The White Orchid

Already the title of the movie conveys that this is going to be a noir experience, and while the beginning seems a little inauspicious in that regard, setting us up with a mousy-looking female protagonist instead of a weary and cynical male one, as is usual for this kind of genre, it does pay off as the character undergoes an unexpected arc and the movie's intrigues get more perplexing.

The cinematography and acting is pretty solid, but not outstanding. I liked the music, and the story was not bad, even if it got quite a bit far-fetched toward the end.

My main points of criticism are that the transition from the nerdy investigator to bombshell blonde was somehow not truly convincing, and that the protagonist and especially villain's actions toward the end seemed rather preposterous. In fact, the self-congratulatory tone of the exchanges between them at the end turned me a bit off.

In addition, due to the similarity of this movie's title with the erotic film "Wild Orchid", it sets up audience expectations for steamy love scenes, of which there is just one, and by erotic film standards it is more on the tame side.

All in all, not a bad diversion, but it could have been better.

This movie is a slow burn but clever. The acting was good, it's filmed well and if you can embrace the pace of it, it will hold your attention. The script needed a bit of work but it wasn't unbearable. I've seen where some folks didn't care for the way it ended but I liked it. I'd suggest it to my friends.

As premises go, it's thin: Claire is a freelance investigator for the San Luis Obispo Country Department of Social Services who finds relatives and family members of those who die alone with no known heirs. (Aside: if the count government had such investigators, they'd be working for the probate court, but never mind). Claire is assigned the case of an unidentified murder victim known only as the White Orchid who was killed in a particularly grisly way. She is only supposed to identify the victim and leave the actual murder investigation to the police. Since Claire is a brunette who immediately presents as plain, timid, and inhibited, of course she dives into not only the murder investigation, but the identity of the victim, who was a stylish and (bi)sexually uninhibited blonde bombshell. Just because a movie's premise is thin and implausible doesn't mean the movie can't be good or even great: Hitchcock's Vertigo, which this movie alludes to several times with all the subtlety of a jackhammer tearing up concrete, seems similarly silly on paper, but delivers a great experience to its viewers in its visual style, great performances and direction, and a memorable soundtrack. White Orchid only has visual style going for it. Direction and soundtrack are undistinguished, while the performances are pretty bad, which isn't so much an annoyance as it is a puzzler, since many of these actors are capable of good or even outstanding work (an exception is Nichelle Nichols, who turns in a tiny gem of a performance as a shut-in retiree). It doesn't take long before the viewer realizes what this movie wants to be, and how far short of its goal it fell. You may stay with it for the (unfortunately predictable) plot twists, or you may turn it off before that. I stayed with it despite realizing I would be disappointed.

White Orchid (2018) was written and directed by Steve Anderson. It stars Olivia Thirlby as Claire, an independent investigator who often works for the county department of social services.

A woman has been horribly butchered by someone. Of course, that's the job of the sheriff, not social services. However, in California, the law says that if there are no relatives, social services must investigate as well.

Claire takes the case, and travels to the site of the woman's death, and has access to the home she had rented. What follows next does, indeed, fall into the classic category of "girl detective." However, the way the movie plays out, there's much more to it than that.

The most striking part of the movie for me was how director Anderson and Olivia Thirlby managed Claire's transition from a quiet, almost mousy character into a highly feminine, desirable woman. Of course, Olivia Thirlby is strikingly beautiful, so the trick wasn't to make her attractive, but to make her unattractive at the beginning of the film. It couldn't have been easy, but they did it.

The movie is one of those films where at the end, you say, "OK--who was the dead woman, and who killed her? People walk out of the movie trying to make sense of it. Director Anderson was in the theater for Q&A, and he says that all the clues are there, but he wouldn't tell us the answer. (Of course he knows the answer--he wrote the script.)

OK--but even if you're not quite sure about the loose ends of the plot, the film holds your interest throughout. The California scenery is beautiful and the acting is excellent.

We saw this movie at the great Little Theatre as part of The Rochester High Falls Women's Film Festival. It won't work quite as well on the small screen, because you'll miss the glorious scenery. Even so, it's worth finding and seeing.

"What movie did they see?" This film has a terrible IMDb rating of 5.0, with 224 ratings. It's not a great movie that will be remembered forever, but it's much better than 5.0. I suggest you see it and decide for yourself.

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.