Another Girl (2021) Film Review

Even if we don’t agree with most of Elle’s decisions in Another Girl, she’s so magnetic  we can’t help accompanying her to whatever’s her destination. A main character who’s perfectly designed to be flawed and emotionally ambivalent. It’s the creation of an author/filmmaker who understands exactly about purpose and inevitability. 

In this chaotic setting of anxiety and social improvisation, Elle faces the world. She’s unprepared, laden with scrutiny by her closest peers. But she doesn’t give up. Even when she’s physically abused, she turns the other way and decides to get out. To escape her present and see for the future.

Another Girl is a complex film about the circumstantial fragility of a girl who’s strong enough to be herself but can’t seem to escape the toxic environment of today’s “normality”. And when she finds an exhaust to breathe and receive much valuable feedback, it’s framed inside a virtual stage of probable lies and deceit. One that most of us have been part of.

Elle is a college girl who becomes fascinated with a character from the novel she just finished reading. Amidst depression and social anxiety, she contacts someone fictional over the Internet. It turns out that the character is a real person. She replies back and Ellen realizes she has a new best friend. 

But Elle doesn’t live an ideal life. Her mother rejects her lifestyle and she only has a relationship with her brother. Elle begins working in an office and she becomes a professional. Everything starts to improve for her. That is until she begins having an affair with her married boss. 

Not everything looks good for Elle, and it seems Katie, her Internet friend and star of the novel, is the only one who understands her.

Perhaps you’re asking yourself about Elle’s morals by this point. Is this someone we should root for? Does she deserve something else other than rejection? Another Girl isn’t a film that should drive you to do this. There’s something definitely more important. Elle’s acts are far from convenient or positive. She accelerates towards her downfall more than one time. And she’s aware.

It’s a reflection of how self-harm is inflicted without being absolutely physical. She judges herself without even admitting it. Sammi Hanratty as Elle Overton is insanely effective and the actress delivers an honest rendition of a subject that’s perhaps overseen today in favor of an empowerment that should begin with oneself. Hanratty owns that character.

Another Girl is a drama film for most of its running time. The safety element of Ellen’s lifestyle is well brought up by a script that doesn’t discard any of the dangers women face today. However, when the film lands in its resting area and lets us see Elle as a victim of her own world, Allison Burnett, screenwriter and director, submits us to a final blow. One we never expected, and definitely that’s ultimately realistic. That’s when a drama film turns into something darker and sadly possible.

Federico Furzan

Film critic. Lover of all things horror. Member of the OFCS. RT Approved Critic.