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User Reviews for: The Girl Next Door

Catsy
CONTAINS SPOILERS4/10  4 years ago
One night David, the protagonist of this story, pulls out an old drawing given to him by his childhood friend Meg. Meg and her disabled sister Susan are adopted by their aunt, Ruth, after their parents die in a car crash. Unfortunately for them, it's the '50s, a horrible, sexist and old-fashioned decade where women are the lesser race. Ruth starts slowly to abuse Meg, using Susan for leverage and getting her sons and neighbourhood kids in on it. David can't stand watching his friend be abused but what can he do?

I was horrified by the torture in this film, but that really seems to be all that was on offer. David is reflecting on his life, and how little he could do back then. He tried to reach out to a few people but never really said anything because that was "none of his business"; he's a child also manipulated by the adult in the situation and overwhelmed by the "bystander effect" and intimidated by Ruth's sons. It's hard to say I really liked anything in this film - none of the shots were particularly amazing. I think the effects were quite good and the whole thing was very twisted.

Unfortunately there were no redeeming factors - I felt like there were no lessons to be learned. David never really developed as a character. We don't learn about what happens to Susan after she is rescued. We don't see the perpetrators get punished and it is presumed that Meg dies of her injuries. Sort of a waste of time overall. 4/10.
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