Genre: Drama
Based on the 2012 Danish film
Director: Kenneth Lonergan
Writer: Ann Morrow
Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Ann Dowd, Lucas Hedges, Eric Roberts, Emily Watson, Noomi Rapace, Tinsley Price
Plot: Lucas (Mark Ruffalo) is a well-liked and kind kindergarten teacher in a small American town. After his divorce, he struggles to maintain a relationship with his son, Marcus (Lucas Hedges), who lives with his ex-wife. He finds comfort in the simplicity of the children with whom he works at the kindergarten. Over the years, he developed a relationship with one of his co-worker, Nadia (Noomi Rapace) and after a late-night discussion, they decide to move in together. After settling with a stable life, Lucas invites his son to live with him and he accepts, wanting to get out of his mom’s house.
One of the kids at the kindergarten is Klara (Tinsley Price), the daughter of Lucas’ best friend Theo (Woody Harrelson) and his wife, Annie (Emily Watson). Klara is deeply in love with Lucas and at one point, she kisses him on the lips while they were playing together. Unhappy with her attitude, Lucas sermons Klara and says to her that she can’t do that. Angry with what just happened, Klara becomes hostile towards Lucas. After she notices something’s wrong with Klara, the kindergarten director (Ann Dowd) interrogates Klara and after asking her leading questions, she misinterprets the young girl’s answer and tells Klara’s mother that Lucas sexually abused her.
The news travels fast in the tight community and Lucas is branded as a child abuser by the adults. His friendship with Theo is destroyed. Lucas is suspended, and Nadia breaks up with him, leaving him alone with his dog Fanny and his son who also suffers backlash from the false accusations. The kindergarten director continues to ask leading questions to the other children and overwhelmed by the pressure she puts on them, they all accuse Lucas to be a child abuser.
On the day of the first hearing at Lucas’ trial, the kids told in their deposition that they were abused in Lucas’ basement, when, in fact, his house doesn’t have a basement. He is released without charge and goes to live with his brother (Eric Roberts), out of the village, while the tension cools off. After a few weeks, he goes back to his house with his dog and his son. The community is still suspicious towards Lucas and it turns violent. One night, an unknown man throws a rock through a window in Lucas’ house and kills his dog who was outside. Marcus’ Lucas’s son, is mad about this and gets into a fight at school and he’s badly beaten after being outnumbered. When Lucas goes to the grocery store to buy food, the clerk refuses to sell him food and the employees beat Lucas beat him badly, leaving him with some bruises and a broken nose and jaw.
On Christmas Eve, while everyone is at the church service and Lucas is denied a seat, he forces his way in while the kids are singing. He confronts his friend Theo and his wife Annie. She turned him down and tells her him to go away, but Theo sees pity in Lucas’ eyes and he starts to doubt his culpability. Later that night, Klara tells her father that she’s sorry about what she’s done to Lucas. He now has no doubt about his innocence and goes to his house with food and alcohol to make peace with his old pal, even if his wife strongly disagrees. The two friends make peace after an emotional conversation.
A year later, the tension has lessened in the community, Lucas and Nadia are together again and Marcus is accepted in the local hunting society. They all go on a hunting expedition to commemorate the event. While Lucas is all alone, looking at the sky, an unknown shooter fires in his direction, but misses him. The shooter runs away, reminding Lucas that the community will always remember and he’s not safe.
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