As victim Sylvia Likens, Ellen Page (a young newcomer here) is very believable. Catherine Keener is excellent (as she usually is) in the understated performance here of a monster. In reality, Gertrude Baniszewski was apparently an untreated sociopath who had many children, lived in Indiana, and had neighbors who "heard nothing" despite abuse and nefarious screaming at her downtrodden home.
It is filmed realistically, and brutally. Having researched a few true crime cases, I would be interested to see the Director here address the Sharon Tate murders. We know Americans have been lied to by THAT particular story.
With the cinematography, he clearly has a true feel for the brutality and starkness of what these crimes reflect about an average, lower class community in America. Keener is excellent as Gertrude/"Gerty", a woman who has a passel of children, an ex husband who was a deadbeat, and clearly has several psychological problems.
The audience will see James DiFranco as her young lover (actually he was two years younger than her daughter Paula)
The true crime behind this film is telling and horrific. Everyone who has a social conscience should watch this film, to see the plausible deniability and denial that exists in America, regarding true crime, even today. 10/10.
It is filmed realistically, and brutally. Having researched a few true crime cases, I would be interested to see the Director here address the Sharon Tate murders. We know Americans have been lied to by THAT particular story.
With the cinematography, he clearly has a true feel for the brutality and starkness of what these crimes reflect about an average, lower class community in America. Keener is excellent as Gertrude/"Gerty", a woman who has a passel of children, an ex husband who was a deadbeat, and clearly has several psychological problems.
The audience will see James DiFranco as her young lover (actually he was two years younger than her daughter Paula)
The true crime behind this film is telling and horrific. Everyone who has a social conscience should watch this film, to see the plausible deniability and denial that exists in America, regarding true crime, even today. 10/10.