THE HOUSE AT THE AND OF THE STREET

US, 2012, 101 minutes, Colour.
Jennifer Lawrence, Max Thieriot Elizabeth Shue, Gil Bellows.
Directed by Mark Tonderai.

The film made at the time that Jennifer Lawrence was emerging as a strong actress and a substantial screen presence, after her Oscar nomination for Winters, the first film of The Hunger Game series, her winning an Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook – to be followed by an Oscar nomination for American Hustle.

Though the film is slight, a variation on a haunted house story, Jennifer Lawrence as a high school teenager is commanding in the role. Elizabeth Shue plays her mother. And Max Thieriot, fragile-seeming actor, seen in Wes Craven’s My Soul To Take, is ambiguous in the role of a young man whose sister has murdered their parents.

The film has atmosphere – but the most telling aspect is a plot twist in the very last two minutes of the film.

1. The town, ordinary, the park at the end of the house, the house next door, school, hospitals, the countryside? The musical score?

2. The prologue, Carrie Anne and her killing her parents? The visuals? The story about Carrie Anne, about Ryan?

3. Ryan, his going to stay with his aunt, his absence, her death, his coming home? The story of Carrie Anne’s disappearance? The town opinion, antagonism towards Ryan?

4. Elissa and her mother, the divorce, moving house, away from Chicago, the countryside? The attraction of the house? The mother’s parenting, tensions? This settling down, Elissa going to school, the mother going to the hospital, the work, the nightshifts? The setup for the drama?

5. Elissa, age, the move, life in Chicago, the divorce and its effect, playing in the band, singing, liking the house, a curiosity, open-minded, wilful?

6. The mother, the divorce, care for her daughter, work at the hospital, the continuous phone calls, the hopes for a new life?

7. The party next door, the introduction, the sexual advances of the young man, Elissa’s anger, walking home, the rain, Ryan offering her a lift? The mother’s reaction, asking the police for their advice, trust? Inviting Ryan to dinner, pleasant, the confrontation and her demands, his leading? Elissa’s anger? Her mother’s later apology?

8. Ryan, his story, pleasant, at home, the lift, care for Carrie Anne, her being locked in the basement, her escapes and his pursuit? Music, and Elissa’s gift of the tape? Telling the story of the deaths, playing on the swing? The brain damage to Carrie Anne? His parents, their drug-taking? The plausibility of his story?

9. The students smashing Ryan’s car, the fight, his hurting Tyler, going to the hospital? the police, the visitor’s house? Elissa’s mother coming to the house?

10. Elissa, her life in the town, the friend, her brother and the band, singing?

11. Elisa going to Ryan’s house, trapped, the identity of the girl imprisoned, Ryan and is always wanting a Carrie and in the house, relying on her? Chases, her death?

12. The police, the confrontation, death? The mother, her being stabbed? Elisa getting free, getting out, the confrontation?

13. The decision to move away?

14. The plot twist at the end, Ryan and his brain damage, the story of Carrie Ann, his mother wanting him to be a girl, the pressure on him? His being in an institution?