“The Moth Diaries” is a movie that’s so unsure of what it wants to be that in the end the movie spreads itself too thin. Granted, I like a movie with a little ambiguity but “The Moth Diaries” left me confused and asking too many questions.
This movie is the story of best friends Lucie (Sarah Gardon) and Rebecca (Sarah Bolger). The two girls return back to school, and everything looks like smooth sailing for the two best friends until Ernessa (Lily Cole) starts at the school. She quickly establishes herself in their clique and becomes fast friends with Lucie. Rebecca isn’t a fan of the time Lucie and Ernessa spend together, especially since Ernessa isn’t like most girls. She’s very pale and prefers to walk around at night. Now Rebecca must race against time to find out the truth about Ernessa before she loses Lucie forever.
I’m not really sure of what to think about “The Moth Diaries.” The movie feels very schizophrenic, and by the end, I think viewers won’t know what kind of movie they’re watching. I have to say that the biggest fault of this movie is with the writing. The movie begins strongly enough. At the beginning, you have two best friends and a new girl that comes into the picture to drive a wedge between the two. At first, this new girl intrigued me — so creepy as she appeared to immediately entrance Lucie. There was also the fact that this girl so easily walked the ledge of a roof and appeared to walk through her bedroom window. I also liked the overlying talk of Bram Stoker’s "Dracula," which seemed to complement the story at hand, but it was all quickly abandoned. This is probably when the movie really lost my attention.
The acting itself was pretty flat. Bolger seemed to be trying too hard; most of the time I grew annoyed with her character. Gardon was decent, but she just wasn’t given enough time to really make her mark. Cole was probably the strongest of the whole group. Her portrayal of Ernessa was creepy and at times sent chills down my spine. She was able to pull off such a lifeless appearance, but even her performance couldn’t save this movie.
“The Moth Diaries” is perfect for those that really like to sit back and dissect a movie piece by piece. But in the end, most are likely to come up empty handed with this hollow thriller.
The special features are bare and really aren’t worth the time or effort to watch.
Film: 2 Yaps Extras: 0 Yaps