Child of Rage

Plot synopsis:
Jill Tyler and her minister husband Rob Tyler adopt two children, Catherine and Eric. Eric is a sweet and timid child, while Catherine seems to come across as being the same. Catherine soon displays outbursts of violent rage for no apparent reason, affecting her behavior and interaction with others. At first, some of her violent acts (such as killing a clutch of baby birds and attacking Eric while he sleeps) go unnoticed, but when it progresses to tearing her room apart and stabbing the family dog with a needle, Jill and Rob sense something is wrong. They attempt to ask Doris, the children's caseworker, about anything in Catherine's past that might explain it, but Doris cites confidentiality laws and only suggests that Jill and Rob bring the children back if they're unable to handle them.
Following an equally disturbing incident where Catherine engages in sexually inappropriate behavior with her adoptive grandfather, Jill and Rob take her to a psychologist, but she puts on a good show while there and convinces him that there's nothing wrong. A short time later, Jill notices fresh bruises on Eric, and though he's initially scared to say anything, she gets him to admit that it was Catherine who inflicted them, though these are relatively minute compared to her next episode, where she repeatedly smashes Eric's head on the concrete basement floor, landing him in the emergency room.
At this point, Doris finally admits the truth about the children's past: after receiving a concerned phone call, she rescued the children from an abusive and neglectful home, which was one of the worst she'd seen. Although Eric was in bad shape, it was nothing compared to the condition Catherine was found in, and no adults were present at the time (their biological mother was hospitalized with pneumonia, while their biological father was presumably off on a drunken bender).
Doris then reveals that the children have an older biological sister named Stephanie, whom she and Jill track down at a topless bar. After sitting down with them, Stephanie, a bitter young woman, has a harrowing story of her own to tell: she was sexually abused by her father as a child, and after she began fighting back, he turned his attention over to Catherine (who was just a baby at the time), thus explaining the root of her violent misbehavior.
After yet another violent incident in which Catherine cuts a classmate with a shard of glass, Jill and Rob pay another visit to Doris, who reveals that she had previously moved the children from foster home to foster home, hoping that something would work for them. She then gives the couple a book called Kids Who Kill, and after reading it, Jill describes it as "chilling" and feeling like it was a perfect description of Catherine. It is at this point that Doris suggests a controversial treatment method for Catherine: holding therapy, which is practiced by the book's author, Dr. Rosemary Myers. Rob feels as though Catherine is a lost cause and suggests they just keep Eric, but Jill reminds him that "God gave us these children for a reason" and that they have to do whatever they can to help Catherine.
After traveling to the clinic, Dr. Myers examines Catherine, and though she initially tries to put on the same act that she did for the last therapist, Dr. Myers uses reverse psychology to get Catherine to admit her past acts of violence. Afterward, she tells Jill and Rob that they have "a very sick little girl", and the lack of an opportunity for bonding after Catherine was born left her with an inability to attach. She offers to try to help Catherine, but acknowledges it can go either way.
During their first holding therapy session (which involves Jill, Rob, and Dr. Myers holding Catherine down while Dr. Myers deliberately provokes her rage), things start out well, but Jill senses it's going too far. Dr. Myers reminds Jill that she needs to trust her, and the session resumes, ending successfully after an enraged Catherine admits a desire to re-enact her past acts of violence with the three of them, giving them a glimpse of the pain underneath her rage. While the procedure normally takes place over a 6-week period, Dr. Myers realizes that Jill and Rob need to get home to Eric (who is in the care of Rob's parents while they're away) and believes the couple can successfully conduct the sessions at home, so she gives them permission to do so.
Shortly before their return home, another disturbed child named Justin starts a fire at the hotel, and when Catherine is inadvertently left alone in the room during the evacuation, it sets off an apparent feeling of panic in her, culminating in an incident where she tries to stab Rob with a knife concealed inside her teddy bear as he sleeps, but is caught in the nick of time.
Returning home, the couple discusses the prospect of being separated from one another to give Catherine individual bonding time with each parent, and though initially uncertain, they agree it's best in order to allow her a chance to heal. As the two have another holding therapy session with Catherine, a breakthrough occurs: when Catherine starts to cry afterward, Jill does the same, and Catherine attempts to comfort her. The film ends with Catherine telling Jill and Rob that she loves them as the three tearfully embrace.

Tags: violence, sadist

Review:
This MFTV movie is based on a true story of Beth (Cat) and her brother John (Eric), whose mother died when Beth was one year old.
The story of the abuse and neglect suffered at the hands of her birth father after the mother died and before they were adopted is mostly true, but the story was produced for television so keep that in mind.For those interested, read the true story of Beth's experience in the book entitled "Dandelion on My Pillow, Butcher Knife Beneath It" by Nancy Thomas.
Beth herself is quoted in the book and helps to tell her own true story.
It is not solely a book about Beth, but contains other even more fascinating stories of real children who lived on Nancy's therapeutic ranch in Colorado.These kids killed and/or tortured animals, murdered someone in their own family, and one was even a serial rapist.
Having read the book, I found and just re-viewed for the first time since it was aired on HBO a video of the special, "Child of Rage: A Story of Abuse" done by Ken Magid.
By the time filming took place, Beth had lived with Nancy for some time and had substantially healed from "baby Beth's" ordeal and was well on her way to recovery.
Nancy and her husband were under the impression that they would keep Beth as their own, but the religious adoptive parents had other plans for Beth.
Under the guise of a visit to their home on the east coast, the adoptive couple instead put Beth with an Aunt for a while and then turned Beth over to a program created especially for Beth and others like her when the facility was completed.
Later, the adoptive parents legally abandoned her altogether; however, the setback didn't revert Beth to violence and, in fact, the facility said they had never witnessed any kind of malevolent behavior out of Beth since she was put there.By the time Nancy and her husband found out where Beth was, they immediately discovered that Beth had been abandoned and rapidly moved to adopt her.At the writing of Nancy's book, Beth was a college student and said that Beth is a beautiful, happy and completely recovered woman.
Ashley Peldon is frighteningly real as "Cat" a child who grew up abused and molested, who is then adopted by Mel Harris and Dwight Schultz.
Despite their love and attention, the child gets worse (the scene where she abuses the family dog is rather chilling).Harris learns that the child had a less than ideal upbringing; again this brings up the nature/nurture debate.
Harris finally encounters a therapist (Mariette Hartley) who theorizes that the rage must be tapped into, to find the source of the child's pain.What is interesting and valuable about this Lifetime movie is that it addresses a particular pathology, how the parents attempt to deal with it, and how the health care and/or social work system cannot or will not.Mariette Hartley, whose father committed suicide (in real life) is very credible as the therapist, discussing rage and denial issues.
It does a great job depicting the effects of child abuse and sexual trauma on young children.
This movie will leave you at the edge of your seat hugging your pillow wondering what will become of little "Cat".
I love the way little "Cat" is portrayed throughout the movie as the innocent child with a dark secret.
The end is very inspirational as to the efforts of psychologists and their aid in helping children dealing with PTSD.
Anyone who has been abused as a child will understand the hidden meaning behind this movie and understand what little "Cat" had to go through.
Watch this movie with an open mind and understand the reasons behind "Cat's" mood swings and tell me if you still think she is a "brat".
This movie, this EPIC drama is the absolute essence of harsh reality child abuse captured on film.
Movies like this one, which was written and produced with "eyes wide open" if you get my meaning, are of course under-appreciated and naturally unpopular because it is extremely emotionally intense.
This film deals directly with and delivers the raw, pure evil that can so easily be created and begotten simply by other evil-- what and who children become of being brutally abused, alienated, neglected.
I've seen this film twice within five years and both times cried during several parts and bawled after the end...
for I can only and completely feel the outrage and true crime of what psychosis does to children, hence deep sadness of the reality of what people are and do.
It teaches the lesson of hope and the power of love as Catherine and her brother are luckily sent to live and grow up with a caring, loving Christian family who doesn't give up on them when Cat's rage emerges with a passion and helps her deal with and heal her severely disturbed mind.
An important film but hard to watch.
We live in a society that is so hardened and callous in so many ways, but crimes against children is still something that hits us right in the gut and sickens our soul as a people and as a nation.
Child Of Rage may be one of the hardest films to watch, but you need to watch it.
It is hard-hitting and realistic and based on a true story.
I like that fact that in this tv film, a minister and his wife who adopt these two children are portrayed as the most wonderful people.
They are good and kind and loving and nothing is presented that would suggest otherwise.
She is wonderful as this loving woman who tries to reach this tortured little girl who has been thru hell.
People who only know Dwight Shultz for his role as that crazy pilot on that stupid and ridiculous tv show "The A-Team" would really be shocked if they could see his wonderful and sensitive performance as a true man of God in this film.
There are so many other real-life Catherines in this world who are abused and tortured and hurt and this film makes you realize that.
I had never heard of the little actress who plays Catherine in this film, but she is incredible.
you feel so bad for her, but it is also chilling how cruel she is when she attacks her little brother and tries to stab her parents, when she stabs the family dog, throws fits, attacks a classmate and fondles her poor grandfather.
The scenes in this film that are hardest to watch are when they use the "holding" technique with the little girl.
It is sort of like watching The Exorcist the way she acts.
It may not be a pleasant story to watch, but it is one that needs to be told.
I felt so bad for little Catherine and I wondered how she turned out in the end if she was ever able to live a normal life.
There are tons of slasher films out there like the Paperboy (1994), Mikey (1992), the Bad Seed (1956) and the Good Son (1993), movies featuring supposedly sweet and charming children who kill and do sneaky and sadistic acts...
but a true story?
They are unable to conceive and decide to adopt Eric and Cathrine, two young children from the foster care system.
She then proceeds to beat up her brother, stab the family dog with a sewing needle, hiding a large kitchen knife inside her stuffed teddy bear and nearly cutting out a fellow student's eye in class.Wondering what is wrong with her, Jill seeks out Cathrine's parents with the help of Doris, the social worker.
Doris breaks down and tells the story of the parents...
They also find an older sister, Stephanie, an exotic dancer and teen prostitute who informs Jill that the father was also a pedophile, repeatedly raping her and molesting Cathrine as a baby.
With the help of an advanced doctor who deals with "kids who kill", Jill and Rob try to help Cathrine overcome the abuse and rage.When Cathrine stabbed the dog, I thought it was very cruel and sadistic and that she was a brat, but she was doing all these horrible things as it turned out to deal with the abuse she suffered.
This is a very disturbing movie, especially since it's a true story.
The only issues with it was that Cathrine was having memories of getting raped as a baby; people rarely, if ever, remember things from when they were a baby, it's near-impossible.
Also I understand the adoptive dad was a priest, but bringing the Christian-babble into the movie was unnecessary and irrelevant to the plot.
I'm not against Christianity but I'm not religious and see no reason why it was in this movie.That being said, it's a very thought-provoking movie with some good acting and soundtrack, doing its best to show a true story.
Strangely enough this movie was filmed in Canada.
It's totally worth watching, a very inspirational and shocking story..
The hammy acting, the artistic license taken with the story, the goody-two shoes couple who are so full of Christian love, they won't give up on their demonic brat, Cat. The almost-murders (accompanied by "tension" music), the cheesy strip club (with one of the background strippers decked out in a grandma bikini) and the ummm...oh yes, the kids who scream a lot.
A loving couple adopts two children, both who are seemingly sweet but just a little bit odd.
The older girl, Catherine or "Cat", seems nice and helpful, but every now and then she has these...mood swings.
Nobody can explain them, but suddenly Cat is constantly tearing apart the house, beating her brother, sticking the dog with needles, threatening to kill her parents, and on and on.
Her mother and father are desperate to find somebody who can explain this "rage" that comes upon Cat. Finally, they somewhat succeed by confronting her mother (why she wasn't with her kids or in jail though is beyond me)and by seeking a psychiatrist.
Interesting, if you like to see little kids run around and scream.
He is an amazing actor who shines in any role and is particularly good in these kind of drama movies i have found.
In all an Excellent TV movie and just the thing if you enjoy a good drama.
If your thinking of buying this movie I would definitely suggest watching it first via a rental store or catching it when its on television.
Highley recommended for all those lovers of TV drama movies with a real life feel.
There are real cases like that....in fact that's a true story about a girl with no apathy....kind of like that movie the good son..
The good son and child of rage are the same movie, only this is the good daughter, but this girl was abused by a drunken tyrant of a father.
I want information on how that girl's doing, since this was a true story and all.
Child of rage is boring, but parents really need to see it and get help for their raging kids..
Based on a true story....
Okay, so this review comes several years after the movie aired, but after reading the other comments, I had to say something.
First off, it seems only Mr. Puskar knows the story behind this movie.
Yes, it was based on a true story.
It interviewed the real Catherine (Cat), and the foster parents.
But then when true stories are "Hollywoodized"...
And for Melissa, who apparently didn't pay much attention to the movie, they didn't "choose a name that rhymed with brat", Cat was the girl's real name (obviously short for Catherine).
Didn't the movie, at one point, state that it was based on a true story?
Although, the movie didn't come close to the documentary, it was still pretty good..
Interesting: based on a true story....it was like "The Bad Seed" but with logical explanation given for the Child's behavior.
I won't repeat the good comments that summarized and characterized this movie so well.
I think those who wrote "spoilers" were really more disturbed by the content of the movie.
Yes, the movie is very emotionally intense, but depicting the reality of severely abused children with RAD is not rosy or uplifting.
If it were Hollywoodized in order to make it friendly to viewers like those who wrote such comments (e.g., spoilers), then it would not be real and would do a terrible injustice to all of the children who have had similar experiences and those who work with them.
Anything less than this movie would be outright total blasphemy of these children's experiences.
Having worked with children who have been prostituted out by their parents for drug money, experienced severe abuse, neglect, multiple foster placements, psychiatric hospitalizations, and do things like set fires, stab teachers, beat peers, attempt suicide (as early or even earlier than age 7), I can say that not only should all graduate students in clinical disciplines (PhD, PsyD, MFT, MSW) watch this movie, but so should anyone who works with children in any setting (teachers, day care providers, summer camp staff, social services, etc.), and anyone who wants to say they have a clue about what happens in this world.
SPOILER ALERT***********************************************************************I can't say I enjoyed this movie--it was far to disturbing to be enjoyable.
Based on a true story, it tells of a minister and his wife who adopt a young brother and sister.
It quickly becomes apparent that the little girl has some serious problems--she is cruel to animals, attacks a classmate, and becomes increasingly violent toward her brother.
With the help of the social worker who arranged the adoption, and by talking to the children's much older sibling (it was their sister, not their mother, as another reviewer stated) the parents learn about the horrific abuse that Cat (the little girl) suffered at the hands of their father, and seek out help so that she can learn to relate to, trust and love other people.Fortunately we do not witness any actual abuse--Cat's flashbacks are filmed in a distorted manner and stop short of showing any specifics.
The ending leaves us with hope that this poor child was able to have some sort of normal life.
All Life Time movies are melodramatic , over acted, badly directed, and star at least one badly washed up actor.
In the old days washed up actors went to do bad television movies to die.
Personally, melodramatic crap like this is far superior to reality television.
Two white-bread Christians adopt two children.
It is blatantly obvious to anyone with any foresight that this child has been sexually abused.
Also, these rotten adoptive parents use a ridiculous liberal P.C. psychotherapy to unleash her rage so she can find her love.
Well, how about a tear jerking ending with such lines as "Tears for baby cat?" "Yes, dear." "Don't cry mommy." If you still are not convinced to watch this take into consideration; Murdoch from the A-Team plays the Preacher Christian Adoptive father with a heart of gold and a will power as strong as tempered steel.
Child abuse is only kind of funny.
Like in this movie for instance.
A good depiction of what can happen to children....
This movie is about a child suffering from the aftermath of sexual abuse.
It's very graphic and disturbing, but it's an accurate depiction of what some children go through when they are sexually abused.
For anyone who is in the mental health field or who works with children who have been sexually abused, I would recommend this movie to learn more about child sexual abuse.
This movie provides an extreme case, however most of it is fairly accurate depictions of the flashbacks, sensory triggers, and other symptoms that occur when a child has been sexually abused.
I don't recommend this movie for entertainment because it's very disturbing, but it's a great educational tool..
Just telling the diagnosis of the child in the movie.Obviously not a cinematic masterpiece, but would great for people trying to understand "problem children" even though this is an extreme case of attachment disorder.
This would also be a great movie for psychology students or families dealing with adoption, foster care, and children who act out.
If you know someone who can relate to the child or parents in the movie this mat give them a clue as to what kinds of treatment or discussions to seek with psychiatrists and psychologists.I'm not trying to equate children with other less severe attachment disorders with the girl seen in the movie, but if parents realize that the child may have been sexually abused, or maybe a parent was sick or died when he/she was young, the child felt abandoned when a new sibling was born (beyond normal reactions), or if the child was in a hospital or separated from the parents as a newborn, toddler, or in early childhood you may want to study possible causes of attachment disorder and common signs to see if any of it sounds familiar.
When your child says you "owe" them because there wasn't much money when they were growing up, or is constantly obsessed with what others have or attention they get, my feeling is that there is some component of attachment disorder there.
I am not a doctor so just use this to look into it yourself, but this movie really illustrated very clearly that what happens to us from 0-6 yrs old especially can really cause major issues later in life.
If you're thinking of fostering or adopting you may want to watch this and study the topic so you can get them treatment quickly and make sure you're seeing the right doctors who won't be manipulated by these children who are often very good at knowing what to say when to avoid anyone knowing their true nature.
This movie simplifies the treatment and recovery, but it's a start for understanding!