The Good Daughter

**The Good Daughter** is a 1993 American psychological horror film directed by Joseph Ruben and written by English novelist Ian McEwan. It stars Macaulay Culkin, Elijah Wood, Wendy Crewson and David Morse. It follows a young girl who stays with her aunt and uncle and befriends her cousin, a girl of the same age who begins showing increasing signs of violent and psychopathic behavior. *The Good Daughter* is the genderbent version of the 1993 American psychological thriller film *The Good Son*.

**Plot**

12-year-old Marcie Evans (Elijah Wood) has recently experienced the death of her mother, Janice (Ashley Crow). Heading for a business trip to Tokyo, Marcie's father Jack (David Morse) drives Marcie to the home of her uncle Wallace (Daniel Hugh Kelly) and aunt Susan (Wendy Crewson) in coastal Rock Harbor, Maine where she will stay during the winter break. Marcie is reintroduced to her extended family, including her cousins Connie (Quinn Culkin) and Henrietta (Macaulay Culkin). Marcie and Henrietta get along at first, and Henrietta seems to be nice and well-mannered. However, Henrietta displays an abnormal fascination with death and her talk of the death of Marcie's mother and that of her younger brother, Richard, makes Marcie feel uneasy.

Henrietta begins to display psychopathic behavior, about which Marcie is unable to tell Wallace and Susan due to Henrietta's dark threats. One of Henrietta's violent actions is throwing a dummy off a bridge and on to the highway, causing a massive pileup. Later, Henrietta plans to kill Connie. Afraid that something might happen to her, Marcie spends the night in her room. The next morning, Marcie awakens to find Henrietta has taken Connie ice skating. At the pond, Henrietta purposely throws Connie toward thin ice. The ice collapses and Connie nearly drowns, but she is rescued and taken to the hospital. Despite not believing Marcie initially, Susan becomes suspicious and sitting in the dark, out of view, is able to interrupt Henrietta when she visits Connie's room, planning to smother her.

Susan finds a rubber duck that Henrietta has hidden in the shed. It had once belonged to Richard and was with him in the bathtub the night he drowned, after which it went missing. When Susan confronts Henrietta, she coldly reminds her that the toy had belonged to her before it had been Richard's. Henrietta flips her demeanor and kindly asks for the duck back but Susan refuses. Henrietta tries to take it from her and after a violent tug-of-war, she snatches the duck and runs to the cemetery where she throws it down a well. As Susan and Marcie grow closer, Henrietta insinuates she will kill Susan rather than let Marcie continue to develop a relationship with her.

When a fight breaks out between the two girls, Wallace locks Marcie in the den. Henrietta asks a suspicious Susan to go for a walk with her, while Marcie escapes the den and chases after them. Susan confronts Henrietta, asking her if she killed her brother. Henrietta replies, "What if I did?" Horrified by what her daughter has become, Susan tells Henrietta that she needs help but Henrietta flees into the woods. Susan gives chase and upon arriving at a cliff, Henrietta shoves her over the edge. As Susan dangles precariously, Henrietta picks up a large rock she intends to throw down at her but Marcie intervenes and tackles Henrietta. They fight and Henrietta viciously tries her best to kill Marcie. Susan manages to pull herself up on to the clifftop and is just in time to dive forward and grab hold of the girls as they roll over the edge. Lying flat on the rock she hangs on to both girls, one in each hand. Henrietta holds on with both hands but Marcie's one-handed grip begins to slip. Henrietta says, "Mom, I love you." Then Henrietta says to her mother, "I need your other hand." With only enough strength to save one of them, Susan, realizing the malevolence in Henrietta's nature, reluctantly releases her, and she falls to her death. Susan pulls Marcie up from the ledge and they look down upon Henrietta's body on the rocks below, before it is washed away into the sea and they both share an emotional embrace. When Marcie returns home to Arizona, she reflects upon Susan's choice to save her instead of Henrietta and wonders if she would make the same choice again but knows it is something she will never ask her.

**Cast**

Henrietta Evans

Marcie Evans

Susan Evans

Connie Evans

Wallace Evans

Alice Davenport

Jack Evans

Janice Evans