The Moth Diaries

Dir: Mary Harron

2011

*

I had really high expectations for 2011’s The Moth Diaries as I adore the films of director Mary Harron but I felt her adaptation of Rachel Klein’s novel fell about as flat as a film could. I understand where Klein’s story was coming from – and to be fair Harron’s adaptation is a huge improvement on the story, it’s just that I didn’t feel it had enough universal appeal. I understand that the novel was written for young girls but I never got the impression the film was. I’ve never been a thirteen-year-old girl and I never will be, so certain subjects will always be alien to me but I understand and really love the idea of comparing all of the things we fear in adolescence such as friendships and sexual awakening to things such as ghosts and vampires. It’s what youth literature has been doing for years, but while I believe Klein and Harron have done it better than most, it still feels like half a story. I didn’t feel that it was open to interpretation either, rather it was a series of ideas pieced together rather haphazardly. The story takes place at an exclusive boarding school for girls, sixteen-year-old Rebecca writes her most intimate thoughts in a diary. Two years earlier, Rebecca's father, a poet, took his own life by slitting his wrists. Her mother transferred Rebecca to the school, hoping to help her daughter escape the memory of her father's death. With the help of her best friend and roommate, Lucy, Rebecca soon recovers. The following year, a mysterious, dark-haired girl named Ernessa Bloch enrolls into the school. Lucy quickly becomes best friends with Ernessa and becomes distant from Rebecca. Ernessa's presence makes Rebecca feel uneasy. She tries to confront Lucy about Ernessa's dark secrets, but her pleas are dismissed as jealousy. Eerie things start to happen. First, Charley gets expelled because of Ernessa. Dora dies in a freak accident shortly after spying on Ernessa's room, and a teacher is found murdered in the woods. Tension starts to grow at the school. To Rebecca, Ernessa is an enigma. She seems like she can walk through closed windows, and she is often seen lingering around the basement (a place that students are forbidden to go). Rebecca thinks Ernessa is a vampire. Ernessa slowly gets rid of Rebecca's close friends, leaving Rebecca to find out what is happening by herself. A new English teacher, Mr Davies, arrives at the school. Mr Davies shows particular interest in Rebecca. The two share ideas on Romantic literature and poetry. Rebecca soon learns that vampires do not necessarily drink blood, but they can drain the lively spirit out of their victims. Mr Davies addresses himself as a fan of Rebecca's poet father. Rebecca turns to Mr Davies for help, and, during their conversation, the two kiss but Rebecca pulls away. Ernessa confronts Rebecca in the library and presents her with a sharp razor and elaborates on the pleasure of death. Another time, Ernessa sings a disturbing nursery rhyme about "The Juniper Tree" then slits her own wrists, causing blood to rain down on her and Rebecca. Afterwards, Ernessa and the blood disappear. Lucy is sent to the hospital, but only Rebecca knows that Lucy is sick because of Ernessa. Rebecca tries to convince Lucy that Ernessa is the root of all their problems, but Lucy refuses to listen and profanes at her. Although Lucy recovers for a couple days, she soon dies after Ernessa completely drains the life out of her. Rebecca steals the keys to the basement, and after entering, sees an old stone coffin with Ernessa's full name engraved on it. From an old diary, Rebecca learns that many years ago Ernessa's father also killed himself, and Ernessa, unable to cope with the grief, took her own life thereafter. Rebecca soon learns that Ernessa has wanted Rebecca to kill herself. Shortly after, Rebecca returns to the basement to discover Ernessa sleeping in the stone coffin. Rebecca pours kerosene on Ernessa and around the coffin and lights it before Ernessa wakes up. Rebecca walks outside to see a fire truck present and her classmates standing around. Through a door she sees the ghost of Ernessa, who slowly turns around and walks into the sun before vanishing. Knowing the authorities are suspicious of her, Rebecca is certain that Ernessa will not have left any remains. During the ride to the police station she pulls a razor blade out of her diary and drops it out of the window, staring blankly into the distance. While I thought Lily Cole was very good and Mary Harron’s visual flare suited the story perfectly, I just found the story tiresome and irritating. The subjects common to our youth are explored in a clumsy fashion and the eerie edge is now about as clichéd as it gets. It may be a fantasy of many a young girl but there is nothing empowering about it, nothing that celebrates young women but instead only points out their faults – paranoia it seems being the big one. The skeptic in me could swear it was written by a man but no, this is the work of a well-intentioned women with little imagination. I have no idea why Harron got involved really, she’s above this sort of thing, so if there was something of beauty within the original story I’m afraid she has not expressed it very well. There is always room for horror and the romance that can come with it but without wanting to sound like anyone’s Grandmother, isn’t there more to youth than dreams of suicide, goth music and vampirism? It’s a two-month phase if that, so if you’re going to make a film out of it, at least be honest. Kids will of course lap up this sort of misery but it isn’t healthy. It’s also rather boring now and I can’t help but think it is yet another piece of youth literature for no one other than a hack author who is in it for the money and not the kids. Everyone hates moths.