TERROR IN THE FAMILY

Fifteen-year-old Deena Marten (Oscar winner Hillary Swank, Boys Don’t Cry), wants the same freedom every teenager craves. But when she can’t have her way, her rebellious temperament erupts in violence. Her parents, Stephanie (Joanna Kerns) and Todd (Dan Lauria), fear her new boyfriend, Garret (Andy Kavovit), 17, is the cause.

Distraught, Stephanie turns to alcohol, and Todd escapes in his work. They’re unaware their Boy Scout son, Adam (Adam Hendershott), 13, sips from a vodka bottle hidden in his bedroom. And the problems in this dysfunctional family continue to worsen.

Argument flames when Stephanie confronts Deena about skipping classes. The girl slaps her mother and runs from the house. Later Deena admits her truancy, but manipulates her mother into covering for her by lying to the principal. Enraged by Todd’s demand to see her homework, Deena slams a door on his fingers, breaking them.

When her father objects to her going to California with Garret, she threatens him with a kitchen knife and hits her mother. Arrested and taken to a juvenile detention centre, she’s ordered to begin therapy while staying with her aunt. Slipping away, hoping to meet Garret, Deena is shattered to find him with another girl.

Adam’s secret vodka stash is discovered. His father, realising they all desperately need help, arranges for the whole family to meet with Deena’s therapist, so their problems can be brought into the open and healing can begin.

The betrayal by Garret has awakened Deena to her need for reconciliation with her family. She tells him she won’t go to California. When he attempts to strike her, she protects herself — understanding she’s taken the first step toward changing her life for the better.