Film

Sick Girl

Name: Sick Girl
Genre: Thriller, Horror, Crime
Released: 2007
Cast: Leslie Andrews, Charlie Trepany, John McGarr, Katherine Macanufo, Graham Denman

Horror
Crime
Very dark

A low-budget thriller about a troubled young woman whose protective instinct curdles into something far darker when her younger brother becomes a bullying victim. Lean and mean, *Sick Girl* plays the premise straight—no winking, no irony—which gives its violence a queasy punch. For viewers who like their revenge narratives uncomfortable and morally bankrupt.

TMDb rating

2.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy blunt, nasty horror-comedy, where a grim premise is played for jolts and cackles rather than sympathy, and a bit of gore is part of the joke.

Skip it if the mood is brash and deliberately tasteless, so if you need characters to feel safe or grief handled gently, this will grate on you.

What it asks of you: It runs 83 minutes and keeps its foot down, so you must accept its nastiness without stopping to ask whether it is fair.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Hard Candy2006

A teenage girl turns the tables on a predator with surgical precision. Like *Sick Girl*, it's a revenge thriller that refuses to soften its protagonist or look away from the cost of vigilantism. Both have that same sick-stomach intensity.

But The power dynamic reversal can feel like a gimmick, and some viewers find the film's tone—part thriller, part statement—difficult to stomach.

Prevenge2017

A pregnant woman commits murders at the unborn child's urging. It's darkly comic but genuinely unsettling, matching *Sick Girl*'s willingness to center a female killer without justifying her. Sharp script, real edge.

But The comedy sits at an angle to the violence, which can feel jarring. Some find the premise more interesting than the execution.

American Psycho2000

Immaculate dissection of a killer living in plain sight, with a performance that makes monstrosity charismatic. Both films understand that the scariest thing is a killer you almost like, or who almost likes themselves.

But It's been canonized to the point of untouchability. Also three times as long and far more interested in satire than *Sick Girl* is.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Sick Girl

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu2005

Both films trust the viewer to sit with discomfort. Neither wants you to feel better about what you're watching or who you're watching.

Romanian social-realist film about an elderly man's night in hospital. Shares *Sick Girl*'s unflinching eye for human behavior under stress and its refusal to soften ugliness with sentiment. A completely different register—no thriller machinery—but the same moral clarity.

But Slow, procedural, and oppressively unglamorous. Over two hours of watching bureaucracy and decay. Zero catharsis.

The Night House2021

Grief and rage as a woman uncovers her late husband's secret life. Like *Sick Girl*, it's about someone whose inner world is far darker than their exterior suggests. Builds dread through character rather than plot.

But Slower burn than *Sick Girl*, and the horror is more psychological than violent. Some find the pacing frustrating.

A Tale of Two Sisters2003

Two sisters trapped in a nightmare that may or may not be real. Shares *Sick Girl*'s interest in family trauma as the true horror. Visually stunning in ways that low-budget American thrillers rarely achieve.

But The twist requires a rewatch most viewers won't want to give it. Also fairly bleak throughout, with little lightness.

May2003

Lonely, unstable woman's descent into violence feels inevitable rather than shocking. Both films understand isolation as a crucible. *May* is black comedy; *Sick Girl* is not—but they share that sense of inexorable dread.

But Surreal body-horror climax won't be for everyone. The film's pace is deliberate in ways that test patience.

We Need to Talk About Kevin2011

A mother reckons with her son's capacity for violence and her own complicity. Like *Sick Girl*, it refuses easy moral judgment and treats its subject with the seriousness it deserves. Devastating.

But Extremely long and bleak. The fractured narrative takes work. Not a thriller in the conventional sense—more of a haunted character study.

Goodnight Mommy2015

Two boys become convinced their post-surgery mother is an impostor, with violence following. Austrian shocker that shares *Sick Girl*'s unwillingness to soften its young protagonist or rationalize away cruelty.

But The twist is abrupt and divisive. Some viewers feel it retroactively punches down rather than illuminates.

Starry Eyes2014

Desperate actress makes a Faustian bargain. Less about violence than *Sick Girl*, but the same sense of a person willing to sacrifice everything—and everyone—to escape her circumstances.

But Shifts tone significantly in its second half. The horror elements are more supernatural than grounded, which loses some viewers.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street2007

Both center a killer driven by love for family. The difference is budget and genre: Burton gives you spectacle; *Sick Girl* gives you a mirror.

Johnny Depp as the titular killer, Burton's only outright revenge thriller. A sibling losing everything and turning monstrous is the engine of both films. Here it's operatic rather than bleak, but the core—justified rage becoming unjustifiable—is identical.

But Burton's visual excess can overshadow character. The musical numbers will exclude half your audience. Depp's performance is theatrical where *Sick Girl* is raw.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street poster

Requiem for a Dream2000

Both understand that sickness isn't individual pathology—it's relational. You don't become sick alone; you sicken in response to something else.

Four separate descents into hell driven by addiction and obsession. Like *Sick Girl*, it's about fixation as a form of sickness. The film uses formal technique—repetition, music, editing—to make you *feel* what obsession feels like from the inside.

But Brutally bleak ending. The film doesn't build tension; it builds dread and despair. Aronofsky's style is maximalist where *Sick Girl* is minimalist. Difficult to rewatch.