Jenna Ortega’s ‘Miller’s Girl’ Is Going To Be Her Most Controversial Yet

‘MILLER’S Girl’ is a comedy drama from writer and director Jade Halley Bartlett.

The film follows a teacher named Jonathan Miller (Martin Freeman) and his young, talented student, played by Jenna Ortega, who become entangled in a complex relationship after a creative writing assignment yields unexpected results.

As lines blur and their lives intertwine, professor and protégé must confront their darkest selves while straining to preserve their individual sense of purpose and the things they hold most dear.

Watch trailer below: https://youtu.be/5pNePY44Lv0

Jenna Ortega’s newest movie, Miller’s Girl, may mean her most challenging role yet, but it could also come with some significant controversy. The actor’s career has been on a clear upward trajectory in recent years, with her performance in the wildly popular Netflix series Wednesday having solidified her stardom.

Ortega seems to have quite the skill for horror, following up the creepy Addams Family spinoff with Scream VI. Public approval has been high, and the star has quite the career ahead of her, but Miller’s Girl might be something of a risk.

Starring Ortega alongside The Hobbit and Black Pather’s Martin Freeman, the trailer for Miller’s Girl introduces an 18-year-old college student, Cairo Sweet, and her much older professor, Jonathan Miller. The two appear to share quite a connection, with Professor Miller clearly interested in Cairo’s literary talent.

However, the film, which is described as a psychological thriller, sees this student-teacher relationship grow more unsettling. It’s implied in the trailer that Ortega’s character will threaten and blackmail the professor after he rejects her advances. If that’s truly all there is to Miller’s Girl, this could be a problem.

Miller’s Girl’s trailer has already caused controversy since it seems to place Ortega in the seat of the antagonist, with Martin’s titular character as the unfortunate victim.

By the end of the two-minute clip, it’s implied that Cairo falsely accuses Miller of rape, placing his job and reputation on the line all because he turned her down after she submitted a suggestive writing assignment.

If this is indeed the case, Miller’s Girl is playing dangerously with the harmful stereotype that relationships with this inappropriate power balance are the result of dangerous, seductive young women. Unfortunately, it’s ideas like this that lead many women reporting crimes to be disregarded.

If this truly is the premise of Miller’s Girl, then Ortega herself could fall into some significant backlash. By agreeing to take on such a role, the actor would perpetuate this dangerous stereotype.

Additionally, since the “young woman seduces an older man to ruin his life” trope has been overdone, the film could potentially put a hard stop on the actor’s streak of critically acclaimed projects.

Still, despite the controversy surrounding the Miller’s Girl trailer, it’s far too early to pull out the torches and pitchforks. As a psychological thriller, the film itself may reveal a major twist that will make all the difference.

The age difference between Ortega and Martin in Miller’s Girl is clearly meant to make audiences uncomfortable, so it’s certainly possible that the thriller plans to turn the old “young seductress” trope on its head in a meaningful way. This is supported by the trailer’s ending text, which reads, “There are complex themes that appear in this film,” followed by a link to “resources on some of the subject matter.”

This leads to a page on Lionsgate’s website, which provides additional links to the webpages for organizations like the “Me Too” movement.

If the upcoming film aims to dissect the harmful stereotypes and deglamorize the idea of student-teacher relationships, it could be a considerable asset to Ortega’s career.

This could be an indication that Miller’s Girl and Ortega, by extension, know what they’re doing. If the upcoming film aims to dissect the harmful stereotypes and deglamorize the idea of student-teacher relationships, it could be a considerable asset to Ortega’s career, elevating her into more thought-provoking, socially challenging roles.

One way or another, the “complex themes” of Miller’s Girl will be controversial, but whether this will be good or bad controversy depends on what direction the film takes these concepts. We will just have to wait and see.

Miller’s Girl set to open in PH theaters nationwide on January 24, 2024, produced by Point Grey Pictures and distributed LIONSGATE and 888 Films International. (source: screenrant.com)

(ROHN ROMULO)