Starring: Richard Harrington, Jaime Winstone, Louise Delamere
Find it: IMDB
Troubled Emo (is there any other kind?) Nina (Winstone) crosses paths with equally troubled psychiatrist Doctor Stephen (Harrington) after she puts herself in hospital during a bout of self-harm. Kids today, eh. But Nina is no ordinary Emo; cutting herself is merely the means to an end, and not the main event. She's developed a taste for blood - the fresher and more human the better. Ugh, kids. If they're not wearing hoodies and looting Footlocker, then they're drinking blood and listening to You Me At Six (I checked with my teenage sister; that's definitely what the Emos these days are listening to).
Complications ensue when Doctor Stephen falls for Nina's mother (Delamere), making the situation even worse. Also, there's the fact that he's addicted to anti-depressants and still mourning the recent self-inflicted death of his own wife. Daddy's Girl is far from a cheerful film. Almost all of the characters attempt to commit suicide at one point, and when they're not trying to do that, they're chugging anti-depressants, killing things or being killed themselves.
If you look elsewhere, you may find Daddy's Girl marketed as Cravings. The DVD cover for Cravings depicts a pair of vampire fangs and is the sort of thing that could have been designed by somebody who has never seen Daddy's Girl. It's barely a vampire film. Beyond one of its characters drinking blood, it has as much in common with the vampire subgenre as Twilight.
The titular 'daddy's girl' is Jaime Winstone, daughter of hardman Ray. Thankfully she doesn't have her father's looks. Also thankfully, she's of a perfectly legal age in Daddy's Girl. I was beginning to worry for my tastes. I would say something like "phoar, she can drink my blood anytime," but she's quite intimidating in this movie. The finale is reminiscent of Audition, and whilst Daddy's Girl is not even nearly in the same league as that movie, you can see the sort of thing writer/director DJ Evans was going for.
It's a gloomy, moody, atmospheric piece, all damaged individuals and mental breakdowns. Dog lovers would be advised to steer clear of the liquidiser scene, as would those who dislike thoroughly miserable films about thoroughly miserable people. It was a bit too glum even for my tastes - and I listen to Morrissey every day and watch Jurassic Bark once a month - and none of the characters are at all likeable. Even the well-intentioned Doctor Stephen is too mopey to sympathise with, whilst Delamere's mother character eventually becomes as unlikable as her vampiric daughter.
Daddy's Girl is a very interesting, bleak film. If you can handle moody children, depressed adults and ineffectual authorities, then you'll get along just fine. For me, I don't think a little sparkling would have gone amiss.
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