The White Orchid

This is a pretty good modern film noir. The old staple of having the detective become obsessed with the murdered woman here gets an update by having the detective be a woman as well. Olivia Thirlby (Juno) in the lead role does fine as the detective, but is less convincing when she transforms herself later on -- but perhaps her character would be less convincing in that state. John Carroll Lynch (Fargo, Zodiac) is reliable as always as the sheriff saddled with Thirlby's investigation. And there are other familiar faces from the past - Jennifer Beals, Brendan Sexton III, and Lt. Uhuru from Star Trek. All in all, if you like your film noir in color, this movie is well worth a try.

White Orchid is a visually striking neo-noir that falls short of its potential. While the setup is intriguing, the story lacks complexity, with puzzle pieces fitting together too easily and a predictable resolution. The protagonist's transformation feels rushed and unearned, undermining the emotional weight of the narrative. Though the cinematography captures the noir aesthetic well, the lack of meaningful twists and moral ambiguity makes the film feel overly simplistic. Ultimately it's watchable but fails to leave a lasting impression. The film also overstretches the protagonists beauty focusing more on showcasing her body than meaningful dialogue.

The story has potential. The main character "shy investigator" is not credible at all as an investigator. The loud exhaling she does is just plain bad and annoying.

Just watch the movie. It's less than 90 mins. Make up your own mind. One gauge of mine is how many times I check my phone while watching a film on premium tv. Just once during this film so it certainly had my attention.

Don't waste your time - not a worthwhile movie.

I can not figure out how this poor attempt at a "film noir" got such a high rating. It is short (1 hr 52 min) and wanders around at the beginning then rushes the ending with what the author must have thought was a plot twist. It is so rushed it leaves loose ends laying around.

The lack of a plot leaves me to believe that it was either the first attempt at a film or was on such a low budget the production could figure how to tie off the various open ends. The climax is so poorly constructed and rushed it doesn't answer what happened.

I started watching it because I went to Cal Poly; I wanted to turn it off after 20 minutes but my wife was doing the ironing and wanted to see if there were more shots of SLO,