“You can’t blur the lines, and then expect me to see a boundary when I suddenly cross it.”
Cairo Sweet
Tackling the heavy subject of inappropriate student-teacher relationships, Miller’s Girl has literary pretensions that outstrip writer-director Jade Hadley Bartlett’s subtlety. Her deployment of Daniel Brothers’ evocative cinematography serves to romanticise the developing relationship between middle-aged Miller and his student Cairo. Martin Freeman was reportedly uncomfortable filming some scenes with Jenna Ortega given their age difference, but in truth there is little salacious on screen — their chemistry is cerebral, varying between titillating and ridiculous. Ortega is absorbing though her performance has notable similarities to Wednesday, an emotionally detached and intellectually isolated youth. Her screen presence is enough to maintain engagement even as it becomes clear that Cairo’s provocations lack motivation. Miller is more obviously a flimsy sketch, a failed author demeaned at home by his wife, entranced by a restless waif. Without any genuine emotional core, Miller’s Girl is never more than pseudo-sordid fluff.
5/10
