Low-Key Psychological Thriller with Great Young Actresses
Film: Every Secret Thing (2014). Young Actresses: Dakota Fanning, Eva Grace Kellner, Danielle Macdonald, and Brynne Norquist.
Seven years ago, two misfit 11-year-old girls - pretty, temperamental Ronnie (played as child by Eva) and overweight, awkward Alice (Brynne) - forced into a reluctant friendship by Alice's mom, abducted and killed a baby. Whether they killed her purposely or accidentally is never quite clear, but they're both sentenced to eight years in a juvenile detention facility. The girls are now 18, and shortly after they're released and return to the same small town, a toddler goes missing from a furniture store. The police suspect that either Ronnie (played as a teenager by Dakota), Alice (Danielle), or both are behind it.
Eva and Brynne as Ronnie and Alice at age 11
We see the girls abducting the baby gradually, via flashbacks. The two young actresses playing Ronnie and Alice at 11 don't have huge amounts of screentime, but what they do have is well-acted and compelling. The scenes are shown in slow, lingering shots that make them feel nostalgic and even innocent - yes, even as the girls are abducting a baby. They were also filmed twice, according to each girl's version of events. Alice tells the police that Ronnie abducted the baby while she tried to stop her, but Ronnie has a different story. It isn't until the end of the movie that we learn what actually happened.
For most of the movie, though, the girls are 18, and while the present-day timeline isn't bad, it lacks the intrigue of the flashbacks. It's also very much Alice's story. Although the two older actresses get almost equal screentime, all of the juicy material goes to Danielle, who gives a strong, layered performance as Alice. The script establishes that Alice wants attention and tries to manipulate people into feeling sorry for her. It also delves a lot into her relationship with her cruelly resentful mom Helen, who makes no secret of the fact that she would prefer Ronnie for a daughter. Former young actress Diane Lane (who also worked with Elle in Trumbo) gives an excellent adult performance as Helen here.
Dakota and Danielle as Ronnie and Alice at age 18
But Ronnie's personality and motivations are never explored. She eventually kills herself over guilt in the baby's death, and by the end of the movie, she seems forgotten by the other characters. This role is undeveloped to the point that I don't understand why Dakota would even want it. Perhaps she had more to work with in deleted scenes.
Other reviews of Dakota's films: The Benefactor (2015).
Other reviews of Diane's films: A Little Romance (1979), Trumbo (2015).
Seven years ago, two misfit 11-year-old girls - pretty, temperamental Ronnie (played as child by Eva) and overweight, awkward Alice (Brynne) - forced into a reluctant friendship by Alice's mom, abducted and killed a baby. Whether they killed her purposely or accidentally is never quite clear, but they're both sentenced to eight years in a juvenile detention facility. The girls are now 18, and shortly after they're released and return to the same small town, a toddler goes missing from a furniture store. The police suspect that either Ronnie (played as a teenager by Dakota), Alice (Danielle), or both are behind it.
Eva and Brynne as Ronnie and Alice at age 11
We see the girls abducting the baby gradually, via flashbacks. The two young actresses playing Ronnie and Alice at 11 don't have huge amounts of screentime, but what they do have is well-acted and compelling. The scenes are shown in slow, lingering shots that make them feel nostalgic and even innocent - yes, even as the girls are abducting a baby. They were also filmed twice, according to each girl's version of events. Alice tells the police that Ronnie abducted the baby while she tried to stop her, but Ronnie has a different story. It isn't until the end of the movie that we learn what actually happened.
For most of the movie, though, the girls are 18, and while the present-day timeline isn't bad, it lacks the intrigue of the flashbacks. It's also very much Alice's story. Although the two older actresses get almost equal screentime, all of the juicy material goes to Danielle, who gives a strong, layered performance as Alice. The script establishes that Alice wants attention and tries to manipulate people into feeling sorry for her. It also delves a lot into her relationship with her cruelly resentful mom Helen, who makes no secret of the fact that she would prefer Ronnie for a daughter. Former young actress Diane Lane (who also worked with Elle in Trumbo) gives an excellent adult performance as Helen here.
Dakota and Danielle as Ronnie and Alice at age 18
But Ronnie's personality and motivations are never explored. She eventually kills herself over guilt in the baby's death, and by the end of the movie, she seems forgotten by the other characters. This role is undeveloped to the point that I don't understand why Dakota would even want it. Perhaps she had more to work with in deleted scenes.
Other reviews of Dakota's films: The Benefactor (2015).
Other reviews of Diane's films: A Little Romance (1979), Trumbo (2015).