Every Secret Thing (2015)

Two 11 year old white girls (Eva Grace Kellner, Brynne Norquist) kidnap and murder a black infant and convicted as minors sent to juvenile detention. 7 years later, they are released and integrated back into the community. But while one (Dakota Fanning, excellent) attempts to assimilate back into society, the other (Danielle MacDonald) lives at home with her mother (Diane Lane) and spies on the other girl. When history repeats itself and another black child is kidnapped, the girls become the chief suspects. But that's only the tip of the iceberg. I certainly wasn't expecting a horror movie but a horror movie it surely is. Like Frankenstein, it's about the creation of a monster and by the film's end, one is left disturbed that the monsters win. Based on the award winning novel by Laura Lippman, the script by Nicole Holofcener is solid and the film has fine performances. But the listless direction of Amy Berg, an Oscar nominated documentary film maker (DELIVER US FROM EVIL, WEST OF MEMPHIS), making her feature film debut here and her leaden direction just about sabotages the movie. If only Holofcener (FRIENDS WITH MONEY) had directed, the needed stamina might have been there. Produced by Frances McDormand and with Elizabeth Banks, Nate Parker and Common.