Trust

Chilling, compelling, and devastating, director David Schwimmer's provocative cautionary tale finds 14-year-old Annie Cameron (Liana Liberato) befriending Charlie (Chris Henry Coffey), a 16-year-old California teen she met in a volleyball chat room. After a couple of months of Internet intimacy, Charlie says he's coming to Chicago to meet Annie, confessing that he's really a grad student. Although suspicious, Annie agrees to a rendezvous at the mall, where she discovers that Charlie is middle-aged and far from what she imagined. Adroitly appealing to her adolescent insecurities, Charlie maneuvers Annie into sex at a motel. When Annie later confides to a girlfriend, the FBI is called in because she's considered a rape victim. But Annie persistently defends Charlie not only to the police but also to a therapist (Viola Davis). Meanwhile, her anguished father (Clive Owen) is determined to wreak revenge, while her mother (Catherine Keener) tries to understand how their daughter fell prey to an online stranger. The daring plot twist of having Annie both consensual and compliant lends deep poignancy to this powerful film. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “Between the Lines” behind-the-scenes featurette (17 min.), outtakes (8 min.), trailers, and a bonus digital copy of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a powerful film.] (S. Granger)