White Girl

Frequently difficult to watch, White Girl is the powerful feature debut of a filmmaker with original vision and clear talent -- and a movie that proves a lead actress can possess the gift of transformative performance skills.

Neatly plotted and minimally staged, the movie marks Wood as a talent to watch, but Saylor deserves equal credit for her layered performance as the title character, a confident young woman who crumbles into a confused and frightened child.

First-time writer-director Elizabeth Wood's White Girl sets out to be a Great Gatsby for the 21st century - and perhaps in the process, to depict the orgastic future that Fitzgerald mentioned at the story's end.

The film has a restless, kinetic style that suits the drug-fueled mayhem.

Harrowing to the point of being off-putting - but not quite.

"White Girl" announces the arrival of a director of considerable verve, and its choice of style and subject toes a similarly tricky line between leering exploitation and unflinching portraiture.

White Girl is a shocking and frenetically paced movie, a nightmarish thrill ride comparable to the Safdie brothers' 2017 Good Time that's equal parts exhausting, exhilarating, and heartbreaking to watch.

The feature debut of writer-directed Elizabeth Wood tries and fails to balance being harrowing and disarmingly funny.

White Girl so desperately wants to be shocking. Instead, it's merely numbing.

In the end, the powerful acting and the authenticity of the performances and situations win the day, but don't expect to leave the film unscathed.