Fallen Eye Despite the name "Trust", Annie was never at any point supporting or protecting "Charlie", after the fact. She was merely protecting herself, because her actions, including those of "Charlie", are sadly, not mutually exclusive. This, made it refreshingly simple, to sympathize with Annie, and that is perhaps what Trust did best; portraying her process, and her shock.Trust was a compelling story, which was unfortunately told by a director who couldn't quite get their tongue around the topic, and provide a completely satisfying journey of emotion and attention. However, be that as it may, Trust was competent.The main casts' performance, including Clarke and Davis, was of actors who were doing enough to show they can in fact act, at a drop of a hat with little effort. They weren't amazing, but they were showing how amazing they could be if they wanted to... If the project was right or better.Overall, though Trust was a pretty decent effort from Schwimmer, I was disappointed at the potential lost in this story. I did however, like how it ended, and had the rest of the movie been equally enthralling, that ending could've been an incredibly dispiriting moment of artistic flair. 6.4/10

blrnani It isn't a great movie, but I think it is about such an important topic that I recommend people watch it anyway. I agree with colleagues on here who describe it as almost documentary like in its portrayal of this family tragedy. Not only does it show up the dangers of paedophilia and how these sick monsters use the internet to groom and subvert kids. You also have the father who is in such a rage and filled with recrimination that he failed to protect his little girl that he can't even think straight anymore. And you see the difficulty when his concern for his family distracts him from his work, to the point of threatening his professional career. Moreover, he starts to look at his own work, often portraying young women as objects of sexual desire in his advertising campaigns, through new eyes. Then you have the perverse high-school values, where so much self esteem hangs upon being in with the cool crowd and sexually desirable. The able pervert (shockingly, himself a teacher) is able to play on all the teenage angst to further his own ends, pushing the right buttons when his intended victim learns he is not a 16-year-old high-school kid, but a 20-year-old college undergraduate, no wait, a 25-year-old graduate and finally, on meeting him, a 35-year-old adult. You'd think with those progressive shocks she'd have run, fast, but by then she'd been convinced they were soul-mates in love. So when her worried best friend goes to the school administration, which in turn leads to police and then FBI involvement, our heroine feels betrayed and her 'perfect love' has been irredeemably spoiled. Then it finally dawns on her, thanks to FBI matches, that her 'Charlie' is a serial predator who was only interested in sex with her (which he filmed - one wonders where he keeps those and how he keeps them from his family's prying eyes) and her confidence comes crashing down. At this point, high-school cruelty (surely among the most savage environments on the planet!) comes into play, driving her towards suicide. I won't give away any more of the story, but just mention Viola Davis' excellent portrayal of the psychological counselor, who has to tread a very cautious non-judgemental line. Vitally, she is the one the girl turns to after the initial crash. And best friend Zoe Levin, who is always there for her, even when treated badly for 'ratting her out' - everybody needs friends like that!

sharky_55 It would have been easy to bump Annie's age up or down a few years, either to explicitly spell out the crime or to blur its boundaries. It would have been even easier to make Charlie a little older, a little less handsome, to really steer home the message. David Schwimmer resists this temptation, because his close experiences working as an advocate for rape victims and their families inform him. It's not always so clear cut, the abuser is not going to make his approach with clear signs of shadiness and evil. This message may be startlingly clear for most adults that watch this film, but for the 14 year old Annie, it is a difficult reality to face.Liana Liberato would have been about 15 during filming, and it is a crucial element of her character. Too young, and it is unequivocally a horrifying act of abuse, too old, and the boundaries are blurred and audiences might react like Will's boss does. The film starts off like any teenage set film would; with corny shallow siblings, a cool mum that shouts profanities, a caring but slightly overbearing dad, and of course the rather cringe-worthy school gossip scene that has cliques and parties and a whole world of murkiness that parents want to prevent their child from diving into for as long as possible. Schwimmer could have done better here in the world-building and thus create a bigger impact later. He mistakes risqué in the teen girl dialogue for authenticity, when in reality it is rather unbearable, and the best friend is sorely underused, but rather prodded into scenes in order to further the plot. There are signs of societal enabling that show little tack; Will's boss admires a young waitress hungrily, and later is predictably less sympathetic to the news of rape than Schwimmer would like him to be. There's also the explicit advertising industry that Will works and is forced to re-evaluate. At times it seems he is old (and his son exists solely to point this out), and out of his depth in the increasingly profane new world. Finally, the setting of the school is shallow at best, which makes the whole sub-plot of the cyber-bullying website feel unnecessarily cruel and contrived.There are three great scenes which convince me that Trust can handle this type of issue with maturity and nuance rather than being ham- fisted and insensitive. The first is Annie's confrontation with Will in her room, where the two ideal's clash and he is forced to heartbreakingly retreat when it is clear that she is still convinced of Charlie's genuine and loving intentions. Liberato makes this agonising, because even as we disagree vehemently (as Will clearly does and tries to persuade her), we are saddened deeply that any person would do this to a 14 year old, and even worse, do it so well that she refuses to admit the manipulation. Schwimmer is respectful of her perspective, which is why it is that more heartbreaking when she finally realises what she has been the victim of. It has a much more emotional effect than the screaming matches of Keener and Owen, which seem to be a more artificial conflict created solely to drive Will's increasing madness and hunger for revenge. Still, Lynn's ambitions are motherly, caring and good; she knows that the path ahead is through healing, not anger or vengeance. That paves the way for the second scene, the penultimate talk beside the pool. Many dramas have this type of talk, the reminiscing of older nostalgic times where life was safer, warmer, more cheerful. Clive Owen makes this one work because of his tragic performance where the hardened, protective and raging father crumbles and begs her forgiveness for not shielding her from this harm. There are no offers of a bright happy ending, but one with understanding and healing in time. The final scene is of course that last haunting segment, where Schwimmer uses the found footage hand-held style to present to us the real life of Charlie. Again, it would have been easy to make him haggard, or a creep, or not handsome. It would have been even easier to end with his just arrest and prosecution, maybe even Annie striking a last blow in her testimony. But instead we are dealt a chilling, harsh blow. This man exists somewhere in society, and is even a teacher with daily correspondence with similarly aged kids. It's a bleak reminder that these things happen all too often, and are often more complicated than they may seem. I admire David Schwimmer for tackling this issue with this sort of maturity and emotional impact. It's not perfect, but he hits the right notes where it matters.

alitton1017 This was a very moving movie. Wish there were more movies like it. It was so real and believable and shows how real that online dating is and how dangerous it can be. The acting is this movie was also so exceptional. What I found to be the most shocking aspect of this movie was how easy it is for a man to stalk a young teenager online and take advantage of the situation. I'd been aware of it, as everyone is, but this is the first time I've seen the matter tackled properly in film. I think that this film should be shown in schools, and I know I might sound preachy here, but I think any parent would agree with me on this. And besides, it's a very entertaining film anyway. I look forward to more work from Schwimmer.