The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane - Summary

Summary

During a Halloween evening in a New England seaside town, Rynn Jacobs (Jodie Foster) is celebrating her thirteenth birthday alone in her father's house. Her father is a poet, and they have recently moved from England. Frank Hallet (Martin Sheen), the landlady's adult son, drops by. Hallet is a pedophile with an unwholesome interest in Rynn. He leaves quickly when his stepchildren come to the door trick-or-treating, but the next day he is waiting in his car to offer Rynn a ride. She studiously ignores him.

Later landlady Cora Hallet (Alexis Smith) arrives at the house. She snoops about, attempting to find out where Rynn's father is. She also asks Rynn whether Frank has been bothering her. Rynn claims her father is in New York, and taunts the landlady about her son. Rynn's snappy answers and self-confidence unsettle Mrs. Hallet. The situation gets tenser when Mrs. Hallet wants to get her jelly glasses from the cellar. Rynn steadfastly refuses to let her in the cellar, despite Mrs. Hallet's threatening her with truancy. Finally, the frustrated Mrs. Hallet leaves.

In town, Rynn again runs into Frank, but he is deterred by the appearance of Officer Miglioriti (Mort Shuman) in a police cruiser. Officer Miglioriti drives Rynn home, and the two strike up a kind of friendship. Miglioriti asks where Rynn's father is, and she tells him that he is working and cannot be disturbed.

Soon after, Mrs. Hallet stops by to pick up her jelly glasses. She and Rynn argue about the absence of Rynn's father. Mrs. Hallet slaps Rynn, and takes the box of glasses (which Rynn has previously retrieved from the cellar). Rynn, however, has forgotten the rubber seals for the jars. Ignoring Rynn's warnings, Mrs. Hallet opens the trap door to the cellar and steps down to get the seals herself. Suddenly terrified by something she sees, Mrs. Hallet screams, and knocks the cellar door support, causing the door to slam down on her head. When Rynn opens the trap door, Mrs. Hallet is dead.

After a few moments of shock, Rynn tries to hide the evidence of Mrs. Hallet's visit and goes outside to try to move her car. Her inability to start the car attracts the attention of a teenaged boy on a bicycle. The boy, Mario (Scott Jacoby) is the teenaged nephew of Officer Miglioriti, and is on the way to perform magic tricks at a party. Mario is dressed in a magician's cape and top hat and carries a cane. The cane is more than a prop: a childhood bout with polio has caused him to walk with a limp. He sees that Rynn is trying to hide something from him, but he decides to come back and help her move the car after the party.

Later in the evening Rynn and Mario have dinner together at Rynn's house. Officer Miglioriti stops by to tell them that Frank Hallet has again reported his mother missing. Miglioriti asks to see Rynn's father, but Mario covers by saying that Rynn's father has gone to bed. This act of loyalty cements the bond between Rynn and Mario.

The same night, Frank Hallet makes a surprise visit. Suspicious and looking for answers about the whereabouts of his mother and Rynn's father, he tries to scare Rynn into talking by torturing and killing her pet hamster with a cigarette. Eventually Mario chases Frank away using a sword hidden in his cane. Rynn now trusts Mario enough to show him her secret. Down in the cellar are two corpses: Mrs. Hallet, and Rynn's own mother.

Rynn fixes tea and tells Mario everything. Her terminally ill father and abusive mother divorced long ago. To protect Rynn from being returned to her mother's custody after his death, he moved them to an isolated area and made plans to allow Rynn to live alone. He then committed suicide in the ocean so his body would not be found. He also left Rynn with a jar of powder, telling her that it was a sedative to give to her mother if she ever came for her. The powder was really potassium cyanide. Rynn coolly describes her mother's death. Rynn put the powder in her mother's tea. Her mother noticed an almond taste, but Rynn explained it as being the taste of almond cookies. Her mother drank the tea and died.

Officer Miglioriti, suspicious of Rynn's excuses for her father's absence, again returns to the house. When he asks to see her father, a much older-looking man comes down the stairs. The man introduces himself as Rynn's father, signs a book for Officer Miglioriti, and returns to his room. With all his suspicions finally put to rest, Officer Miglioriti apologizes for doubting Rynn and takes his leave. It is then revealed that Rynn's "father" was actually Mario wearing a latex mask.

The romance between Rynn and Mario continues to blossom. They move the bodies out of the cellar and bury them by the side of the house. It starts to rain heavily, and Mario catches a terrible cold. Mario's cold develops into pneumonia, and he is sent to the hospital. Rynn comes to see him, but he is unconscious and she feels lonelier than ever before.

That night, as Rynn is going to bed, she hears the noise of the trap door slam shut. Downstairs, she is shocked to find Frank coming out of the cellar. He has put the pieces together and knows the truth about Rynn's parents. He attempts to blackmail her, offering to protect her secrets in exchange for (strongly implied) sexual favors. Rynn, seemingly defeated and resigned to Frank's demands, agrees to his suggestion that they have a cup of tea. From the other room, Frank comments that Rynn knows how to survive. She responds with, "I thought I did." Into her own cup Rynn places a dose of the cyanide, perhaps intending to kill herself rather than be raped. Alternatively, Rynn may feel Frank will suspect her of trickery with the tea and try to switch cups with her. She then takes the tea to the living room. Frank is indeed suspicious. He switches cups with her, and they drink. He notices the almond taste, but Rynn again explains that it is only the almond cookies. Frank drinks more and coughs a little. Rynn watches while Frank talks slowly about how nice her hair shines and continues to cough. The film ends with a continuous shot of Rynn, staring toward Frank as he dies and the credits roll.