Case 39 (2009)

A social worker fights to save a girl from her abusive parents, only to discover that the situation is more dangerous than she ever expected.

Director:

Christian Alvart

Writer:

Ray Wright

Stars:

Renée Zellweger, Jodelle Ferland, Ian McShane

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Renée Zellweger	...	Emily Jenkins
Jodelle Ferland	...	Lilith Sullivan
Ian McShane	...	Det. Mike Barron
Bradley Cooper	...	Doug
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Edward Sullivan
Adrian Lester	...	Wayne
Kerry O'Malley	...	Margaret Sullivan
Cynthia Stevenson	...	Nancy
Alexander Conti	...	Diego
Philip Cabrita	...	Javier
Vanesa Tomasino	...	Javier's Wife
Mary Black	...	Custody Judge
Domenico D'Ambrosio	...	Plainclothes Cop
Benita Ha	...	Therapist
J. Winston Carroll	...	Judge (as John Carroll)

Storyline

"Case 39" centers on an idealistic social worker who saves an abused 10-year-old girl from her parents only to discover that the girl is not as innocent as she thinks.

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Plot Keywords:

social worker | tire iron | thunderstorm | alarm clock | detective | 

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Taglines:

Some cases should never be opened.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and terror including disturbing images

Details

Official Sites:

MySpace Official site

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 October 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Caso 39

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$27,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$5,350,570 (USA) (2 October 2010)

Gross:

$13,248,477 (USA) (12 November 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Vantage, Misher Films, Anonymous Content

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Christian Alvart:  [mirror shot]  As Doug (Bradley Cooper) pulls hornets out of his right ear with a cotton swab, Doug is reflected by three mirrors, effectively showing him four times from all angles (and the hornets as well).

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Goofs

When Emily locks her self in the bedroom at night, Lilith tries to break down the door. When she stops, Emily is on the ground next to the closet. When Emily opens the closet, it is daylight outside. As Emily runs out of the house, it is night again.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Lillith Sullivan: [waking] I can see you.

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Connections

Featured in Great Movie Mistakes III: Not in 3D (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Like Dat"
Written by Stat Quo (as Stanley Benton), Gerald Griffin & Lt. Mo (as Todd Moore)
Performed by Stat Quo
Courtesy of Interscope Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Scary Horror Film that Deserved a Better and Darker Ending

The dedicated social assistant of child service Emily Jenkins (Renée Zellweger) has a huge backlog of cases of abused children to take care. However, her chief Wayne (Adrian Lester) delivers two more cases for her and Emily heads to interview the family of Lilith Sullivan (Jodelle Ferland), the young abused daughter of Edward Sullivan (Callum Keith Rennie) and Margaret Sullivan (Kerry O'Malley). Emily finds the parents very weird persons and forces Wayne to summon them for additional interviews. Emily connects to the sweet Lilith and during the night, she feels that the girl would be in danger and together with Detective Barron (Ian McShane), they invade the Sullivan's house and find the couple trying to burn Lilith inside the oven. Lilith is sent to a child care and she asks Emily to adopt her. Emily requests to take care of Lilith and the girl moves to her house. Sooner Emily learns that Lilith is not as innocent as she seems to be.

"Case 39" is a scary horror film with great screenplay and performances. The bleak story begins in the direction of a drama, and out of the blue shifts to a suspenseful psychological horror film as has some common aspects with "Orphan". The end is not bad with the victory of the good, but this film deserved a better and darker ending. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Caso 39" ("Case 39")