At age 8, Libby (Jerins, then Theron) was the only witness to the murder of her mother (Hendricks) and sisters (Precht and Maguire) in rural Kansas, and she has never managed to move on. In need of cash, she agrees with Lyle (Hoult) to appear at his local event for creepy fans of real-life crimes that have never been convincingly solved. After all these years, Libby is sticking by her story that her brother Ben (Sheridan, then Stoll) was the killer, but these amateur sleuths think otherwise. And Libby begrudgingly begins to see their point.

The film flicks back and forth in time, slowly revealing the perspectives of the young Ben, who was railroaded into a guilty verdict amid communal paranoia about satanism. So the film comes together as a mystery, piecing together clues while layering in riveting, harrowing details. As a whodunit, the film is certainly not short on suspects, including Libby's deadbeat dad (Bridgers) and a devil-worshipping rocker (Kook).

Performances are edgy and emotive, as the gifted cast allows the audience to peer into each characters' inner life. The roles for Theron and Hendricks are particularly meaty, and both deliver wrenching authenticity as women trying to do the right thing in the wrong way. Sheridan is impressive as the offbeat kid at the centre of the story, riddled with doubts about himself and everyone around him; Stoll shines in his few scenes as the grown-up character. And Moretz is strong in a smaller role as his pregnant wild-child girlfriend.

This is a fascinating exploration of how rumours, lies and self-delusion gain weight when they're given power by people who can't be see a more complicated truth. So it's a bit disappointing that the story concludes with a series of shock revelations and violent assaults. All of these are cleverly depicted as acts of desperation, although they feel rather contrived and sensationalistic rather than meaningful. Still, there's no denying the film's strong emotional kick.

themes, language, violence, drugs

22.Jan.16