Hitchcock becomes infatuated with his leading lady; when she rebuffs his advances, he subjects her to a series of traumatic experiences during the filming of The Birds.

Hedren passes her screen test and is groomed for the starring role in Hitchcock's latest film, The Birds; the director instructs her about her dress and appearance.

However, Hedren finds the film's content (including a marital-rape scene) and Hitchcock's obsession with her mentally and emotionally exhausting.

During a conversation with writer Evan Hunter, Hitchcock admits that he has erectile dysfunction and his only sexual partner is his wife (screenwriter Alma Reville).

Two notes before the titles inform the viewer that Hitchcock and Hedren never worked together again, and The Birds and Marnie are considered his last classic films.

Spoto wrote that Hitchcock attempted to turn Tippi Hedren (star of The Birds and Marnie) into his perfect woman, choosing the clothes and lipstick he thought she should wear.

[2] In a post-production BBC press release about the film in November 2012, Hughes described her enthusiasm when she was approached about the project while on holiday: "[I] got a phone call from producer Amanda Jenks.

She described her discussions with Hedren: "Her wisdom and insights have helped me to put her real life ordeal on to the screen.

[7] As part of her research Miller (who was in the early stages of pregnancy) spoke to Hedren several times during filming, and the two became friends.

During a Television Critics Association press tour promoting the film, Hedren said: "I have to say that when I first heard Toby's [Jones] voice as Alfred Hitchcock, my body just froze".

[21] She previously said, in 1973, while Hitchcock was still alive, that a major life-style difference caused a split in their relationship: "He was too possessive and too demanding.

[25] Other actresses have spoken about the close attention Hitchcock paid to details of the leading ladies' characters and appearances in his films, but they said that no harassment was involved.

[28] Louise Latham, who played Hedren's mother in Marnie, dismissed claims of Hitchcock's predatory nature in Broadcast magazine: "I find some of the allegations hard to believe ...

Tony Lee Moral, author of two books about the making of the Hitchcock films in which Hedren starred, echoed Brown's comments.

[30] In an interview with FT Magazine's Rosie Millard, Hedren discussed Hitchcock's attitude towards her after she decided not to work for him again: "He did ruin my career.

[29][32] Truffaut's daughter Laura disputed this, telling Tony Lee Moral her mother had expressed surprise at the mention of Hedren's possible involvement in the project.

Laura Truffaut was also sceptical of the story: "It is extremely unlikely in my view that my father seriously entertained this project without sharing it with my mother as he was not secretive about the other actors who were considered for casting".

[26] Writing for savehitchcock.com (a website established in response to the media's portrayal of Hitchcock), John Russell Taylor – author of the 1978 biography Hitch – said the film is "totally absurd".

[24][34] Speaking to The Independent later that month, Hitchcock director Sacha Gervasi said, "[The Girl] seems a rare one-note portrayal of a man who was a little more complex than that.

[3] Richard Brody of The New Yorker also gave the film a negative review, writing that, instead of being a drama, the film is an unoriginal work of criticism which "points to what everyone ought already to have been talking about in the first place: not least, that it's no surprise to learn that a filmmaker whose art is devoted to pain, fear, control, and sexual obsession also experienced and inflicted them in life".

[37] On the day of its UK premiere, James Rampton of The Independent wrote that The Girl was "no mere black-and-white hatchet job on Hitch.

It does not seek to portray him as an unambiguous monster; rather, it highlights the profound psychological damage that plagued the director throughout his life".

[38] The Telegraph's Nigel Farndale praised the film's balanced view of the director: "[E]ven though he was portrayed in this exquisite drama as a manipulative, vindictive martinet, the portrait was not unsympathetic".

[40] She also added: "[G]liding gracefully through it all (and with an impeccable American accent) Sienna Miller brings untouchable beauty and icy glamour, but also captures the extraordinary resilience Hedren must have had to withstand everything Hitchcock threw at her".

[16] Historian Alex von Tunzelmann gave the film a mixed review in The Guardian: "The Girl is perhaps a more effective piece of film-making than Hitchcock, though it is also more questionable in its portrayal of the director [...][t]he film depicts [the attic scene] accurately, though Jones's Hitchcock appears to be more gratified by the spectacle than the real Hitch was".

[42] According to viewing figures collected by Nielsen Media Research, The Girl's US television premiere (at 9:00 pm on Saturday, 20 October 2012) was watched by an average audience of 722,000.