Melissa McCarthy leads a stellar cast in this Netflix-produced drama from Hidden Figures director Theodore Melfi. Written by Matt Harris, The Starling also stars Chris O’Dowd, legendary Hollywood actor Kevin Kline and Dead Wood and Justified star Timothy Olyphant. It follows Lily, a resilient woman attempting to piece her life back together when she is faced with a tragic loss.

After the death of her only child, Lilly (McCarthy) finds herself alone at home contemplating her future while her distraught husband Jack (O’Dowd) is spending some time at a psychiatric facility. When a feisty starling decides to nest in her garden, Lilly finds herself battling the bird who keeps on taunting and attacking her.

On the advice of her husband’s therapist, Lilly seeks the help of Larry (Kline), a former shrink tuned veterinarian who knows a thing or two about birds. On her journey to rid her garden of its unwanted guest and heal her broken heart, Lilly rediscovers her will to live and the love she still has for her once perfect family unit.

The kindest thing anyone can say about The Starling is that is has some genuinely thrilling performances from McCarthy, O’Dowd and Kline. Sadly though, no amount of good acting or good will can absolve this film from being deeply muddled, overly sentiment and altogether rather tedious. But one of the most jarring aspects of the film is the needlessly saccharine soundtrack of supposedly uplifting tunes destined to make you want to rip off your ears.

Quite beside the crime of giving the brilliant Timothy Olyphant so little to work with, the film’s greatest misstep is its inability to form a single coherent thought. It is a real shame as there was great potential here, sadly squandered on a series of risibly weak metaphor-heavy ideas. I’d give it a miss unless you’re in mood to be infuriated out of your wits.