An American Crime
Based on a shocking true story, director Tommy O'Haver's grisly drama centers on Indiana housewife and mother Gertrude Baniszewski (Catherine Keener), who imprisons and tortures a 16-year-old girl in the basement. When Gertrude takes in boarder Sylvia Likens (Ellen Page), she has no idea that her life will soon become a horrific nightmare. The supporting cast includes Bradley Whitford as the prosecuting attorney at the ensuing trial.
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Extremely disturbing portraits of psychopathic adults and sociopathic children. It's been a long time since I've seen a movie that really got to me, but this made me almost ill. I wanted to scream at the kids, the adults, everyone who was complicit in this horrendous tale. Well acted, but it'll give you nightmares.- mjf 1554926
I recently rented The Girl Next Door, and thought I would also give this one a try. This movie was made from the actual case files, and does a very good job describing the true events that took place. If you have seen The Girl Next Door, don't expect all the blood and gore in this one. To read a great 25 page article on the real events that took place go to: crimelibrary.com and under the search type in "A Young, Tortured Girl" (Sylvia Liken).
- Hellnight138
Catherine Keener gives a brave performance in AN AMERICAN CRIME, as does the ubiquitous Ellen Page. This movie is made more horrible because it is true, or is "based" upon a true story. Its strong emotional impact is mainly because of this, and the natural empathy for those children who are suffering similar abuse even as I type this. Beyond that, this movie is just okay. It drags a bit and put me to sleep a couple of times before I could make it past the halfway mark. [09-10-08]
- Firewater
True Stories always get me going, freak me out, or makes me want to learn more. This true story about a girl named Sylvia, made me want to do the same thing to this woman, who took her in so that she would have a weekly check for $20.00. Guilt, Lies & paranoia abound in this thriller where a young boarder gets so seriously abused it causes her death. The really sick thing that gets me is the whole neighborhood was in on it and NO ONE EVER TOLD A SOUL!
- JWnPooh
this movie was very good. But it was very disturbing. It took me about three hours to watch it because i had to keep pausing it. A few times i found myself crying. This movie is based on true events. Its what made me find it so disturbing. To think that this really happened. The fact that the kids thought this wasd ok to do and went along with some of the sick things made it even harder to watch. This is a great movie though. It was done well and ellen page is an awesome actress. She played the part so well.
- horrorfan247