Viewers disgusted by thriller with Ortega. Merciless critics: “the worst film of the year”, “dangerous”

The creators of the film “Miller’s Girl” had tools at hand that seemed to herald the success of their work. The production was based on a script that was included in the ranking of the best unrealized scripts, and the main roles in the film were played by top actors – Martin Freeman, known for playing Bilbo Baggins and Doctor John Watson, and a star of the young generation – Jenna Ortega. Jade Halley Bartlett directed. Unfortunately, the set was not enough to satisfy viewers and critics.

“Miller’s Girl” with Freeman and Ortega disgusted viewers. Critics are also ruthless

“Miller’s Girl” is an erotic thriller in which a teacher and his student enter into a complicated relationship. 18-year-old Cairo Sweet impresses the teacher with her extensive knowledge of literature and tickles his ego with the knowledge of a book she wrote herself. The girl has to create an essay, but she cannot find a suitable topic. A friend suggests the girl to talk about the affair between a teacher and a student. Then things get complicated between the film’s characters.

Since its premiere, the production has received dramatic ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. Viewers said it deserved only a 43% on the freshness scale, and critics were even harsher. 30 percent of 57 reviews are a result that does not encourage viewing. Critics almost unanimously accuse the creators of a stereotypical approach to the topic, boredom and awkwardness emanating from intimate scenes with the characters.

Alonso Duralde from Breakfast All Day didn’t beat around the bush, he simply wrote that the film tops the list of the worst in 2024 in his opinion, even though it’s only February. “In the end, it seems like an act of senseless provocation, but it doesn’t quite know how to provoke,” writes John Serba from Decider. Joe Friar from fortworthreport.org, in turn, notes the lack of chemistry between the actors, and according to him, the casting failed here.

According to Tom O’Brien from Next Best Picture, the situation is not helped by inappropriate jokes on the screen. “The merciless humor does not allow us to believe that these are real people in a difficult relationship,” he writes. Rendy Jones, in turn, mocks that the creators got the idea for the script from Tumblr. “It has the intellectual level of a perfume ad. Outdated and terrifying in every way. It might have gone unnoticed in the 1980s, but today it deserves a flogging,” we read on cnn.com.

“It shouldn’t be romanticized.”

Mike McGranaghan from aisleseat.com emphasizes that he was struck by the film’s narrative itself. “The heroine is presented here as a cunning intriguer, which reeks of the suggestion that she ‘asked’ for such a situation,” she writes. The reviewer notes that the production is a dangerous proposition at a time when many women struggle with the problem of sexual harassment.

The film’s viewers are also outraged, or rather disgusted. A fragment of a sensual scene has appeared on the Internet and most viewers find it embarrassing. “It’s disgusting”, “such relationships should not be romanticized” – we read in the comments on the X website.