In “God Help the Girl” writer-director Stuart Murdoch adds a panel to the overcrowded genre of coming-of-age, which has the distinctive angle of an indie-pop musical.
The protagonist, Eve, is a girl low on self-esteem but high on fantasy, especially when it concerns music, which is her life’s passion. Eve meets two similarly rootless souls, posh Cass and fastidious James, and together they form a pop group.
The tale is set in the bohemian fantasia of Glasgow’s West End, which is populated by mods, rockers, and emo kids who have no qualms about breaking into song and dance.
It took nearly a decade to turn the project into a film. The project began as a suite of songs, written while Murdoch was between records and tours as lead singer of Belle & Sebastian.
The film benefits from a talented cast, including Browning (“Sleeping Beauty,”), Olly Alexander (“Le Week-End”), and Hannah Murray (“Game of Thrones”).
Running Time: 111 minutes