not equal endorsement, and that just because the characters act a certain way, does not mean that the storytellers and actors agree with their behaviour.
Miller’s Girl is no longer available on any streaming services for free, but you can rent it from Apple TV or Amazon Prime Video for £3.49 if you want to make up your own mind on this controversial film.
