*contains spoilers, but if you're reading this, you have probably seen the film already.
This is a movie I absolutely would not have wanted to see, if Malkovich was not associated with it. As it turns out, he is in the film only very briefly at the beginning and end of the film. He plays a counselor of some type at a shelter for teenagers/young adults. Nothing much to say about his role, only because he isn't in the film much and he is convincing and good in whatever he does.
But the movie itself is gut-wrenching. I wouldn't say I hated it, but I will say it made me terribly sad. It begins with a little girl named Leslie, elementary school age, she looks 6 or 7, who is walking to school. Alone. She appears to live in a very nice neighborhood, but already I want to shake her parents. Our children can't walk to school alone because there are too many piece of shit horrible people in the world who would hurt little kids. It's sad, but it is part of the world now.
Predictably, a creepy man appears, played, horrifyingly convincingly, by Tom Arnold. It must be said, I'm not a Tom Arnold fan, but I never thought of him as creepy. He is definitely that, in this role. He pretends to be looking for his lost dog when Leslie happens upon him. He introduces himself as Alex, and eventually convinces Leslie to let him give her a ride to school. In the car with him is a sullen young guy, maybe in his 20s.
On the car ride to school, Alex talks to Leslie and is clearly asking her leading questions, then making her think that he knows her dad, that he works for her dad. He drops her off at school.
At the end of the school day, he comes up to her and says there has been a terrible emergency and that her parents want him to pick her up. Leslie seems skeptical, but she gets in the car. This kid's eyes are so much like my own child's, that this scene makes me want to burst into tears.
The next part of the film is predictable, unspeakable, and horrific. They bring Leslie to a house where they have another kidnapped child, a little boy named Donnie. Alex convinces the children that their parents don't want them. He gives Leslie a pretend phone number, telling her it's her dad's number, and a phone, and says she can call her dad any time and try to get in touch with him.
I have a slight issue with this plot point, because my little girl is 5, and she has my cell phone number memorized. She also knows about calling 911 if she is in danger. Leslie is left alone with a phone that actually does dial out, and I just wished she would have dialed 911. Or that her parents would have taught her their phone numbers!
It is chilling to listen to Alex mentally break these children down and make them think they're unwanted. It is later revealed to Leslie that her parents were looking for her the whole time.
There is abuse. Physical, sexual. Child prostitution. Mental abuse. It is a painful movie to watch. Leslie and Donnie become friends in this and they rely on each other to get through their ordeal.
Then, Leslie and Donnie escape or are gotten rid of perhaps. They are 17, living on the streets, addicted to drugs. A pimp wants Leslie to recruit a very young girl to become a prostitute for him. She begins to go along with it, but has a change of heart. She risks her life to get the girl to a safe place. Then she eventually gets herself to a safe place.
She is reunited with her parents, who still seem like dirtbags even though they have only just appeared on camera. They have had other children during the time that Leslie was missing. There is nothing wrong with this, but they explain it to her so awkwardly.
The movie ends in an upsetting way. Leslie leaves her parents' house in the night, presumably to live on the streets again.
Why did her parents not immediately get her into therapy?
Oh yeah, because they're total douchebags.
This is an unsettling movie that brings attention to something that sadly does happen in real life. I don't regret watching it, but I would never want to see it again.
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