4 Reasons to Watch 'Trust'

I completely forgot about this film that I was so excited to see this past Spring. 'Trust' was directed by David Schwimmer (I am a fan) starring Clive Owen and Katherine Keener (can't go wrong!). I watched it on DVD the other day and I was really happy with the outcome (well..not exactly 'happy'....disgusted is a more appropriate term) - here are reasons you should watch it:

1. It’s more compelling than a Lifetime movie – I thought the topic seemed a little like LMN territory. The story is a creepy tale of a teenage girl who gets involved with an online sexual predator. You can totally picture that film right? Predictable plots, clichéd teenagers and melodrama galore. However, this film was as far from those things as you can get. The film relies on the believable vulnerability of this young girl. Most films paint teenagers as stupid and gullible – tricking the audience into believing that something like this would never happen to their smart and confident teenage daughter. Annie, played brilliantly by newcomer Liana Liberato, seems like “normal” teenager – a bit naïve but ultimately very realistic. The fact that someone like her falls into this trap should scare the shit out of you – especially if you are a parent.

2. It focuses on the “grey” area – The sad part of the whole film is that Annie believes that she is in love with this man and that he is in love with her. At first, I was a little baffled – how could she really believe that? But the film paints a picture of what it’s like being a teenager these days and it seems pretty isolating. When other girls your age are talking about blow jobs and taking their tops off at parties – you would easily get confused about what is “right” and what is “wrong”. I think part of her knew that it was wrong but admitting that isn’t the easiest thing to do. It is a hard thing to deal with when the entire world (your best friend, your parents and the authorities) tell you that you are wrong. Her teenage stubbornness persists until the end.

3. The acting will knock your socks off – Clive Owen was fantastic – best I have seen him yet. There are two scenes that stand-out- The first one is when he goes to his work event and realizes that he is part responsible for sexualizing teenagers (he is in advertising and is behind a very sexy American Apparel type ad campaign featuring young girls in their underwear). The scene has very little dialogue – it is just all in his facial expressions and it is breathtaking and heartbreaking at the same time. The other scene is the last scene he has with his daughter – when he apologizes to her for not protecting her – seriously I was bawling. Katherine Keener was also great as always - but the story never really focused on her that much.

4. The ending will make you sick to your stomach – Ok…that is not really a good reason to see it but it is true. Besides the fact that you will likely feel queasy through it’s entirety, you will in fact want to vomit after the last scene. I can’t imagine watching it if I was a parent of a teenage girl, yet I would recommend it to all parents – it teaches a strong lesson awful things can happen to anyone- even good girls with loving parents.