The Dead Girl (2006) Review
We first meet Arden (Toni Collette) in the opening section, titled simply The Stranger, as she struggles to care for her abusive mother in what appears to be a rather run-down home. As Arden takes a walk, she comes across something rather unexpected in the field - the body of a young woman. For reasons known only to her, she takes the necklace the girl is wearing, and on returning home, she calls the police.
For a completely unexplained reason - perhaps because her mother wants to continue abusing her all by her lonesome - when she finds out that the police have come, Arden's mother is furious with her. I'm not sure exactly what Arden was supposed to do. Perhaps she should have just left the body in the field to rot and continue to be abused by her mother. I don't think it was really explained, and we are just left to figure out why her mother is so hateful. Maybe you can explain it if you have seen it, but I certainly didn't get it.
In any case, this sets the tone for the rest of the film.
