PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 11: (L-R) Jenna Ortega and Martin Freeman speak onstage during ... [+]
Jenna Ortega’s Miller’s Girl co-star Martin Freeman is discussing the age gap controversy and inappropriate student-teacher relationship in the movie, which is new on Netflix.
In Miller’s Girl, which made its debut on the streaming service Friday, the Wednesday star plays Cairo Sweet — an 18-year-old high school senior — while Freeman plays her much older teacher, Jonathan Miller.
The description of Miller’s Girl on the Netflix app reads, “In this erotic thriller, a high school student enters a precarious relationship with her creative writing teacher.” The streamer also notes that the movie is rated R for “sexual content, language throughout, some teen smoking and drinking.”
In an interview Saturday with The Times of London, Freeman addressed the controversial age gap and inappropriate relationship between Cairo and Jonathan in the film, which is set in a small Tennessee town. In real life, Ortega is 21 and Freeman — whose credits include the lead role of Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit trilogy — is 52.
Describing Miller’s Girl for The Times of London, Freeman called the movie "grown-up and nuanced.” However, Freeman was careful to add, “It's not saying, 'Isn't this great?'"
PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 11: (L-R) Bashir Salahuddin, Jade Bartlett, Jenna Ortega, Martin ... [+]
Some critics felt Miller’s Girl wasn’t great, either, as it was derided by writers for CNN and the Chicago Sun-Times, among others. CNN’s review noted, “Dated and creepy in all the wrong ways, it’s a movie that might have escaped derision in the 1980s but deserves to get slapped around today.”
Unfortunately, such troubling hot-button topics as inappropriate if not downright criminal relationships between teachers and students are still very much a modern-day reality. As such, Freeman told The Times Of London that he thinks stories about difficult subjects can be tainted by association.
What Happens Between Cairo And Jonathan in ‘Miller’s Girl’?
In Miller’s Girl, Cairo Sweet (Jenna Ortega) is urged to befriend her married teacher, Jonathan Miller (Martin Freeman), by her best friend and fellow classmate Winnie (Gideon Adlon). Even though she’s openly gay, Winnie flirts with Boris (Bashi Salahuddin), an older male coach at the high school, so Cairo decides to do the same.
Before too long, Cairo’s seemingly innocent relationship with Jonathan becomes more involved outside of the classroom, first with a meeting at a poetry reading, which is followed by a phone call and a visit to the student’s house.
The tension escalates, however, as Jonathan — a struggling author — reads a salacious story assignment authored by Cairo, which depicts a steamy romantic relationship between them that plays out in a fantasy sequence in the movie. However, when Jonathan rejects Cairo’s provocative story, the relationship takes some destructive turns.
Miller’s Girl was largely rejected by critics, with the film receiving an aggregate 29% “rotten” rating by Rotten Tomatoes critics, based on 58 reviews.
The rating will likely do little to detract Ortega’s fan base from streaming Miller’s Girl, especially since it’s on Netflix — the same platform as Ortega’s blockbuster series Wednesday. Ortega also starred in Scream and Scream VI, which were both huge hits at the movie box office.
Miller’s Girl played briefly in theaters domestically upon its release in late January, earning $321,000 in a one-week run on 350 screens. Combined with the $465,400 the movie made at the international box office, Miller’s Girl — which had a $4 million budget — earned $889,500 at the global box office.
Miller’s Girl also stars Dagmara Dominczyk (Succession) in the pivotal role as Jonathan’s wife, Charlotte.
Written and directed by Jade Halley Bartlett and produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, Miller’s Girl is new on Netflix and available for rental on premium video on demand.
