13-year-old girl from an upper-middle class home, growing out of her 'daddy's girl' stage and tentatively starting to date, is struggling with a dark secret and finally lays on a bombshell on her mother: she's been the target of molestation by her own father. TV-movie produced with a high level of filmmaking competency (if not craft). The family at the center of this story, as written, isn't very believable, even with Emmy-nominated Glenn Close and Ted Danson cast as the parents; their stilted-bickering interactions both before and after Amelia's revelation aren't convincing. This is the kind of movie where the wife counts the number of weeks her husband hasn't made love to her, leading to her feeling like a scorned woman after digesting her daughter's story. The Emmy-winning teleplay by William Hanley fails, really, to give us a strong, sound foundation in which to build the central drama, while the young heroine (Emmy-winner Roxana Zal) internalizes her pain, becoming a somewhat somnambulant victim.

I saw this movie as a young teenager myself in the mid-80s. At that time, sexual abuse by a parent, especially the child's real father (as opposed to a stepfather, or mother's new partner) was still often swept aside--not discussed, not acknowledged, hidden in the surface trappings of so-called respectability. This movie set new standards in TV movies, and must have brought about so much dialog on the topic of incest. I hope it helped many incest survivors, and their families, to face the past and move on to a better future.25 years later, I happened to remember the movie and found that a very wise person had taped parts of it and added them to the Internet. (Which begs the question, why is the whole movie not available for general viewing? Such an important, well-made movie...) I watched the excerpts and found myself crying with Amelia once again, just as I did 25 years ago. Now I have two girls of my own, the exact same ages as Amelia and her sister Beth in the movie. How much more painful to watch it as a parent! Roxana Zal as the confused and abused Amelia is amazing. Glenn Close is also excellent. And Ted Danson--you won't recognize him as the cheerful Sam from Cheers now.In a nutshell, this movie stands the test of time. Treatment for and attitudes to survivors and their families might have changed over time, but the raw emotions don't change.

There are 2 main ways to handle a case of incest. One is to place the offender in jail, and let him rot there for a while. The other method is shown in this one-of-a-kind movie: Counseling for everyone in the family.Some of the counseling sessions with the father are emotionally overwhelming to me (he slowly but surely admits the "crime" ... and works through his assorted feelings about the incest). Amelia has to work through various problems with her therapist (including some jealousy from her mother, and confusion and anger from her sister).This movie left me bleeding (emotionally) for weeks after. It was SO true, I felt like I knew the family.There (truly) is nothing to compare this movie to.

An excellent film that handles a difficult topic well. The casting and sets create an atmosphere to let the story unfold in a seemingly average American home, which adds both to the realism and power of this movie. Ted Danson plays the deceptively normal father to the hilt, and the rest of the cast handle their roles with a high degree of believability. This is a powerful film that handles a difficult subject with intelligence and emotion without sensationalizing. Highly recommended.