Netflix’s Lost Girls – A Formulaic True Crime Drama

For fans of the true-crime genre, Lost Girls commits one of the worst crimes – being formulaic in its approach for answers.

Netflix’s newest dramatic release tells the true story of police inaction in a Long Island community that finds the bodies of four missing girls. The case balloons in scale from this discovery resulting in the actual discovery of over a dozen, however, the story focuses on the Gilbert family; Mari (Ryan), Sherre (McKenzie) and Sarra (Oona Laurence) who are affected with the loss of their sister, Shannan (Sarah Wisser). Mari is not the stereotypical mother attempting to cope with the possibility of loss and this manifests into a formidable opponent for the Long Island Police Department as she, along with several others who share in lost loved ones, make sure their voices are heard.

This is both a good and bad aspect of Lost Girls as it really is the only major pillar of the film and chooses to focus its energy on Ryan’s solid performance but it also brings to light the rest of the film’s narrative deficiencies as it plays out very similar to the countless true crime podcasts you’ve probably listened to. Byrne and Dean Winters turn in a good shift as stereotypical police officers named Richard Dormer and Dean Bostick and Reed Birney as Dr. Peter Hackett also manages to provide more to the movie than expected.

Ultimately, Lost Girls is let down by its script tackling a story ripped from the headlines in such a head-on stubborn manner that it never stops to ask whether or not the film would be elevated to something better or different by approaching the case from a different angle. It’s understandable up to a point because Mari Gilbert is a strong female lead that demands your attention as well as serving as the easiest mouthpiece for a group of people experiencing the same emotions. But beyond Gilbert’s emotional journey through the search of her lost daughter, the film cannot break free from its generic chains.

This is emphasized further by the washed-out color palette that makes up the Long Island and New York landscape. Its intent seems to subtly show the everyday normal occupants that are affected by a life-altering event but only helped to wash out any possibility for something beyond bland to shine through.

Despite the narrative of Lost Girls never once attempts to do anything beyond what its audience had already seen in other true crime entries, it still managed to be a decent watch as far as Netflix originals go. The film may not offer enough for a recommendation to watch it as soon as you can but if you were to stumble across it you would receive a decent product that causes you to want to know more about the Long Island Killer…until you scroll and find something else to watch to which any thought of it fades into the void.

In the end, Lost Girls would’ve benefited from being told as a documentary series or better yet, a podcast. Instead, it is an hour and a half drama that seems to barely tell the story of true loss.

*still courtesy of Netflix*

Check out my Critics Without Credentials podcast on iTunes and Spotify.

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Critics w/o Credentials

Trying my best to get all thoughts about TV and Film out of my head and onto the interweb.