The true story of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski (Catherine Keener), the divorced mother of

 several children, agrees to take care of two girls, Sylvia (Ellen Page) and Jennie (Hayley

 McFarland), while their parents travel with a carnival. Though her eldest daughter is the real

 troublemaker, Gertrude vents all her bitterness and frustration on innocent Sylvia. Gertrude

 imprisons the girl in the basement and tortures her, eventually encouraging her children to follow

 www.imdb.com/title/tt0802948/