God Help the Girl

2014 1h 51m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

🍅

67%

FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.4

IMDB

★6.5TMDB · 236🍅67%Rotten Tomatoes●58Metacritic★6.4IMDB · 9,552

ComedyDramaMusic

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Eve is a catastrophe—low on self-esteem but high on fantasy, especially when it comes to music. Over the course of one Glasgow summer, she meets two similarly rootless souls: posh Cass and fastidious James, and together they form a band.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Emily Browning
Eve
Olly Alexander
James
Hannah Murray
Cass
Pierre Boulanger
Anton
Cora Bissett
Miss Browning
Sarah Swire
Ballerina
Mark Radcliffe
Findlay
Stuart Maconie
Donovan

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Stuart Murdoch
Writers: Stuart Murdoch
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 5

ERA

Did you know

Released 12 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 5

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Stuart Murdoch, shot by Giles Nuttgens. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 5

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor David Arthur shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 5

CAST

Did you know

Emily Browning and Olly Alexander and Hannah Murray carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 5

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt2141751 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Stuart Murdoch directs. Giles Nuttgens behind the camera. David Arthur cuts. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 12 years ago.
2Directed by Stuart Murdoch, shot by Giles Nuttgens. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Editor David Arthur shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
4Emily Browning and Olly Alexander and Hannah Murray carry the top of the cast.
5IMDB entry: tt2141751 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Giles Nuttgens
Editing: David Arthur
Production design: Mark Leese
Costume design: Denise Coombes
Makeup / hair: Karen Brotherston
Sound: Iain Anderson
Runtime: 111 min · 1h 51m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $102,757
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: God Help the Girl (2014)
Rotten Tomatoes: 67% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 58/100
IMDB rating: 6.4/10 · 9,552 votes
MPAA: Unrated

Awards

3 wins & 7 nominations total

Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-02-15
★ 7/10
It’s always nice to see a film set amidst surroundings from your childhood, and this rather poppy musical drama delivers quite amiably, too. It’s all about “Eve” (Emily Browning) who is in and out of hospital but determined to indulge her passion for music. Serendipity clearly thinks she’s worth a risk and so introduces her to the shy musician “James” (Olly Alexander) and to fellow songstress “Cassie” (Hannah Murray) and now, thanks to a fair chunk of Glaswegian band “Belle and Sebastian” as well as some songs from auteur Stuart Murdoch we follow the three friends as they try to navigate their occasionally quite messy lives in search of their dream. Glasgow has always has a vibrant and eclectic music scene and right from the start at the “Barrowlands” venue, these guys are able to tap into that lively creative bloodstream to explore their potential. None of them are without their baggage, but the story doesn’t dwell so much on those issues as much as illustrate the values of friendship, a bit of romance and simply having the confidence to believe in yourself and try something new. That’s the challenge for the timid “James” and some of the comments that emanate from his character seem strangely prophetic for an actor who went on to do exactly what his goal was here. They deliver their own vocals engagingly with a few tracks that reminded me a little of Kirsty MacColl and for a piece of low-budget indie cinema, it punches quite a bit above it’s weight. It does take it’s time to get going, and perhaps it takes a little too a simplistic view of the “remedies” for mental illness, but it’s still a film that does raise a smile and it’s worth a couple of hours just to make you feel a bit better.

Production companies