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MONEY
Did you know
Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
MoodPlayr · trivia#01
An American Crime
"The true story of a child's punishment that became a woman's crime."
2007 1h 37m EN
👍
7.3
SOLID
🥫
40%
ROTTEN
⭐
7.2
IMDB
★7.3TMDB · 796🥫40%Rotten Tomatoes★7.2IMDB · 39,677
CrimeDramaHorror
Synopsis
Spoiler shield
The true story of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski, who kept a teenage girl locked in the basement of her Indiana home during the 1960s.
“The true story of a child's punishment that became a woman's crime.”
Where to watch · US
Cast
Catherine Keener
Gertrude Baniszewski
Elliot Page
Sylvia Likens
James Franco
Andy
Bradley Whitford
Prosecutor
Ari Graynor
Paula Baniszewski
Nick Searcy
Lester Likens
Michael O'Keefe
Bill Collier
Romy Rosemont
Betty Likens
Credits
Behind the camera
- Director
- Tommy O'Haver
- Writers
- Irene Turner, Tommy O'Haver
- Languages
- English
- Countries
- United States of America
Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.
Did you know?
Fun facts 🍿
2 / 8
ERA
Did you know
Released 19 years ago.
MoodPlayr · trivia#02
3 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Directed by Tommy O'Haver, shot by Byron Shah. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
MoodPlayr · trivia#03
4 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Original score by Alan Ari Lazar. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
MoodPlayr · trivia#04
5 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Editor Melissa Kent shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
MoodPlayr · trivia#05
6 / 8
CAST
Did you know
Catherine Keener and Elliot Page and James Franco carry the top of the cast.
MoodPlayr · trivia#06
7 / 8
FACT
Did you know
Marketing tagline: "The true story of a child's punishment that became a woman's crime.".
MoodPlayr · trivia#07
8 / 8
WILD
Did you know
IMDB entry: tt0802948 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
MoodPlayr · trivia#08
Cinephile deep dive
The take
Tommy O'Haver directs. Byron Shah behind the camera. Alan Ari Lazar scores. Melissa Kent cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.
Trivia
Things worth knowing
- 1Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
- 2Released 19 years ago.
- 3Directed by Tommy O'Haver, shot by Byron Shah. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
- 4Original score by Alan Ari Lazar. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
- 5Editor Melissa Kent shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
- 6Catherine Keener and Elliot Page and James Franco carry the top of the cast.
- 7Marketing tagline: "The true story of a child's punishment that became a woman's crime.".
- 8IMDB entry: tt0802948 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
- 9Classified under 17 themes, including "child abuse", "rape", "carnival", "based on true story".
The technical file
- Cinematography
- Byron Shah
- Original score
- Alan Ari Lazar
- Editing
- Melissa Kent
- Production design
- Nathan Amondson
- Costume design
- Alix Hester
- Makeup / hair
- Daniel Curet
- Stunt coordinator
- Lou Simon
- Runtime
- 97 min · 1h 37m
- Aspect ratio (typical)
- 1.37:1 (Academy)
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $2,000,000
- Original language
- EN
- Certification (US)
- R
- Rotten Tomatoes
- 40% 🥫 Rotten
- IMDB rating
- 7.2/10 · 39,677 votes
- MPAA
- R
Awards
Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. 3 nominations total
Also by
Tommy O'Haver
Stills · wallpapers
Selected frames
Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.
Trailers & featurettes
Watch the pieces
Community reviews
What people are saying
- Andres Gomez★ 5/10
Very good performances from Ellen Page and Catherine Keener for quite an empty movie. Could have been done much, much better with a proper direction and script.
- HikariWS
Nice point of view of the torturers. It'd be easy to just show them as evil demons having fun doing bad things. I liked how the script portrays what they might had thought, sometimes very subtle. As the guy who had a crush on her and was rejected while she was still free, and later marked her. Paula who was pregnant and projected all her issues on Sylvia and wanted her to be seen as a prostitute. And Gertrudes herself who was old and ugly and probably was envy of Sylvia. Such possible motivations were shown without stimulating us to feel anger for them.
Production companies
Who made it
First Look International
US
Killer Films
US
- JO
John Wells Productions
US
Key crew
- Casting AssociateMichael V. Nicolo
- Co-ProducerHans Ritter
- CastingJudy Cook
- ProducerJocelyn Hayes
- Production DesignNathan Amondson
- Executive In Charge Of ProductionStuart Burkin
- Executive ProducerPamela Koffler
- EditorMelissa Kent
- Art DirectionZach Bangma
- Costume DesignAlix Hester
- Special Effects CoordinatorDavid Waine
- Unit Production ManagerJonathan McCoy
- Stunt CoordinatorLou Simon
- Costume SupervisorLori Ayala-Read
- Post Production SupervisorBeau J. Genot
- Set CostumerMolly O'Haver
- Assistant DirectorChad Rosen
- CastingAnya Colloff
- CastingAmy McIntyre Britt
- Set DecorationLisa Alkofer
- Color TimerMato
- ThanksJonathan Bell
- Script SupervisorJan McWilliams
- Hair Department HeadDaniel Curet
Themes & keywords
What it's about, really
- child abuse
- rape
- carnival
- based on true story
- dysfunctional family
- basement
- murder
- teenage girl
- torture
- church
- single mother
- true crime
- watching tv
- jumping on a bed
- 1960s
- mistreatment
- female child abuser
Release history · US
When it landed
- Theatrical2007-12-07R
Also known as
International titles
- El EncierroMX
