Gardens of the Night
| Gardens of the Night | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Damian Harris |
| Produced by | Station3 |
| Written by | Damian Harris |
| Starring |
Gillian Jacobs John Malkovich Ryan Simpkins Tom Arnold Jermaine "Scooter" Smith Peta Wilson Kevin Zegers |
| Music by | Craig Richey |
| Cinematography | Paula Huidobro |
| Edited by | Michal Shemesh |
| Distributed by | City Lights Pictures Sobini Films VVS Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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110 minutes |
| Country | United States United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $11,436 |
Gardens of the Night is a 2008 drama film, starring Gillian Jacobs, John Malkovich, Ryan Simpkins and Tom Arnold; and directed and written by Damian Harris.
At the age of eight, a girl named Leslie Whitehead (Ryan Simpkins) is kidnapped by Alex (Tom Arnold) and Frank (Kevin Zegers). Alex says he needs help finding his dog, then he and Frank take her to school. While driving, Alex tells Leslie her dad is their boss, thus earning her trust. After school, Alex and Frank find her again. They lure her into their car with a story about her dad being in trouble, drug her and take her to their house. Alex tells Leslie her parents do not want her anymore. As proof, he provides the number to her "dad's cell phone," which, in reality, is a pay phone. After several unanswered calls, she eventually accepts his story.
She and another victim, a young boy named Donnie, are forced into prostitution and pornography. Their clients include men in positions of authority, such as a judge. As a coping mechanism, Donnie and Leslie pretend they are in an imaginary world based on the stories of Mowgli and The Jungle Book. One day, Leslie goes to a convenience store, where it becomes apparent her parents are looking for her because her picture is on milk cartons. However, Leslie doesn't see the cartons, thus preserving her notion that her parents don't want her. While Alex is paying for ice cream, the store owner's wife recognizes her as missing and calls the police. When the police show up at Alex and Frank's house, they hastily escape with the children.
Almost nine years later, Leslie (Gillian Jacobs) and Donnie (Evan Ross) are living together on the streets, prostituting themselves and stealing. As a way for her to be "independent" and get off the streets, a pimp named Cooper (Shiloh Fernandez) tries to convince Leslie to lure a twelve-year-old girl, Monica, living at a youth shelter into prostitution. Meanwhile, Donnie has fallen in love with Leslie, but she's unsure because, presumably, she's always just seen him as her brother. She ends up deciding to leave Donnie and goes to the shelter to "turn out" the girl. When Donnie goes looking for Leslie, Cooper tells him she's left him, devastating him. At the last minute, Leslie decides not to turn out Monica and returns her to the shelter. She tries to go back to Donnie, but finds out he has left town without saying where he was going. Having no other choice, Leslie goes back to the shelter to stay. A counselor there (John Malkovich) discovers Leslie is a missing person and tells her her parents have been looking for her all these years, which she finally realizes is true.
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