The Girl from Plainville

I was really looking forward to this because I remember this story from the news. Needs editing, and a lot of it. This could have been told in half the time. The acting is decent. One big pet peeve: expecting the audience to read numerous texts from a phone screen. Not everyone has an 85" TV. This seems so basic to me.

I was unfamiliar with the story on which this limited series is based, and have never seen the documentary that was referenced in some of the other reviews.

Chloe Sevigney gives an excellent performance as the bereaved mother. The actors playing the lead teen characters are doing a solid job portraying how teens with serious mental health issues actually behave.

Recommend.

Elle Fanning does an amazing job on this - she portrays the desperate teen grasping for every bit of attention she can get superbly. As for the series, only three episodes in, so I can't comment on the plot in its entirety - but there are already such negative reviews on here from people that have probably watched ten minutes of it, so I wanted to balance it out and let people know that Elle's acting alone is a good enough reason to give this show a chance and the real life events it's based on make a great story.

I couldn't believe the mediocre star rating here! Gobsmacked.

Fanning, Sevingy and Ryan are superb.

The writing, interpretation and editing are subtle, intriguing, and genuinely thought provoking.

There is room allowed to have an individual opinion, with shades of grey to how Carter and other key characters and relationships are portrayed.

I didn't know much about the case, so with no preconceptions I could appreciate it as an original creation. Perhaps my opinion would change of the reality if I read court transcripts etc. But as a fictionalised television series there is much to appreciate.

I would honestly say it's only boring if you are someone who doesn't like deep thought or a more sustained and literary style of storytelling. Or indeed, anyone who hasn't grappled with mental heath issues or complicated psychological relationships.

The flashbacks and the cuts to them "live" and together when they are just texting is very confusing. They jump around so much with little indication of where we are in the sequence of events. Acting is okay, I think Elle Fanning portrays Michelle pretty well. Could have been done in less episodes, I'm gonna power through to finish, but it drags a bit.