This movie was so disturbing in so many ways.The acting good the roles were played right but just knowing this really happened really upsets me!! I feel that everyone including the children should have been placed in jail.But never the less a gripping movie!! I feel that a movie like this should be shown in school to encourage children from abusive families to speak out and see that there are all types of abuse and they are all wrong!!!!!

This movie was so disturbing in so many ways.The acting good the roles were played right but just knowing this really happened really upsets me!! I feel that everyone including the children should have been placed in jail.But never the less a gripping movie!! I feel that a movie like this should be shown in school to encourage children from abusive families to speak out and see that there are all types of abuse and they are all wrong!!!!!

Wow.. What a sick and twisted women she was. Sometimes you just sit back and wonder that there are actually people in our human race out there like that, which in fact does not deserve the title Human at all. I can't understand something like this or rap my mind around the fact that this is a true story even though I know it is. I do like horror movies and i like even the saw series but that what makes them so scary is that someone could actually do something like that. If someone did this to my son they would be dead where they stand and I'm sure alot of you would agree after you watch this... very sad and it will make you very very angry. You will learn more. after the movie Google the girls name and it will tell you the full outcome. I do have to say that the acting was outstanding and I think they did this movie to help us be aware that this is out there and does happen. "American Crime" movie different version of this.

Wow.. What a sick and twisted women she was. Sometimes you just sit back and wonder that there are actually people in our human race out there like that, which in fact does not deserve the title Human at all. I can't understand something like this or rap my mind around the fact that this is a true story even though I know it is. I do like horror movies and i like even the saw series but that what makes them so scary is that someone could actually do something like that. If someone did this to my son they would be dead where they stand and I'm sure alot of you would agree after you watch this... very sad and it will make you very very angry. You will learn more. after the movie Google the girls name and it will tell you the full outcome. I do have to say that the acting was outstanding and I think they did this movie to help us be aware that this is out there and does happen. "The Girl Next Door" movie different version of this.

This is definitely one of the most disturbing films I've ever seen.I don't think I've ever watched a movie that sparked as much emotion from me as this. This was more disturbing than a horror movie I've ever seen (That is saying quite a bit right there). I know there are sick and evil people in this world but I'm still constantly amazed at the share terrible people can put other people through.

I'm sure this movie would not have been so heart-wrenching without the incredible artistry demonstrated by all of the young actors in this movie and especially the great Catherine Keener who did an amazing job. It all seemed so real to me which is sad because you feel so helpless all throughout the movie just watching what this poor girl has to go through.

I can't believe she didn't serve a full life sentence in prison. That is absurd and it shows everything thats wrong with the so-called justice system when a woman like that can slip through the cracks. But imho, i think the parents should have been sentenced also for neglect.

Also, it was horrible when I finally realized that Sylvia never actually escaped and she was probably in a state of euphoria before she passed,but what exactly did she die from? exhaustion? starvation? or did the boy hit her or something?

All in all, this is definitely a serious drama, not for the faint of heart. But i think people need to realize that this is a look at fundamentalist catholic ideologies of some mentally disturbed people and it is not a snapshot of all catholic families just as fundamentalist muslim terrorists do not represent a one-size fits all idea of muslims around the world.

This film was awesome, the acting was perfect, even the children's... It was so real, and to think it was true, and this can still happen even in our world today...
The acting of these children was 100 per cent, as it really was all about the children mostly....
Thumbs up for this film and I would recommend it to anyone to watch........

The shocking story of Silvia Likens. I hate saying that i liked this movie cause it's a true story but i did. I though Ellen Page did a great performance. I read her story and this movie is very realistic of what really happened. There is also another movie about her as well called The girl next door, but kinda different to her story then this one. Slyvia Likens parents were traveling carnival workers and had to leave Sylvia and her younger sister Jenny with a single mother and her seven children. She was beaten and humiliated by the mother, her kids, and the neiborhood kids for three months untill she died. SHOCKING STORY.

First of all someone said " The Girl Next Door" wasn't based on actual events .You'd have to be oblivious not to see it's based on this case with some minor changes.

I feel that The Girl Next Door is a much more disturbing film then An American Crime because the degree of abuse is much more accurate in relation to what happened in real life.

Also I was somewhat disturbed that the the director tried to show Gertrude in a somewhat sympathetic light as if he was trying to make some sort of feminist statement that Gertrude was a victim of 50's male oppression.In reality she was a sexual sadist of unspeakable proportions.