: An American Crime
I saw this film show up on my movie channel and it had Ellen Page (Juno, Hard Candy) in it so I recorded it. It was about an abused teen, and as I watched I started getting the creepy feeling I’d seen this before yet I knew I hadn’t. In the film two sisters are left with a babysitter for a few months and it turns out the woman is mentally ill and locks the older girl in the basement and tortures her and allows the neighbor kids to participate. That’s just like Jack Ketchum’s book The Girl Next Door. Finally I connected the pieces and figured it out: this film is based on the same real-life murder case as Ketchum’s book — the difference is that this one is the real story, while Ketchum’s book used completely different characters. Personally, I prefer his book: I like the way he has the conflicted teenage narrator participate in the torture, so we feel his guilt and confusion. In this film, it’s just awful to watch, with no redemption for any. I did like the little twist at the end when the girl briefly escapes. It’s a very good film with excellent performances, but not pleasant, and I found it rather empty of meaning in the end.
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