Girls Town

Jim McKay's 1996 American film follows three friends in their last year of school. A fourth friend takes her own life, and when the diary she left is read, something none of them knew comes out. The film gives grief and anger together. The three young women look again at their own lives and decide to answer back; the narrative expects no justice from institutions and shows what answering back costs. The dialogue was largely developed with the actors. Lili Taylor and Bruklin Harris appear. The production is small and was shot in real locations. Who it's for: viewers of nineties American independent cinema. Who it's not for: viewers for whom sexual assault and suicide would be difficult.