An American Crime

R

2007

1 hr. 38 min.

Crime

Drama

List

43%

14 Reviews

Tomatometer

74%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Gertrude Baniszewski, a divorced mother of several children, agrees to take care of two girls, Sylvia and Jennie, while their parents travel with a carnival. Though her eldest daughter is the real troublemaker, Gertrude vents all her bitterness and frustration on innocent Sylvia. Gertrude imprisons the girl in the basement and tortures her, eventually encouraging her children to follow suit.

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Emily P

Well, if I had to choose between watching this movie or The Girl next door which was released the same year just a nine month difference between the release dates I would tell people to watch An American Crime over the Girl next door. That movie was factually right with a few things, yes, unfortunately this movie glamorized the crime and made the people who were responsible for the death of an innocent 16 year old girl remorseful for what they had done when that was a very long stretch from the truth. I'm leaving my review for this because the case has been popping up in my head and I don't know why, I do know this if they were to show a movie about Sylvia Likens and everything she endured and went through I'm quoting Natty Bumpo who was a report for Indiana at the time of the crime and when it happened, "The pain that she endured on a daily basis, I think it could be compared to the pain the Christ endured when he was crucified but he went in a day." I don't like how this movie glamorized everything but it's not as hard to watch as The Girl next door.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/01/24

Full Review

Jeff M

I have grown angrier and angrier about this movie the more I've thought about it afterwards. Although based on a true story, the film itself is basically just a small step up from the torture porn movies that seemed to be the rage a few years ago. No attempt is given to explain what happens here, very little character development is shown, and so we are just left with a series of scenes in which a young girl is tortured, often by groups of young children who act as though they're taking part of games on a playground. It's a revolting experience. And a gimmicky device toward the end of the film is completely unnecessary and initially confusing. The fact that this attracted three Oscar nominated actors is baffling, although glimpses of the greatness of Keener and Page peak through every once in awhile. I normally don't like to include spoilers in my reviews, but I know some of you really enjoy true crime pictures, so I just want you to be forewarned. Among the scenes in this movie are a young high school girl being burnt with cigarettes, forced to push a glass Coke bottle inside of herself, beaten while bound in a basement and branded across the stomach with what appears to be a burning hot safety pin.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/11/24

Full Review

Y E

Don't watch any trailers and no spoiler alerts !!! First of all rotten tomatoes acted pretty rotten by not giving this movie at least upper 80s. This movie was really good. You will feel hatred towards most of the people in this movie, sadness for all the malice that was done, and you'll keep cheering for the child. This movie keeps you on your toes and you going to keep asking yourself what else can be done that hasn't been done to this poor victim

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/07/23

Full Review

Courtney K

idk; maybe it's the fact that i'm SO familiar with this story that it seemed monotonous, maybe it's the fact that it's stacked with famous names so i didn't find it to be realistic, i'm not really sure what it was but i didn't think this was NEARLY as effective as The Girl Next Door. maybe i saw that film too young so it just had more of an impression on me... whatever the case, it's true for me. i mean it's a HEARTBREAKING story in any capacity, but i would definitely recommend The Girl Next Door instead. read the book. watch the movie. skip this one.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

06/18/23

Full Review

veronica s

It was brutally honest and a great teaching tool for all races and parents. Hard to watch at times, because it digs into our beliefs ( on all sides) that we must face as prejudice and mislead. OUCH!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/27/22

Full Review

kirk j

Five stars because it was well done and shockingly unbelievable. Very glad I watched the film and also supremely sad that I watched the film. The normal question we all ask..."how could this happen?". Horrific. Child abuse beyond my imagination. I will never forget the film/story. What is wrong with people?

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Tommy O'Haver

Director

Catherine Keener

Gertrude Baniszewski

Elliot Page

Sylvia Likens

James Franco

Andy

Bradley Whitford

Prosecutor

Ari Graynor

Paula Baniszewski

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Ginia Bellafante

New York Times

An American Crime is the most brutal evocation of wrongdoing to appear in quite a while; it is hardly a pleasure to watch. But it is also one of the best television movies to appear in years.

Jun 28, 2019

Full Review

John Leonard

New York Magazine/Vulture

An American Crime, wonderfully mounted, wholly absorbing, is also full of blank uneasiness.

Jan 5, 2018

Full Review

Matt Noller

Slant Magazine

If Eli Roth were to direct a Lifetime movie, it might look something like An American Crime.

Rated: 0/4

Aug 18, 2008

Full Review

Christopher Lloyd

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

By instead focusing more on the character of Gertrude Baniszewski, the film relegates Sylvia Likens to a cypher with no real identity - she's simply a vessel for abuse.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 2, 2010

Full Review

Pablo Villaça

Cinema em Cena

Um projeto que encara a desgraa alheia como mero trampolim para o entretenimento.

Rated: 1/5

Aug 22, 2008

Full Review

Joseph Proimakis

Movies for the Masses

i katalytika akadimaiki eksistorisi toy, poy problimatizei me tin idiazoysa sadistiki tis hroia stin parathesi sokaristikon skinon bias dihos peraitero diereynisi toys, afinei to myalo soy na kykloforei kai na kanei syndeseis mono toy, me ton idio tropo p

Rated: 1.5/5

May 16, 2008

Full Review

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Synopsis

Gertrude Baniszewski, a divorced mother of several children, agrees to take care of two girls, Sylvia and Jennie, while their parents travel with a carnival. Though her eldest daughter is the real troublemaker, Gertrude vents all her bitterness and frustration on innocent Sylvia. Gertrude imprisons the girl in the basement and tortures her, eventually encouraging her children to follow suit.

Director: Tommy O'Haver
Executive Producer: Ruth Vitale, Richard Shore, John Wells, Pamela Koffler
Screenwriter: Tommy O'Haver, Irene Turner
Production Co: First Look Media, John Wells Productions, Killer Films
Rating: R (Strong & Disturbing Depiction|Child Abuse/Torture)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 22, 2017

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