This erotic and suspenseful tale of sex, lies and betrayal stars Elisha Cuthbert (The Girl Next Door) as Nina Deer, a pretty cheerleader whose life is turned upside-down by the arrival of her parents' godchild Dot (Camilla Belle), a deaf and mute girl recently orphaned by her father's death. Although Nina looks upon Dot's deafness with disdain, her family and friends develop a strange attraction to her, and Dot soon becomes a sounding board for everyone's heaviest burdens. But when Nina becomes convinced that Dot is hiding a few secrets of her own, she decides to confess a family secret so disturbing, it cannot be ignored. Also starring Martin Donovan and Edie Falco (TV's The Sopranos).

High school cheerleader Nina Deer (Elisha Cuthbert) seems like the ultimate bitch in The Quiet. When Paul and Olivia Deer (Martin Donovan and Edie Falco) invite their deaf and mute godchild, Dot (Camilla Belle) to live with the family following the death of Dot's father, Nina plays Dot's evil stepsister. Dot silently persists as household dynamics unfold nightmarishly around her, revealing an unsavory affair that leaves the mother reaching for her bottle of painkillers. The more Nina reveals her secret fantasy to Dot, however, the more Dot feels compelled to step in. Director Jamie Babbit's film is rich with sexual confusion and sick psychology, making The Quiet surprisingly complex. Though Elisha Cuthbert's performance is strong, it is still a slowly paced film, and the sets, like dark, moody blue rooms in the Deer house, add unneeded melodrama. Still, The Quiet is a thriller about teen girls bonded to commit a heinous crime, and many will appreciate this variation on the tale of young female chivalry against monstrosity. --Trinie Dalton