The Quiet
High school cheerleader Nina Deer (Elisha Cuthbert) seems like the ultimate bitch inThe Quiet. When Paul and Olivia Deer (Martin Donovan and Edie Falco) invite their deaf and mute godchild, Dot (Camilla Belle) to live with the family following the death of Dot's father, Nina plays Dot's evil stepsister. Dot silently persists as household dynamics unfold nightmarishly around her, revealing an unsavory affair that leaves the mother reaching for her bottle of painkillers. The more Nina reveals her secret fantasy to Dot, however, the more Dot feels compelled to step in. Director Jamie Babbit's film is rich with sexual confusion and sick psychology, makingThe Quietsurprisingly complex. Though Elisha Cuthbert's performance is strong, it is still a slowly paced film, and the sets, like dark, moody blue rooms in the Deer house, add unneeded melodrama. Still,The Quietis a thriller about teen girls bonded to commit a heinous crime, and many will appreciate this variation on the tale of young female chivalry against monstrosity.--Trinie Dalton