Odd Girl Out
"Girls are brutal," a father warns his young son in the course ofOdd Girl Out. "They… tear each other to bits over the smallest things." Director Tom McLoughlin's 2005 film proves it, too, offering up a harrowing tale of one teenager's horrendous treatment at the hands of her high school classmates. When we meet Vanessa (Alexa Vega, also seen inSpy Kids), she's a reluctant member of a group of spoiled, snooty girls who rule the school hallways like designer-dressed harpies. But when she betrays "best friend" and clique leader Stacey (Malcolm in the Middle's Leah Pipes), it all starts to go south; little matter that said betrayal is actually concocted by the genuinely vicious Nikki (Elizabeth Rice). What begins as a relatively petty campaign of text messages, rumor-mongering, and daily ostracism soon escalates into full-scale torment and cruelty, including a particularly nasty website, an invitation to a party that doesn't exist (the better to humiliate the eager and insecure Vanessa), and her near-tragic reaction to these events. McLoughlin's resume includes TV shows based onA Nightmare on Elm StreetandFriday the 13th, so it's no surprise that this film has a stylized, horror film vibe; there is nothing remotely light-hearted about this story (loosely based on Rachel Simmons' non-fiction bookOdd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture Of Aggression In Girls), which focuses not only on Vanessa's nightmare but on the well-meaning but futile efforts of her mother (Lisa Vidal) to help. But having stoked the viewer to expect Stacey, Nikki, and their co-conspirators to get the comeuppance they so richly deserve, the director delivers a largely unsatisfying denoument. Too bad, because up until then,Odd Girl Outis a real eye-opener, and a frighteningly accurate account of the living hell that is high school life.--Sam Graham