MOVIE REVIEW: The Girl Next Door 2007When 12 year old David meets Meg McLaughlin, he is smitten right away. Meg,a pretty,outgoing girl is new to the neighborhood and living with Ms.Chandler and her family after she and her sister Susan loses their parents in an auto accident. The Chandler home is a hang-out spot for the neighborhood kids so Meg's presence in the house is a plus for David. What David soon learns is that Meg and her sister are subject to abuse and humiliation at the hands of Ms. Chandler and various others sources. Can he save Meg before the physical and mental damage do her in completely? No more spoilers from me y’all!
Based on a true story, this film was so powerful it moved me to tears. I waited an entire month to see this film as it was on backorder from Netflix. The brutality the character suffered was very hard to watch and at times I had to turn away. This is definitely not for the squeamish but I think it is an important film that needs to be seen. I was shocked by the risk the director (Gregory Wilson, a brotha!) took by casting child actors for the roles, if the characters were played by young adults the impact would not have been the same. I kept reminding myself that most of the events that took place in the film really happened to a 16 year old girl and her story is considered one of the worst cases of child abuse in history. How anyone could be so cruel to another human being just escapes me. I won’t give away too much of the storyline here because I’d rather people see the film for themselves. Here is a link to the story of the real-life teenager of which the film is based on.
Based on a true story, this film was so powerful it moved me to tears. I waited an entire month to see this film as it was on backorder from Netflix. The brutality the character suffered was very hard to watch and at times I had to turn away. This is definitely not for the squeamish but I think it is an important film that needs to be seen. I was shocked by the risk the director (Gregory Wilson, a brotha!) took by casting child actors for the roles, if the characters were played by young adults the impact would not have been the same. I kept reminding myself that most of the events that took place in the film really happened to a 16 year old girl and her story is considered one of the worst cases of child abuse in history. How anyone could be so cruel to another human being just escapes me. I won’t give away too much of the storyline here because I’d rather people see the film for themselves. Here is a link to the story of the real-life teenager of which the film is based on.
VERDICT: 3 1/2 Soul Claps
Labels: Movie Reviews
This entry was posted
on Saturday, January 19, 2008 at 4:04 PM.
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