1976 was a prolific and memorable year for Jodie Foster, as the child actor gained fame for her roles in Taxi Driver, Bugsy Malone, and Freaky Friday. Taxi Driver, in particular, saw huge success and was an impressive platform for Foster to showcase her skills in more mature roles as she entered adolescence, playing a child forced into sex work opposite Robert De Niro. These three juggernaut films, which earned an array of awards, completely dominated her filmography that year, leaving The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane lost in their huge shadows. This genre-defying film is often overlooked, even though it has one of Foster’s more prolonged and powerful performances that betrays how well she commands the screen. While Foster’s successful year has contributed to its underrated quality, the film was controversial upon its release, specifically because of how it treated children in its narrative and themes. Despite this, director Nicolas Gessner’s film is more than deserving of attention, not just for the clever way it evades being defined by a genre, but for the riveting performances from Foster and Michael Sheen.

What Is ‘The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane’ About?

Rynn Jacobs (Foster) is a 13-year-old girl who moves to a xenophobic town with her elusive poet father, and is simply trying to make it through the day without being beleaguered by a constant revolving door of neighbors. The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane opens up on Halloween night, which is also Rynn’s birthday, and immediately paints Rynn as a capable, independent and quick-witted girl, especially as she faces off against Sheen’s child-molesting and law-evading Frank Hallet. Frank joins the array of unwanted guests who are frequently barging into Rynn’s house, including his mother and her landlady, Mrs Hallet (Alexis Smith) â€” and it is clear that the entitled and racist apple does not fall far from the tree.

However, as the film progresses, the meddlesome townsfolk, including police officer Miglioriti (Mort Shuman) and his nephew Mario (Scott Jacoby), question why they haven’t met or even glimpsed Rynn’s father, who was always conveniently away or locked up in his study. Rynn’s confident and soothing manner always manages to belay their concerns. As we become more acquainted with Rynn, we realize that she is a child who was forced to grow up too early, and she operates in the more dubious version of the gray area in order to live independently and peacefully.

‘The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane’ Cannot Be Defined by a Genre

When The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane was first released, it was marketed as a horror film â€” a categorization that many reviews lambasted and funnily enough, even Gessner himself denied it was a horror in the audio commentary of the Blu-ray release. There are traces of horror elements in the film, specifically in Rynn’s cat-and-mouse-like interactions with Frank, where the unbearably tense atmosphere created by Frank trying to catch Rynn in a lie sends chills down our spines. However, the film really drifts into different genres, as elements of each tie together to create this wonderfully unique and captivating piece.

It has an overarching feel of a psychological thriller, and is popularly denoted as so, with Rynn deftly side-stepping uncomfortable questions and manipulating the townsfolk with her silver tongue as she harbors a well-protected secret. The film also flits into coming-of-age and teen romance territory, as the bond between Rynn and Mario strengthens, and she realizes that her previous philosophy of life was flawed; she just wants to share it with someone she trusts. There are also notions of exploitation in the film, especially in the repulsive scenes of Frank “innocently” touching Rynn’s hands and hair.

However, the movie isn’t necessarily “genre-bending” as it feeds into multiple genres across the board, but almost transcends the idea of even being defined by a genre. It may have elements of each, but just as Rynn strives to live life on her own terms and operates outside the constraints of society, The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane feels like it should belong to its own category. Without sounding too cliché, it truly has that je ne sais quoi that really is facilitated by Foster’s performance, holding our attention to the screen with a story that evolves on its own idiosyncratic beats.

Controversy Surrounds Jodie Foster’s Role in the Thriller

While Foster’s underrated film was lost to the chaotic notoriety her other films of the same year attained, The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane also had a middling critical reception that contributed to its overlooked status. Much of this was due to the controversy surrounding the contents of the film, namely how it treated children as adults. Rynn is a prime example of this as we see sequences of her visiting the bank with incredible ease, not attending school and hosting the variety of characters who come to visit. She is essentially an adult in a child’s body, and we later discover her philosophy of life is based on dodging the expectations adults will place on her due to her age.

While this idea could easily be attributed to the film advocating children’s rights, which was a movement gaining momentum in the ’70s, it was the way children’s sexuality was portrayed that really irked audiences. Rynn and Mario’s romance was often deemed a strong point in the film, but it also brought about a nudity scene that is admittedly uncomfortable to watch. Though the scene used Foster’s 21-year-old sister as a body-double, it still incited controversy. A 1977 review in the New York Daily News essentially reflects the general attitudes of contemporary critics, as they found it “reprehensible,” and a “dreadful waste” of Foster’s talent.

Rynn was also often compared to Foster’s child sex worker role in Taxi Driver, with writer Anthony Synnott chronicling the idea of children’s sexuality becoming increasingly shown on screen during that time in his book, Childhood Socialization. Critics, and the public, felt that the media was breaching the taboo topic of child sex, and that The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane essentially encouraged young teens to be intimate with one another. As such, the film faded away from the limelight, but it did grow an underground cult following like many exploitation films tend to do.

Martin Sheen Is the Perfect Villain Against Child Actor Jodie Foster

Despite the controversy around how children are portrayed, the film really is an audacious look at children’s rights and the isolation of adolescence that deserves to be revisited. As the film cleverly evades the constraints of easy genre categorization, it allows Rynn’s appeal as a character and our admiration for her to evolve organically. Foster’s performance naturally plays into this as she commands our attention from her very first smoothly delivered lines, which are paired alluringly with her acerbic tongue and confident appearance. We are captivated with the ease in which she goes about her everyday life and handles intruders, deftly demonstrating that children really can be just as accomplished as adults despite the boxes they are placed in.

It is also intriguing to watch her befriend the outcasts of the town, finding comfort, respect and company in the ones who are also equally underestimated and neglected. Rynn’s secretive yet patient nature with Jacoby’s flamboyant Mario also becomes endearing as they spark an unlikely romance. And while this captures our heart, what keeps the fire burning is the hate conjured by Sheen’s especially slimy and creepy villain, Frank. Sheen maintains a level of revolting suave in all of Frank’s mannerisms, making him the perfect match for Rynn as each of their conversations make us feel grossly complicit in a voyeuristic way, even though we are rooting for Rynn the entire time.

With the pared back feel of The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, which is primarily set inside Rynn’s house and rarely strays into town, the film really becomes a masterclass in unwavering performances, particularly with Foster and Sheen at the forefront. Foster deserves more flowers for her underrated acting in this genre-defying piece, as despite the heated debates it sparked, it is also home to the precursors of Foster’s undeniable ability to mesmerize.

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)

Release Date August 10, 1977

Director Nicolas Gessner

Cast Hubert Nol, Clesson Goodhue, Dorothy Davis, Scott Jacoby, Mort Shuman, Alexis Smith, Martin Sheen, Jodie Foster

Rating PG

Main Genre Mystery

Genres Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Writers Laird Koenig

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane is available to stream now on Prime Video in the U.S.