Review: ‘Girl Asleep’ is a minor curio from Down Under

In the rigorously twee Australian film “Girl Asleep,” wallflower schoolgirl Greta Driscoll (Bethany Whitmore) can barely handle the oddness of adolescence without her eccentric parents (Amber McMahon, Matthew Whittet) throwing a surprise 15th birthday party for her and inviting the entire school. That should sound like drama enough for a small-scale forage into turbulent girlhood, but Greta the character must also contend with some regrettably overbearing creative management.

The story (written by Whittet, adapting his stage play) awkwardly combines abundantly quirky characters with a Bruno Bettelheim-inspired forest diversion involving imaginary creatures. Rosemary Myers’ direction, meanwhile — deploying the boxy 4:3 aspect ratio like a diorama — is more a symmetrically designed feast of ’70s kitsch from the Wes Anderson/Tim Burton style book than a steady window into Greta’s frame of mind.

That’s not to say the movie doesn’t pop visually, or boast the occasional fillip of recognizable humanity, as when Harrison Feldman’s scrawny Greta-pal Elliott deadpans his way past some clichéd nerd traits, or Whitmore’s observant, vulnerable face is the focus.

But the color riot, the polyester/shag décor and the cartoon portrayals detract. “Girl Asleep” thinks it’s a stylishly resonant fairy tale about identity when the primary takeaway is an exquisitely curated slide show.

“Girl Asleep” screens with the documentary short “Pickle,” directed by Amy Nicholson, in which a couple recounts the menagerie of odd animals they adopted over the course of their long marriage.

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‘Girl Asleep’

Running time: 1 hour, 17 minutes

Not rated

Playing: Landmark NuArt, West Los Angeles

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