An American Crime Backdrop Blur
An American Crime Poster

An American Crime

"The true story of a child's punishment that became a woman's crime."

The true story of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski, who kept a teenage girl locked in the basement of her Indiana home during the 1960s.

Top Cast

  • Elliot Page

    Elliot Page

    Sylvia Likens

  • Catherine Keener

    Catherine Keener

    Gertrude Baniszewski

  • Hayley McFarland

    Hayley McFarland

    Jennifer Faye 'Jennie' Likens

  • Nick Searcy

    Nick Searcy

    Lester Likens

  • Romy Rosemont

    Romy Rosemont

    Betty Likens

  • Ari Graynor

    Ari Graynor

    Paula Baniszewski

  • Scout Taylor-Compton

    Scout Taylor-Compton

    Stephanie Baniszewski

  • Tristan Jarred

    Tristan Jarred

    Johnny Baniszewski

  • Hannah Leigh

    Hannah Leigh

    Shirley Baniszewski

Overview

The true story of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski, who kept a teenage girl locked in the basement of her Indiana home during the 1960s.

Rating

7.3 / 10
775 Reviews
2 Popular

2 Reviews

  • Andres Gomez
    Andres Gomez
    5 Jan 27, 2013

    Very good performances from Ellen Page and Catherine Keener for quite an empty movie. Could have been done much, much better with a proper direction and script.

  • HikariWS
    HikariWS
    Apr 21, 2021

    Nice point of view of the torturers. It'd be easy to just show them as evil demons having fun doing bad things. I liked how the script portrays what they might had thought, sometimes very subtle. As the guy who had a crush on her and was rejected while she was still free, and later marked her. Paula who was pregnant and projected all her issues on Sylvia and wanted her to be seen as a prostitute. And Gertrudes herself who was old and ugly and probably was envy of Sylvia. Such possible motivations were shown without stimulating us to feel anger for them.

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