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The Starling

Play trailer 2:39 Poster for The Starling PG-13 2021 1h 44m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
19% Tomatometer 93 Reviews 72% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
After Lilly (Melissa McCarthy) suffers a loss, a battle with a territorial bird (The Starling) over dominion of her garden provides an unlikely avenue for her grief and the courage to heal her relationships and rediscover her capacity for love.

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The Starling

The Starling

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Critics Consensus

Burying its talented cast and worthy themes under mounds of heavy-handed melodrama, The Starling is a turkey.

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Critics Reviews

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Richard Roeper Chicago Sun-Times 10/02/2021
1.5/4
This bird's not worth watching. Go to Full Review
Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald 09/30/2021
3/5
The dialogue lacks the saltiness that made St. Vincent work so well, and the many pauses in the action allow plenty of opportunity for mawkishness to seep in. While McCarthy is certainly the best thing in it, she does have her limits. Go to Full Review
Tim Cogshell FilmWeek (LAist) 09/29/2021
It just doesn't get the mix quite right -- you can get from there to here. Go to Full Review
Louis Skye (Ronita Roy Mohan) Women Write About Comics Aug 21
People might take away something from The Starling‘s exploration of grief and losing a loved one, but I didn’t. It was melodramatic and cliché in ways it didn’t need to be... The music was painfully jarring. Keep your expectations low for this one. Go to Full Review
Juanma Fernández París El Nuevo Día (Puerto Rico) 12/06/2023
The talented cast ensures that each of them has the opportunity to have a genuine moment on screen. The problem is that director Theodore Melfi is more concerned with making the film's message clear. Go to Full Review
Sarah Vincent Cambridge Day 08/16/2023
2.5/4
While ambitious, entertaining and touching, the story becomes repetitive and heavy-handed, and its transitions from humor to gravity are at times awkward. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Tinaep24 E @TeenieTeePee 23h The critics really got this one wrong. I don’t understand their reviews. This was such a great movie. Melissa McCarthy has such a way of getting into your heart and she really did that with this one. I wasn’t really feeling the husband character, but everyone grieves in their own way. See more Reprovo A @RT51347393 4d I find it very hard to understand why the critics review is so low. Really can't figure it out. This is a great movie, dealing with the effects of trauma and finding a way to heal and still manages to be funny. See more Sharon A @RT11661472 May 17 This film teaches us about human compassion and compassion for all living creatures. This filmmaking is a perfect example that tests our kindness towards each other and all living things. But especially to ourselves. A person can never know what people are going through. See more Julie C @RT21024435 Apr 16 Wow, the critics are harsh on this film! It's not perfect, but it's certainly no turkey. It's a simple film about loss and grief and recovery. The performances are gentle and heartfelt, the wonderful Kevin Kline is unfortunately underutilised. It's an enjoyable watch if you don't mind a somewhat slow-paced film with a thoughtful tone. See more Maria D @RT00202431 Mar 11 A very good movie about grief, mental health and how both shape people affected by it. Anyone who has been affected by mental illness or has lost someone will relate. It’s filled with realistic characters for the most part, Chris O’Dowd as Jack is amazing. He nails the character who is wandering aimlessly through a mental hospital without really fully understanding what he’s doing there. Melissa McCarthy is always a pleasure to watch. As someone who navigates her way through her grief, her character is very honest. See more Emily E @Emilyelsie Mar 2 Grief is such a funny thing. In that it’s not funny at all, but at the same time laugh-out-loud ridiculous. I’ve been on both sides of the grief depicted in this movie. And for me it was the most charming, perfectly delightful way to connect with those experiences. Taking place a long time after the ‘event’, the script allows a frank view of long-term grief - not just what happens in the immediate aftermath, but the effects that last longer and reshape you as people and as a married couple. I can see why some people thought it was manipulative or heavy-handed. But… so is grief. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Melissa McCarthy act so beautifully before, and honestly - despite the clearly CGI/AI bird, this film was captivating, heartbreaking, completely engrossing and just marvellous. I don’t think I could watch it again because some films are meant to be experienced once, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anybody. With forewarning about the bird. See more Read all reviews
The Starling

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis After Lilly (Melissa McCarthy) suffers a loss, a battle with a territorial bird (The Starling) over dominion of her garden provides an unlikely avenue for her grief and the courage to heal her relationships and rediscover her capacity for love.
Director
Theodore Melfi
Producer
Theodore Melfi, Kimberly Quinn, Dylan Sellers, Chris Parker
Screenwriter
Matt Harris
Distributor
Netflix
Production Co
Boies / Schiller Film Group, Culmination Productions, Entertainment One, Netflix, Goldenlight Films, Limelight
Rating
PG-13 (Thematic Material|Suggestive Material|Some Strong Language)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 17, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 24, 2021
Runtime
1h 44m
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)