Just when does Catherine Keener plan to sleep? Not only is she attached to true-life tragedy Into The Wild and voicing a creature in Spike Jonze’ Where The Wild Things Are, but she’s now agreed to star in An American Crime alongside Hard Candy’s Ellen Page.
The movie, which is co-written and directed by Ella Enchanted’s Tommy O’Haver, follows the true story of Sylvia Likens, a 16-year-old who was put under the care of Indianapolis resident Gertrude Baniszewski. Baniszewski ran her through a wringer of child abuse masquerading as discipline, including beatings and burning her with matches. Likens eventually died in her “care” and Baniszewski was arrested.
"As a kid growing up in Indianapolis, this was a case that was always a dark part of the town's history," O'Haver told Variety. "I am deeply grateful that First Look and Killer Films share my passion to tell this story."