THE GIRL NEXT DOOR is not the “feel good movie of the year,” but if you have a heart it will make you feel. You may not like the feelings this film dredges up, but that’s the whole point. The film (adapted from Ketchum’s novel of the same name) is loosely based on the Sylvia Likens case. The crime itself is horrific but that horror is compounded ten-fold when the method behind the madness is revealed.
TGND starts in the present day with our narrator, David, who witnesses a terrible accident which leads him to reflect on the most painful experience of his life, the loss of his friend, Meg Loughlin, which occurred when he was twelve.
Meg (Blythe Auffarth) and her sister, Susan (Madeline Taylor), are sent to live with their Aunt Ruth (Blanche Baker) and her sons, after their parents are killed in a car accident. David (Daniel Manche) and Meg meet and are on the road to becoming friends when Ruth begins to spiral out of control.
Ruth has become bitter, perhaps due to being abandoned by her husband as well as having to take in her nieces. As the summer of 1958 wanes on, Ruth descends into madness. The girls are blamed and punished for all manner of things (whether rational or not.) Meg tries to shield Susan from Ruth’s abuse, tries to stand up to Ruth for being unreasonable and that’s when the real horror begins.
Ruth enlists her sons and other children in the neighborhood, including David, to witness and even participate in punishing Meg for her wrongdoing. At first, the reasons for the punishments border on being justified so the kids say nothing. As the film progresses, the punishments turn into the vilest forms of torture imaginable. Ruth is able to keep Meg’s abuse a secret by scaring the kids into believing that if they tell, far worse will happen to them. Being witnesses and participants in Meg’s abuse makes them just as guilty, too.
David’s attempts to talk to his parents about what he has witnessed are cut short. The neighbors’ affairs are their own business and people shouldn’t poke around where they don’t belong. David takes this advice for a short time until he realizes that his inaction is going to cost Meg her life.
David devises an escape plan for Meg. He sets the plan into motion but doesn’t consider that Meg will not leave Susan behind. Ruth catches them and Meg suffers further.
David leaves the summer of his twelfth year haunted by the things he has seen, done, and left undone. The guilt plagues him for the rest of his life.
Other critics have said this film “makes you wish you could wash your brain in bleach and rinse all traces of it away.” That may be true in the sense that no one wants to witness someone being subjected to the kinds of torture that Meg had to endure. But to me, the point of the film (and the novel) is that we are called to do what is right, to stand up for what is right regardless of what the collective mindset is. If David had listened to his conscience and stood up for Meg at the outset, none of this would’ve happened.
This film challenges the viewer to think of the times when you’ve disregarded what your conscience tells you under the guise of “it’s none of my business,” and makes you hope that you didn’t make the wrong choice. And if you did, there’s still time to be redeemed.
Screenwriters, Daniel Farrands and Phillip Nutman, did a wonderful job keeping the film true to the novel. If you liked the novel, you won’t want to miss the film. Though you will probably only want to watch it once.
For those who won’t be able to catch the film in the theaters, it will be released on DVD in December from Anchor Bay.
When i first saw this movie i ended up crying so hard my mom thought that i had the flu the next day. This movie tells truth and what sick minded people can come up with and sometimes even get away with. Just imagine if you were her and some one was hitting and burning and raping you and you couldnt do anything about it. I hope no one is treated like this and if you know someone is getting treated like this help no matter what the consequences are.