A teenage girl is targeted by an online sexual predator.
A strong, compelling and disturbing story that struggles to reach a decent ending.
Owen and Keener give excellent performances, while newcomer Liberato is a significant find. Yet for all its power and understatement, Trust is only a few clicks away from sexploitation.
Committed performances and a masterful first act bolster this structurally flawed handling of an impossibly tricky subject.
It turns into something thoughtful, despite Owen's macho revenge fantasies, and the performance by 15-year-old Liana Liberato, a sobering study in delusional innocence, is powerfully affecting.
For the most part this is a well acted, intelligent attempt to explore a tough topic.
Schwimmer, for all his film’s limitations, deserves a lot of credit for finding a gifted actress the same age as his central character, and sculpting Liberato’s blazing, wounded, needy and all-round award-level performance into the gem it is.
Surprisingly grippy and timely.
A real surprise from Schwimmer this, one that shows he’s serious about the directing game.
The story occasionally packs a punch and there's a tense scene when the Feds try to track Charlie down – trying to keep him on the phone long enough to trace the call, in the traditional thriller style. But the whole section of the plot dealing with Will's shame and rage at failing to protect his child is hammily and unconvincingly acted.
It is thought-provoking, mature and well acted entertainment that deserves to be seen.
Clive Owen has rarely been better, Catherine Keener is reliably un-Hollywood as wife and hurting mother and debutant Liana Liberato is remarkable as the foalish 14-year-old whose life is wrecked.
Just as it looks as if Schwimmer is going to succumb to a vigilante cop-out, he has another, bolder conclusion in mind. Ultimately, he trusts his audience.
As a sobering reminder of the dangers posed by the internet and the effect such crimes have on people’s lives, this is thought-provoking cinema that accomplishes most of its objectives, right down to its incredibly poignant penultimate scene.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
RSS feed of Cinema reviews