Trust

Trust is a small 2011 independent film that, as far as I know, never even made an appearance in Winnipeg theatres. Its title does not seem well-chosen to induce mass attendance, but it is certainly apt, for Trust is primarily the story of how a trusting 14-year-old girl learns to distrust almost everyone around her, from her best friend to her parents to the 35-year-old man who seduced her in an online chat-room and then raped her.

If that sounds horrifying, it is. But how David Schwimmer (writer/director) deals with this horror is uniquely unsensational and unpredictable. Trust could have been a thriller of sorts or pure melodrama, but in my opinion it chose to stay real and focus on how two traumatized people (Annie and her father, Will, played very well by Liana Liberato and Clive Owen) try to deal with the horror of what has happened in their lives.

The production values may not be outstanding but they are adequate. With the excellent acting by Liberato, Owen, Catherine Keener and Viola Davis (and a very scary Chris Henry Coffey as the rapist), Trust is a powerful and haunting film well worth watching (especially for 14-year-old girls). I am therefore going to let it slide into ***+. My mug is up.