Skip to content
The Burning Girls starts off in 1556, in the Chapel Croft Village, Sussex, where two girls are being burned at the stake.
So, not exactly a family-friendly start to the proceedings, and then fast-forward to almost the current day, when – set three months ago – the village residents are throwing effigies onto a fire.
And then some more time-jumping as we come to the present day, and due to the sudden departure of Rev. Fletcher (Paul Fox – Fraggle Rock: Back To The Rock), they’re in need of a new head of the church, so enter Jack Brooks (Samantha Morton – The Whale) with her daughter, Flo (Ruby Stokes – Lockwood And Co), who’s complaining there’s no mobile phone signal, and after some bizarre events early on, declares that “things are happening again”… such as? Did they have to leave where they were before?
Between that and a very weird present turning up on the doorstep, a number of people are acting very weird indeed, insisting, “If you see the burning girls, something bad will befall you”.
The drama also switches betweeen now and 1992, where two girls – Merry (Mollie Holder – Sanditon) and Joy (Safia Oakley-Green) – are about to go missing. Plus, there’s a whole load of weird stuff with an oddball who’s just been released from prison.
For some non-weird elements, Flo loves to use her late father’s old camera, although she does take a lot of pictures indoors and without a flash!
However, the weird out-does the non-weird parts, like one church employee, Aaron (David Dawson – All The Old Knives), who looks like Paul Weller in the ’80s, but with an even worse haircut. Hence, if you’ve seen too many horror movies, you’ll be expecting half the supposedly scary nonsense that comes along.
And basically, why can’t anyone just move into a town where normal people live?!
I can see some elements in The Burning Girls coming together after the first three episodes which were available for review, but it’s so damn slow.
On the other hand, Flo, and local lad, Wrigley (Conrad Khan – Smithereens: Black Mirror), share a love of ’80s films, but even though The Breakfast Club isn’t mentioned between them, at one point, one character says to Wrigley, “Have I made myself clear?”, to which he replies, “Crystal”, just like John Bender 🙂
Thanks to our friends at Paramount+ for the screener prior to release.
The Burning Girls is not available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but is on Paramount+ from today.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 45-60 minutes per episode (6 episodes)
Release date: October 19th 2023
Studio: Paramount+
Format: 2.39:1
Director: Charles Martin
Producer: Oliver Kent
Writers: Camilla Ahlgren, Hans Rosenfeldt, CJ Tudor
Music: Lorne Balfe, Michael Bitton
Cast:
Jack Brooks: Samantha Morton
Flo Brooks: Ruby Stokes
Abigail: Sienna Miller
Maggie: Summer Miller
Clara Rushton: Janie Dee
Aaron Marsh: David Dawson
Kirsty: Shakira Newton
Lucas Wrigley: Conrad Khan
Vagrant: Jack Roth
Rev. Brian Rushton: Paul Bradley
Clara Rushton: Janie Dee
Mike Sudduth: John MacMillan
Rev. Fletcher: Paul Fox
Poppy Harper: Erin Ainsworth
Simon Harper: Rupert Graves
Ruby: Lorelei Winterfrost
Jonathan: Aaron-Jon North
Joan Hartman: Jane Lapotaire
Merry Lane: Mollie Holder
Joy Harris: Safia Oakley-Green
Benjamin Grady: Charlie Hamblett
Rosie Harper: Elodie Grace Orkin
Emma Harper: Beth Cordingly
Judith Lane: Catherine Harvey
Jacob Lane: Charlie Price
Pauline Harries: Valerie Murray
Homeless Man: Aston Kelly
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.