Stephanie Daley

Hilary Brougher follows up her highly original debut feature The Sticky Fingers of Time (1997) with this grim, intensely realized psychological thriller (2006) about an alienated 16-year-old (Amber Tamblyn) in denial about both her secret pregnancy and having murdered the baby after delivering it alone in a public restroom. That’s a pretty loaded premise, but the pregnant forensic psychologist (Tilda Swinton) hired to question the teenager has issues as well, her first pregnancy having ended with a stillbirth. Apart from Swinton’s fine performance, what largely distinguishes this is Brougher’s sharp narrative focus. With Timothy Hutton, Denis O’Hare, and Melissa Leo. R, 92 min. (JR)

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