The Starling Girl

The Starling Girl has built a devoted audience in the US on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video among viewers who want their drama to earn its emotional beats. The runtime earns every minute, with nothing here that feels like padding. A 6/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Eliza Scanlen sets the tone, and the rest of the cast matches it scene for scene. Available now on Netflix — press play and find out why people keep recommending it.

There is a reason The Starling Girl keeps coming up in conversation. The Starling Girl trusts its audience to sit with discomfort instead of resolving it too quickly. 17-year-old Jem Starling struggles with her place within her Christian fundamentalist community. But everything changes when her magnetic youth pastor Owen returns to their church. Eliza Scanlen and Lewis Pullman lead a cast doing genuinely serious work here. The Starling Girl came out in 2023. The performances in The Starling Girl do a lot of work in the silences between the dialogue. There is real craft here, even in the moments that do not fully land.

Drama fans who appreciate slow-burn storytelling will feel right at home with The Starling Girl. It has built its own audience without needing a direct comparison. It is a manageable watch, easy to fit into a single evening. Eliza Scanlen anchors a cast that never overplays its hand. The kind of drama that stays with you well after the finale.

The Starling Girl was released in 2023, directed by Laurel Parmet. The full 116-minute film is available to watch now. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just search the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.