The Glass House Parent Guide

ARRIVING HOME AFTER a weekend of partying, Ruby Baker (Leelee Sobieski) finds a police car parked in her driveway. Her guilty conscience immediately concludes her naively trusting parents have discovered she really wasn’t at a friend’s house doing homework. But the reason for the officers’ visit proves to be more shattering than that. Her mother and father have been killed in a car crash.

Fortunately, the conscientious and forward planning Bakers ensured their will named former neighbors Mr. Terry and Dr. Erin Glass (Stellan Skarsgard and Diane Lane) as guardians of their two children. Unfortunately, they did not foresee the great deal of change that occurred to their family friends since they moved from the modest community into a pricey Malibu house made largely of windows.

With little to provide privacy in the home’s open floor plan, it doesn’t take long for Ruby and her brother Rhett (Trevor Morgan) to see through the couple’s fa0xE7ade. Along with the revelation of financial problems and drug additions, comes the nagging suspicion that their parent’s accident may not have been as accidental as it first appeared. For the viewer, this comes as no surprise as the sinister motives of the characters have been transparent from the beginning.

When her guardian also displays some inappropriate sexual attention, Ruby seeks non-violent means to get out of the dangerous situation. But skepticism tosses her back into the fishbowl where she is forced to take matters into her own hands. Although family ties tighten as the rebellious teen tries to protect her younger sibling, Ruby’s efforts to preserve life eventually resort to revenge.

Predictably the movie is filled with violent acts. Scenes of peril include gore, motor vehicle collisions, suicide, and depictions of dead people. There is also an abundance of drug use and abuse, both for controlling another person and for escaping reality. Add a smattering of language and parents have ample reason to be concerned about their children peeking into The Glass House. (They may also want to reconsider their estate plans!)

About author

Donna Gustafson

Donna Gustafson has been involved with her husband Rod's work since the beginning. Handling many of the behind-the-scenes tasks, she also creates preview pages for up-coming movies, acts as managing editor and occasionally writes reviews.