Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
A suburban family is torn apart when fourteen-year-old Annie meets her first boyfriend online. After months of communicating via online chat and phone, Annie discovers her friend is not who he originally claimed to be. Shocked into disbelief, her parents are shattered by their daughter's actions and struggle to support her as she comes to terms with what has happened to her once innocent life.
Trust is a sobering and well-crafted drama about online predation that earns its stripes primarily through its performances — Clive Owen and Liana Liberato are both genuinely excellent, with Liberato's portrayal of a manipulated teenager being particularly affecting. The plot is grounded and credible, exploring the psychological fallout on both victim and family with unusual care, though it follows a fairly predictable dramatic arc. Cinematography is functional but unremarkable — nothing distinctive in the visual language. Novelty is moderate: the subject matter was timely for 2010 and the film treats it with more nuance than most issue-of-the-week dramas, but it doesn't reinvent the form. The ending is emotionally resonant if somewhat unresolved, which is tonally appropriate but may leave some viewers wanting more closure.