Dark Places (2015)

In 1985 in rural Kinnakee, Kansas, 8-year old Libby Day is the sole survivor of the massacre of her mother and two older sisters. Responding to the police’s leading questions, she tells them that her brother teenage Ben committed the crime. In the present day, Libby has made a living from donations sent by strangers to the little girl they saw on the news. With donations drying up, she is hard up for cash when she is approached by Lyle Wirth to make a personal appearance at his “True Crime” club. She reluctantly agrees to go and answer questions about her past for $700. Back in 1985, Ben comes to the breakfast table with his hair dyed black. He has a tense relationship with his mother Patty and his eldest sister Michelle, who taunts Ben about being a loner and rumors about him at school. Ben hangs out with a Satanist bookie named Trey Teepano. Meanwhile, their mother Patty is told that her farm is being foreclosed on, despite her best efforts to stay afloat.

At Wirth’s club, Libby learns that most of the members believe her brother Ben is innocent. His conviction was based on Libby’s testimony. Still believing that Ben is guilty, Libby nevertheless agrees to work with the club in return for much needed money. Urged by Wirth to visit Ben in prison, Libby’s curiosity about what motivated him to kill their family prods her to keep researching the case. Prior to the murders, Ben was planning to run away with his pregnant girlfriend Diondra. Meanwhile, some young girls have accused Ben of molesting them. When Patty is informed of the charges, she visits the home of the chief accuser Krissi Cates, whose father is irate and looking to harm Ben. Patty is distraught by the accusations and feels that she has failed her kids. Back home, their estranged, alcoholic father Runner is waiting for Patty.