The Girl Next Door

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Barry N This movie is disgusting! Hard to believe it's as recent as 2007. It's not believable that David wouldn't have reported this torture almost immediately and saved that poor girl, someone he cared for, from all that pain and suffering. Just horrible!!! Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 09/27/25 Full Review Rotten T This movie was not nearly as disturbing as I had been led to believe. I'm guessing the viewers who are calling this "unwatchable" or "deeply disturbing" are not well versed in the true crime genre. The film is of course upsetting because it's based on a true story, but the reality of the true story behind this film is far more horrific than how it is portrayed in this film. I found the Wikipedia article about the actual victim (Sylvia Likens) to be more traumatizing than this film. In that way, this film is actually a toned down, almost sugar-coated version of the facts (as strange as that may sound). I won't rehash the plotline, but I will say that it has more of a story and setup than I expected. Somehow I was expecting a torture fest from beginning to end, yet it was anything but. Stephen King nailed it when he called this film "The dark side of 'Stand By Me'". Ultimately the point this film is making is that adults can be incredibly evil and manipulative - especially over children, who are oftentimes powerless when confronted by these types of adults. Yet it offers no answers as to why, nor how we as a society can prevent such horrifying incidents. My main criticism of the film is that it is missing several scenes: 1) How and why the two girls went to live with this "aunt" in the first place. 2) The aunt's backstory, providing her motivation for cruelty. 3) The gradual way the aunt convinces so many other children to partake in the violence without alerting authorities. The torture of this poor girl escalates so quickly that it seemingly comes out of nowhere. There should have been much more exposition and ramping up of the aunt's sadism. At only 90 minutes in length, an extra 10-15 minutes of setup would have vastly improved the audience's understanding of this cruel women's motivations and how the other children became complicit. That, after all, is the real story here: how and why so many children came to participate in these acts of cruelty, with not a single one of them alerting their parents or the police. After all, it's not difficult to believe that one sick person could do these things to one poor girl. But that so many other innocents were manipulated into becoming sadistic torturers themselves needs a thorough examination, which this film does not fully explore. As a result, we are left feeling not just sickened but also bewildered at the grotesque spectacle of it all. If you are well versed in the horror genre, this film will seem relatively tame to you compared to other entries in the "torture porn" genre (which I do not think this film qualifies for). If you mainly watch offerings from the Lifetime Channel, the Hallmark Channel, and Disney, then you probably want to avoid this one. As for me, this film is nowhere near as brutal and disturbing as a film like Martyrs. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/21/25 Full Review troy d I rented this movie because it was based on a true story. I stopped watching it 2/3 of the way through as it was so disturbing. I eventually finished it hoping for some redeeming qualities. There were none. This is one movie I wish I had never seen. The only one I truly wish I had never seen. The synopsis did not at all prepare me for what I saw. It was "based" on a true story but they made it so much worse than the reality. I am left questioning why anyone would make this movie. I hesitate to even write this review that it might inspire even one person to watch it. It has been over a decade and I am still sickened and angered when I think of this movie and not because of it's "basis" in reality but for its sensationalization and exploitation of it. This was 2 hours of an underage girl being sodomized and tortured before finally being murdered with multiple other children being the perpetrators or complicit under the guidance and encouragement of a sadistic aunt. There is no reason to see this movie. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 08/23/25 Full Review Danielle S This is the most disturbing movie I've ever seen! I do not recommend! Aweful Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 08/09/25 Full Review Ethan S. Extremely disturbing. Many of the scenes are borderline unbearable (completely unbearable for some). The movie is based on true events, which makes this viewing experience even more gut wrenching. All that aside, the story is written well, and the type of horror displayed in this movie is much more psychological than most, making you question your morals for sticking in out for the last half of the film. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/29/25 Full Review Rachel O Very good movie. Very unsettling. Based on true events. Highly recommend if you don't have a weak stomach. Definitely hard to watch. You want to jump through the TV and attack the "Aunt." Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/22/25 Full Review Read all reviews

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