Case 39

In 2010, a horror movie that had been sitting on a shelf for four years finally saw the light of day. Case 39 stars Renée Zellweger as Emily Jenkins, a Portland social worker who rescues a 10-year-old girl from her abusive parents, only to discover the child is not what she seems. The film was shot in Vancouver in 2006 but shelved by Paramount Pictures until Zellweger's and Bradley Cooper's rising profiles made a release viable.

Directed by German filmmaker Christian Alvart, the movie pairs psychological dread with supernatural horror. Jodelle Ferland plays Lilith Sullivan, the quiet, wide-eyed girl at the center of the nightmare. Ian McShane co-stars as a weary detective, and Bradley Cooper appears as Emily's skeptical psychologist boyfriend. With a budget of $27 million, the film grossed $29 million worldwide, a modest return that belied its troubled path to theaters.

Critics were largely unkind, panning the script and jump scares, but Ferland's performance earned a cult following. The movie is often discussed as a case study in delayed releases and as a curious early-career footnote for its now-famous cast.[edit]

Emily Jenkins is a social worker in Portland, Oregon, who genuinely cares about the children on her caseload. She goes home every night feeling the weight of their stories. Her friend and colleague Nancy worries she cares too much, and her boyfriend Douglas, a psychologist, thinks she needs better boundaries.

Then she gets Case 39. Ten-year-old Lilith Sullivan is a quiet, frightened girl whose parents, Margaret and Edward, behave erratically. During a home visit, Emily finds the Sullivans trying to force-feed Lilith something, and they become violently hostile. Convinced the girl is in immediate danger, Emily enlists Detective Mike Barron to help build a case for emergency custody. They succeed, and Lilith is placed in Emily's temporary care.

At first, Lilith seems like a sweet, grateful child. She makes cookies, draws pictures, and sleeps peacefully. But soon, strange things start happening. The Sullivans make threatening calls and break into Emily's house. Then people close to Emily begin dying in freak accidents. Douglas's car crashes after he hits a deer. A colleague falls from a window. Mike Barron is killed in a gruesome car wreck. Emily starts to notice a pattern: each tragedy occurs after Lilith shows a flicker of anger or fear. The child's parents weren't trying to hurt her, they were trying to destroy her.

Emily digs into Lilith's past and finds a trail of dead foster families. She realizes that Lilith is not a human child but a demonic entity that feeds on the fear and life force of adults. Lilith manipulates reality, causing accidents and suicides. Emily tries to get rid of her, but Lilith clings to her, desperate for a new parent. The film builds to a confrontation where Emily must find a way to kill a creature that cannot be killed by normal means.[edit]