Themes: Teen Pregnancy, Doctors and Patients, Murder Investigations
Main Cast: Tilda Swinton, Amber Tamblyn, Timothy Hutton, Denis O'Hare, Melissa Leo
Release Year: 2006
Country: US
Run Time: 91 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
A frightened and irresponsible girl and an emotionally conflicted woman are brought together under tragic circumstances in this independent drama. Stephanie Daley (Amber Tamblyn) is a 16-year-old girl who while on a school-sponsored ski trip collapses in a puddle of blood; a medical examination reveals that Stephanie has recently given birth, and in a nearby bathroom a newborn child is found dead, flushed down a toilet with its mouth stuffed with toilet paper. While Stephanie insists the child was stillborn and she had no idea she was pregnant, she is charged with killing the infant, and court-appointed psychologist Lydie Crane (Tilda Swinton) is assigned to interview the teenager. Lydie has her own issues with possible parenthood; she's been struggling to have a child after a recent stillbirth, and the matter is taking a toll on her marriage, with her husband, Paul (Timothy Hutton), seeking solace in the arms of another woman. As Stephanie shares with Lydie her feelings about her relationship with her parents, how she lost her virginity, and her growing conviction that God gave her a child as a form of punishment, Lydie finds herself dealing with her own feelings about the child she lost. Meanwhile, Right to Life and Pro-Choice groups threaten to turn Stephanie's trial into a media circus. Stephanie Daley premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Deirdre O'Connell - Jane; Jim Gaffigan - Joe; Kel O'Neill - Casey White; Halley Feifer - Rhana; Neal Huff - Mr. Thomas; John Ellison Conlee - Jack Hutchinson; Vincent Piazza - Jeff; Caitlin Van Zant - Satin; Marceline Hugot - Health Teacher; Kaiulani Lee - Reverend; Novella Nelson - Dr. Peterson
Credit
Nicole Arbusto - Casting, Joy Dickson - Casting, Terry Leonard - Co-producer, Kurt & Bart - Costume Designer, Hilary Brougher - Director, Keith Reamer - Editor, Tilda Swinton - Executive Producer, Doug Dey - Executive Producer, David Mansfield - Composer (Music Score), Liz Regan - Musical Direction/Supervision, Sharon Lomofsky - Production Designer, David Morrison - Cinematographer, Samara Koffler - Producer, Lynette Howell - Producer, Sean Costello - Producer, Jen Roskind - Producer, Tom Paul - Sound/Sound Designer, Judy Karp - Sound/Sound Designer, Hilary Brougher - Screenwriter
Stephanie Daley — retitled What She Knew for US television — is an award-winning 2006 film starring Amber Tamblyn, Melissa Leo, Tilda Swinton and Timothy Hutton. The film, which received a limited release in North America on April 20, 2007, focuses on the issue of teenage pregnancy. Stephanie Daley was developed at the Sundance Writers' and Filmmakers' Lab, and premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.[1] The film also earned Tamblyn a nomination for best supporting female at the 2006 Independent Spirit Awards[2] and the Leopard prize for best actress at the 2006 Locarno film festival.[3]
Plot outline
Sixteen-year-old Stephanie Daley collapses in a pool of blood while on a school skiing trip. A doctor discovers that in the blood is afterbirth. Soon afterward, the body of a newborn baby is found in a toilet, its mouth blocked with toilet paper. Despite Stephanie's insistence that her child was stillborn and that she had no idea that she was pregnant, she is arrested for the murder of the child.
Awaiting trial, Stephanie is interviewed by a psychologist, Lydie Crane, who is also about 30 weeks pregnant. Her husband is having an affair; their marriage has been on the rocks since she gave birth to a stillborn child three months before she conceived the child she is now pregnant with. As Stephanie discusses her sexual history and her relationship with her parents and her child, Lydie is forced to face her hitherto buried emotions about her own child.
