Lost Girls (film)

This article is about the American theatrical film drama. For other uses, see Lost Girl (disambiguation).

Lost Girls is a 2020 American mystery drama film. Lost Girls was directed by Liz Garbus, from a screenplay by Michael Werwie, and based on the non-fiction book Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker. The film revolves around the murders of young female sex workers, whose bodies are found on the South Shore barrier islands of Long Island. These deaths are believed to have been committed by a suspect referred to as the Long Island serial killer. A male suspect was charged for several deaths on July 14, 2023.

Lost Girls
Official poster
Directed by	Liz Garbus
Written by	Michael Werwie
Based on	Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker
Produced by	Anne Carey Kevin McCormick
Starring	Amy Ryan Thomasin McKenzie Lola Kirke Oona Laurence Dean Winters Miriam Shor Reed Birney Kevin Corrigan Gabriel Byrne
Cinematography	Igor Martinovic
Edited by	Camilla Toniolo
Music by	Anne Nikitin
Production companies	Archer Gray Langley Park Productions
Distributed by	Netflix
Release dates	January 28, 2020 (2020-01-28) (Sundance) March 13, 2020 (2020-03-13) (United States)
Running time	95 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English

Lost Girls stars Amy Ryan as Mari Gilbert, the mother of Shannan Gilbert and an activist on her behalf. Other actors include Thomasin McKenzie, Lola Kirke, Oona Laurence, Dean Winters, Miriam Shor, Reed Birney, Kevin Corrigan, and Gabriel Byrne. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 28, 2020, and was later released on March 13, 2020, by Netflix.

Premise

Mari Gilbert relentlessly drives law enforcement agents to search for her missing daughter, Shannan. In the process, numerous bodies are found of victims of unsolved murders of young sex workers on the South Shore barrier islands of Long Island.These are attributed to the Long Island serial killer.^[2]

Cast

• Amy Ryan as Mari Gilbert
• Thomasin McKenzie as Sherre Gilbert, Shannan's sister
• Gabriel Byrne as Commissioner Richard Dormer
• Oona Laurence as Sarra Gilbert, Shannan's sister
• Lola Kirke as Kim
• Miriam Shor as Lorraine
• Reed Birney as Peter Hackett
• Kevin Corrigan as Joe Scalise
• Rosal Colon as Selena Garcia
• Dean Winters as Dean Bostick
• Sarah Wisser as Shannan Gilbert
  • Austyn Johnson as young Shannan Gilbert
• James Hiroyuki Liao as Michael Pak
• Molly Brown as Missy^[3]

Production

In March 2016, it was announced that Liz Garbus would direct the film, from a screenplay by Michael Werwie, based on the book of the same name by Robert Kolker. Kevin McCormack, David Kennedy, Rory Koslow, Amy Nauiokas, and Anne Carey served as producers on the film, while Pamela Hirsch executive produced. Amazon Studios was initially set to distribute.^[4] In February 2017, Sarah Paulson was set to star in the film as real-life activist Mari Gilbert.^[5] In May 2018, Amy Ryan replaced Paulson, and Netflix was set as the distributor.^[6] In October 2018, Thomasin McKenzie (who dropped out of Top Gun: Maverick (2022) to work on the film), Gabriel Byrne, Oona Laurence, Lola Kirke, Miriam Shor, Reed Birney, Kevin Corrigan and Rosal Colon joined the cast.^[7][8]

Filming

Principal photography began on October 15, 2018, in New York City.^[9]

Release

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 28, 2020,^[10] and was released on March 13, 2020, by Netflix.^[11]

Critical reception

Lost Girls holds a 72% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 54 reviews, with an average of 6.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Raw yet rewarding, Lost Girls overcomes uneven storytelling with powerful performances and a willingness to resist easy catharsis."^[12] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 69 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[13]