Unspeakable Acts

Dear Lord, what a horribly done film on child abuse. This production represents why Lifetime Movies get such a bad rap. This subject has been represented better since this time, but the direction, the melodramatic acting, the soundtrack is dismal. Brad Davis is horrible in this film and Jill Clayburgh looks embarrassed to be in this 1985 film. It is 35 years later so I have to give it a bit of a pass. But not much.

I recently watched this on Netflix. So so sad and sickening. This upset me so much. Every parent should watch this movie. I am sure there are false allegations at times but every and I mean EVERY allegation of any type of abuse against a child should be so thoroughly examined to leave no doubt. Our children are far too precious. In these times we live in you can scarcely turn on the TV and not hear of some sort of crime against a child. It's frightening to hear it so often and is what makes this movie so disturbing. The fact that it did and can happen. Allegations of abuse should never be ignored or overlooked. I'm not going to give any details. I just wanted to say I consider this movie a must see. It will break your heart, sicken your stomach and make you very wary.

It's filmed horribly. Bad camera angles, laughable acting but the subject matter is so serious that it almost becomes a well intended PSA.

It's is absolutely worth a watch just for the dialog on suspicion on the subject.

A necessary film. But not going to win any awards. There are many failed scenes that could have been more powerful, and missed opportunities to streamline the story to be more memorable and effective.

Having said that I think this would be a very good film for new parents, or even victims of abuse or even perpetrators in prison.

Furthermore I think the film and acting is so poorly done is because no body else had the guts to cover the subject.

This was one of the best lifetime movies I've ever seen. It was kind of tough to watch, though. I was really impressed with the acting of the kids. I wondered if they understood what they were talking about. At the end of the movie they had a were they are now thing, so I'm guessing it was a true story, which makes it extremely disturbing.

In the late 80s, this case was held up as the gold standard for child interviewing techniques. However, since the early 90s these same techniques have been debunked again and again. Child welfare agencies now say this is Exhibit B for how not to interview a child (with Exhibit A being the McMartin Preschool case).

If you want to learn more about working with abused children, watch The Boarder. Do NOT watch any movie based on a child abuse case from the 80s. They contain bad information about child abuse investigations.