The lack of resolution inherent in the source material sets up an insurmountable task: the solution to the central crime and mystery that puts this particular story in motion.

Full Review | Sep 22, 2023

Award-winning filmmaker Liz Garbus’s first scripted feature is a film that is hard to recommend or disregard. Lost Girls would have been better suited as a documentary film.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 27, 2022

“Lost Girls” is a gritty, clear-eyed look at a mother’s pain, regret, fury, and persistence.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 23, 2022

Garbus' Lost Girls refreshingly addresses a topic that's so essential to learn about and, most importantly understand. Every woman deserves compassion, love, and justice.

Full Review | Feb 11, 2022

Liz Garbus' first narrative feature Lost Girls benefits from her documentarian's eye.

Full Review | Nov 30, 2021

Lost Girls keeps the narrative trained on Mari and the other women who have lost someone close, so giving them the attention - and voice - that they were never afforded in life.

Full Review | Nov 30, 2021

It's not a feel-good film, but it is one that will definitely make you feel.

Full Review | Nov 30, 2021

Documentary filmmaker Liz Garbus creates a strong sense of authenticity in her first fiction feature...

Full Review | Nov 30, 2021

What makes Lost Girls stand out is the stellar performances by the actors playing characters based on real-life people who were dealing day-to-day with real-life tragedies...

Full Review | Nov 30, 2021

It has a bit of a feel of a tele-movie, but that aside, Amy Ryan in the lead role is really good here.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Feb 15, 2021

Lost Girls is Garbus's first narrative feature, and it is a serious effort. Garbus brings out the social element, beginning with some of the film's opening shots, taking in the depressed and depressive streets of a small American town.

Full Review | Feb 13, 2021

'Lost Girls' is a grim true-life tale.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 12, 2021

Lost Girls is something that should make us uncomfortable. Not only because of the murders, but because of what it says about us.

Full Review | Jan 27, 2021

Lost Girls is a well-acted but ultimately a by-the-numbers and often-melodramatic depiction of Mari Gilbert's struggle to get justice for her murdered daughter Shannan Gilbert. [Amy Ryan's] performance carries this movie to transcend some of its flaws.

Full Review | Jan 11, 2021

Low-key and frank about Mari's failings, the movie has no interest in sensationalizing the daughter's life and fate. It is a mystery, but also a rich portrait of life in gloomy, working-class Long Island.

Full Review | Jul 30, 2020

It seems like the relevant ideas hinted throughout the film were an accident because they are never explored, and are just there to create frustration.[Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Jul 8, 2020

You may have already seen the story of the "Lost Girls" on true-crime shows, but this film makes the loss of so many young women, whose killer or killers have never been caught, so much more tragic.

Full Review | Apr 30, 2020

It's a compelling story. The execution isn't as even or focused as you may wish, but this is clearly a passionate, well-intentioned look at a tragic tale featuring imperfect characters and a strong lead performance by Amy Ryan.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 20, 2020

It feels incomplete, not developed enough for us to fully be immersed in the story, the result is a suspense-free procedural with barely any stakes at hand.

Full Review | Original Score: D | Apr 7, 2020

Lost Girls greatly overcomes the challenges involved in adapting a real case to a fictional movie. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Apr 3, 2020