Here is the basic summary of the events of Sylvia’s life. Sylvia (16) and Jenny (15) Likens parents have decided to leave their two daughters behind with the Baniszewski family while they are out working at the carnival. The Baniszewski household consists of Gertrude and her six children [Paula (17), Stephanie (16), Johnny (13), Marie (12), Shirley (10), and infant son Kenny]. When Sylvia makes Paula angry one day, this leads to a series of events that end up causing torture to poor Sylvia. After a few of these brutal tortures, this leads Gertrude to lock poor Sylvia in the basement to be tortured by her, her kids, and many of the kids in town. She eventually dies from all the torture. Gertrude gets arrested and we get to see her verdict passed down along with others who got convicted in this case. All the statements regarding the results of the trial are true and are pulled from actual court documents.

Here is a list of the horrible things done to hurt and torture poor Sylvia in the film. Please note that there is no nudity in the film. I do however like the acting of Ellen Page. She really knows how to convey the emotions of a poor girl getting tortured.

Gertrude is angry that Sylvia and Jenny’s parents are late with the money they owe Gertrude. She takes the sisters and spanks the girls hard on their ass with a leather belt. She first spanks Jenny, but she can only withstand one strike to her ass. Sylvia begs Gertrude to take an extra hit for her sister. Sylvia then receives her spankings along with her sisters. We do find out however that the money did indeed come on time along with a letter to them from their parents. Gertrude throws the letter in the trash.

In the movie, Sylvia promises Paula that she would not tell anyone that she was pregnant. Sylvia accidentally breaks her promise and Paula gets angry at her. Paula tells Sylvia that she will regret what she has done. Paula tells Gertrude that Sylvia is spreading lies about her at school. Gertrude tells Johnny to hold Sylvia so that Paula can beat her. The beating is briefly and poorly shown on camera. Paula breaks her hand from beating Sylvia.

Jenny later finds the letter from their parents and tells Sylvia about it. The two of them go to a phone booth to call them. The call is cut short when they see the Baniszewski children, who tell their mother about it. Although the girls had traded bottles in for money to make the call, Gertrude believes they stole the money from her and burned Sylvia's hand with a cigarette for "stealing".

Gertrude later finds out that Sylvia is spreading a rumor that Paula is pregnant. To set an example for the children, Gertrude forces Sylvia to insert a glass Coke bottle in her own vagina in front of the other kids. The actual penetration is not shown on camera, but we see the cries of pain resulting from the punishment.

After the punishment with the Coke bottle, Gertrude tells Johnny, Stephanie, and Stephanie’s boyfriend Coy Hubbard to throw her down into the basement and to lock the door. The Baniszewski family and other kids from the town are invited to torture poor Sylvia down in the basement. Tortures include beatings and being burned with cigarettes.

Her last torture before her death later in the film is a gruesome branding scene. Straddling Sylvia on the basement floor, Gertrude begins to carve the words "I'M A PROSTITUTE AND PROUD OF IT!" on Sylvia's abdomen with a hot needle, but is unable to continue and orders Ricky (a neighborhood boy with a crush on Sylvia) to finish the branding. The whole scene is not shown on camera, but enough is shown to really convey the pain she is suffering.

Overall, I would give this film an A. This is not your traditional GIMP mainstream film. We get to see the story of a real life teenage girl getting tortured by a psychotic older woman. The story is brilliantly told and really portrays the reality of a young girl getting tortured. The events in this story also inspired another great book, "The Girl Next Door" by Jack Ketchum. Ketchum’s book is really shocking and a well told story of a young girl getting tortured. This book also got made into a movie that has been reviewed here already.