Girl Lost, A Hollywood Story: Movie Review

If you want shocking realism then "Girl Lost, A Hollywood Story" will be one film that will leave you quite in a doozy. It was a film that made us feel uneasy as it borders the line into soft core porn territory. While it may have problems with pacing and writing, there's no denying that at its core, "Girl Lost, A Hollywood Story" has something to say about the pitfalls of trafficking, exploitation, and downright desperation - and in that case, the film was a success in our opinion.

With her mother gone and left to her absent father, Hope (Moxie Owens) is lured to an online relationship by her childhood babysitter Paige (Cody Renee Cameron) thinking she is the only one that truly cares for her. In the process, Paige is able to manipulate Hope to run away and go to Hollywood to live with her making her think that she has the potential to become a famous model or actress. Hopping on a bus to Hollywood, Hope's innocent mind is naive to the dangers that linger in her midst. We also encounter Baby Girl (Psalms Salazar) who is a single mother and is struggling to make ends meet. With the threat of becoming homeless real, she is forced into selling her body to make her rent. Hope and Baby Girl's lives collide when both are exploited by Paige and her girlfriend. They manipulate Hope into believing that working as an escort is a "right of passage" into becoming an actress and they lure Baby Girl with the promise of hard cash - without telling them the salacious details of each "job".

It's rare for a film to come out raw and real but "Girl Lost, A Hollywood Story" plays on its independent and small budget to its advantage. This film was authentic (too authentic at times) that it borders legality in some shape or form. Central to this uneasy feeling was lead actress Moxie Owens. She definitely looks young enough to pass off as a young teen but her performance was also nuanced and believable as a confused and too naive girl. While she was probably the youngest in the main cast, Owens had the best performance out of everyone. The other leads were led by Psalms Salazar but to be honest their performances were rocky and varied from scene to scene. Our biggest issue with "Girl Lost, A Hollywood Story" was its narrative development and pacing. Particular scenes just felt disjointed and disconnected. Certain characters also felt under-developed or even unnecessary lending to the film's tendency to introduce characters out of thin air and providing little context or enough time to really develop these minor characters. As expected, the production values were so-so but we also felt that the film was able to maximize its settings and locations given its budget. Overall, "Girl Lost, A Hollywood Story" hooked us with its authenticity and explicit nature providing a slap-in-the-face experience when it came to sex trafficking and exploitation.

Rating: 3 reels

Why you should watch it:
- the exploitation felt real and authentic

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the film had writing issues making scenes feel disconnected and disjointed at times

Distributed by Breaking Glass Pictures, "Girl Lost, A Hollywood Story" is now available on video-on-demand. Find out on which platforms it is available here.