Kids Don't Tell (1985 TV Movie) User Reviews (3)

Very good for a lifetime movie

[Willow192 · 22 March 2001]

*Warning: The following may contain slight spoilers*

This is not your typical lifetime movie. It's about a man, John Ryan, doing a documentary on the sexual abuse of children. He gets the facts from victims, and some of the criminals. He becomes obsessed with his work and it gets in the way of his relationship with his wife and daughter. His wife, Claudia, is upset about what he's doing. Later on you find out why...she was molested by her father when she was 10 and her mother didn't believe her. Some of the things in this movie will have you outraged. For instance, when they are at a support group of men that molested children, John interviews a man. This man says that he knew that his daughter wanted to have sex with him because she "Said hi daddy, and then kissed him on the cheek.". This is a pretty good movie, although slightly chilling. The acting is pretty good, especially by the usually good Jobeth Williams. This is one lifetime movie that I would actually recommend.

Terrific but now go watch 'Indictment' and' Just ask my children'

[Joxerlives · 9/10 · 20 June 2016]

Watched this film many years ago and it was terrific. Rewatched it recently and was disappointed because it was the PG version and missed out many of the most intense and important scenes, the interview with the arrested paedophile, the rows between the husband and wife because the memories his research is bringing back have put her off sex, the plight of the child street hooker, the shocked mother relating how she discovered incest in her family, the paedophile support group meetings in which we see the human side of the offenders and not just the victims. In fact if you watch the PG version so much is missing it is quite baffling. Great performance from Michael Oatkean (and how HANDSOME he was!)and nice to see Jean Bruce Scott who was one of my favourites from Airwolf.

BUT.... Then we have that scene where we see the social worker interviewing the kid using puppets and anatomically correct dolls and the warning flags go up. Nowadays such techniques are totally discredited having been shown to induce false testimony from children, especially with zealous investigators like the detective portrayed here. Watch 'Just ask my children' and 'Indictment; The McMartin Trial' to see what happened AFTER this film was released, the hysteria coupled with flawed investigative techniques leading to families ripped apart and innocent people spending years in prison.

So yes, watch this terrific film but then watch 'Indictment' and 'Just Ask My Children'.

thanks

[rockinghorse · 18 July 2003]

Michael Ontkean made a number of bad movies after The Rookies (tv series). This is not one of them.

As an incest survivor I am grateful for any movie that talks about child abuse without using the children in a prurient way -- as Larry Clark does. This is an appropriately-acted movie that shows how truly rotten pedophiles are and how little the justice system cares. I wish that it had gotten some sort of public attention so that more of the ignorant world would wake up.