Lost Girls  4 1/2 Suns 

Lost Girls is a true crime drama based on a novel by the same name.  Murder stories seem to be a theme this year as this is the third film I’ve seen involving the murder of a young woman.  When her adult daughter goes missing Mari Gilbert (Amy Ryan) must take matters into her own hands because of a lack of action on the part of the local police.  She traces her movements and last contacts of her daughter to an exclusive Long Island neighborhood where the neighbors seem to all protect one another.  Her daughter’s actions indicate that she was a prostitute getting clients online. The stakes increase dramatically when the police discover an area near this neighborhood is being used as a dumping ground for bodies of prostitutes which becomes the case of the Long Island Killer.  The police continue to mishandle the case causing endless frustration for Mari, her two younger daughters and families of the other dead girls in the case. They appear to be less interested in a case involving dead and missing prostitutes than they would with more important victims. It is only through the constant efforts of Mari to get answers that any real progress is made in the case.  I found it to be a powerful police drama because of a good script and a strong performance by Ryan as the girl’s determined mother. There are also fine performances from Thomasin McKenzie as Mari’s second daughter and Gabriel Byrne as the police commissioner. Sadly,  the real Mari Gilbert died shortly after production on the movie started and did not get to see the result.