Super Girl Review: Milly Alcock in a Serious and Heartfelt Superhero Film
Introduction
Forget all you thought knew about the Girl of Steel. Supergirl, the upcoming film coming out June 26 isn't your average spandex-clad sunshine and roses superhero. It's a gritty, dysfunctional space western that plays less like a comic book adaptation and more like Mad Max meets True Grit. Millicent Alcock (yes, Milly Alkoc) is at the eye of this cosmic hurricane, and she literally embodies a Kryptonian anti-heroine drowning in sorrow and speed. Maybe it's not quite the ideal supergirl that fans had agonized over, but this odd little entry does promise an intriguing, if rocky foundation for Kara Zor-El's cinematic career. Here, we take a look at why the best thing about the movie is Alcock herself, where The Untitled DC Movie in Which Supergirl appears stumbles, and why this is exactly the version of Supergirl we need right now.
Great, a Supergirl for the Emo Age
This is not the Superman of David Corenswet and director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya; Cruella) makes it clear from the first scene. Kara Zor-El, on a filthy intergalactic pub crawl with more than just a killer hangover and an her cosmic-sized chip. She's spending her 23rd birthday the only way she knows how: For three hours, she's been partying on planets with red suns that dampen her powers so she can get magnificently wasted while dodging both her responsibilities—and phone calls from Clark, who looked at his cousin and saw a damn mess. That's not just her style, it's a marker of her trauma. Alcock channels the character with a "punk rock" energy, complete with a wild mop of blond hair, a ratty trench coat and an attitude that says leave me alone.
This version of Kara feels nothing like the upbeat, girl-next-door Supergirl before it. She is disorganized, spontaneous, and somewhat scary. But below all that bravado, Alcock exposes the undoable burden of survivor's guilt. Cousin to her, she is the thematic inverse; Clark the optimist and Kara broken from seeing Argo City's slow demise and her home blown to smithereens. One of the most devastating bits in the entire film occurs and includes Alcock suspended inside space with a screamless silent plea that results in her eye shedding a lone tear that you see tumble away from the rest of her body. It is a scene predicated mostly on her carrying layered frustration and sense of loss, and she absolutely kills it.
A mission on revenge and stubborn diligence
Things start to kick off when Kara is introduced to Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley), a hard-headed young girl intent on revenge. When ruthless Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts) and his band of space pirate Brigands kill her family, she hunts down the "hungover barfly" that she thinks will save her. Kara wants no part of it—her motto being "not my monkeys, not my circus"—but when Krem poisons her favorite pup, Krypto, she has to step in. Kara and Ruthye are an unlikely pair, with only 72 hours to find the antidote before it is too late!
The comparison is mostly the classic True Grit dynamic of an aging, cynical fighter reluctantly* helping a talented teen navigate a bitter world. The film is intentionally epic in its journey through the cosmos, but far more often than not it feels like a sprint through its source: the beloved Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow graphic novel. It still touches the major plot points, but skips over the deeply layered world building and encounters that added so much of The Comic ’s emotional and thematic depth. Even the visual aesthetic is a mixed bag. The practical creature design and sets are worth a look, but it suffers from CGI-heavy backgrounds that appear rough around the edges.
Supporting Cast and Moral Complexities
The film certainly isn't without its moments. Jason Momoa turns in a world-stealing, glorious cameo of unhinged mayhem as the intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo, and this larger-than-life role seems more like a jaunt of fan service than useful exposition. As Ruthye, Eve Ridley is easy, the moral compass and emotional lifeline for Kara. However, reportedly her accent slips here and there throughout as the character is often written one note.
The film might be its own biggest weakness in the villain department. Krem is something of a one-note lout with evildoings (among them a dark human/alien trafficking subplot) so half-baked they come off as an ineffectual "yuck" factor than anything else. But even with that weight, he never rises above forgettable or menacing threat Not having any nuance in what drives the villain makes the climax of this film feel unearned.
The Hero Who Fumbles is an Approachable Hero
Supergirl is not without its weaknesses, although its greatest strength lies in the message that it brings. Hollywood is notorious for demanding that a heroine be morally upright or virtuous, while male heroes get to be flawed and complicated. This is not a double standard film. Kara is flawed — she suffers from addiction, she drives people away, her decision-making skills blow. But she also gets back up. An interesting spin that supports the notion that their low points do not determine whether we can be a hero. None so much as in one of the best and most sublime needle drops in the film, a cover of The Middle,' which states it perfectly: "Little girl, you're in the middle of the ride. "Relax, take it easy, you know every little thing, everything'll be alright". This is far less a movie about saving the world, than a movie about learning how to save yourself — in a genre obsessed with such things.
Conclusion
A not insignificant leap from its classic heroine, Supergirl's hopeful, can-do spirit is an earnest effort to reinvent a beloved character for a more cynical age. Milly Alcock is terrific, even if the movie around her is often shaky ground in what feels like a shallow script stretched over inconsistent visuals with a squishy villain. She provides a gritty, vulnerable and larger-than-life charisma to Kara Zor-El that makes her viewable even through the dragging plot. Starts the new heroine for DCU on a flawed but fascinating note.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
The new Supergirl movie released in 2025 how does that tie to the Superman movie?
Yes. This is the second part of a new DC Universe by James Gunn. The 2025 Superman film introduced Milly Alcock's Supergirl and this movie is a sequel that further explores her origins.
How old is Supergirl — Age Rating
Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, action, language and smoking. It contains mature content that includes trauma and human trafficking.
What sets this version of Supergirl apart from previous portrayals?
This Supergirl is a gritty, broken, and emotionally-unbalanced alcoholic who self-medicated herself from whatever horrors of her past she beheld. She is the thematic antithesis of her bright-eyed cousin, Superman. She's not a tidy hero, but rather kind of an untidy, heads-up-what-happened-next traitor.
What is the movie about?
Kara is plunged into a quest to rescue her pup, Krypto from some poison after encountering a girl on the run seeking vengeance over her murdered family. Leading to a galaxy-spanning quest that forces her to reckon with her own trauma and what it means to be "good."
Is this film a direct adaptation of the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic?
It's not an exact adaptation, but inspired by the comic. While the film captures the aesthetic and major plot points, it does not quite capture the journey -through character development, world-building or emotional connection- of how everything fits together.
Supergirl Movie ReviewThere are few films in the history of superhero movies which can lay a claim to being on or near as infamously bad like Supergirl. Milly Alcock steals the show as a gritty, emotional superhero in a strong and messy DC film.
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