7.2
Viewer Rating
Combines user and critic ratings from four sources
Drama, Mystery, Thriller • 1976 • 91 min • Older Kids (7+)
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)
Overview
A 13-year-old girl lives alone in a rented New England house, deflecting curious neighbors and a predatory landlady's son while guarding a secret about her absent father. The 1976 thriller earns a Traditional label through a somewhat unexpected route. Its core impulse is radical self-reliance: a child who trusts no adult authority, answers to no institution, and survives purely on her own resourcefulness. That extreme individualism and deep skepticism of outside intervention read as right-leaning in practice. The family structure is shattered, which moderates the label, but the film frames that absence as liberation rather than crisis. Jodie Foster's performance grounds a story that is less about family and more about personal sovereignty.
Starring Cast
Jodie Foster • Martin Sheen • Alexis Smith
Where to watch
Prime VideoRating & Dimensions
Bias Rating
Analyzing...
Traditional
Political: Leans Right
Diversity: Low
Family Values: Strongly Progressive
Viewer Rating
7.2
Overview
A 13-year-old girl lives alone in a rented New England house, deflecting curious neighbors and a predatory landlady's son while guarding a secret about her absent father. The 1976 thriller earns a Traditional label through a somewhat unexpected route. Its core impulse is radical self-reliance: a child who trusts no adult authority, answers to no institution, and survives purely on her own resourcefulness. That extreme individualism and deep skepticism of outside intervention read as right-leaning in practice. The family structure is shattered, which moderates the label, but the film frames that absence as liberation rather than crisis. Jodie Foster's performance grounds a story that is less about family and more about personal sovereignty.
Starring Cast
Jodie Foster • Martin Sheen • Alexis Smith
Where to watch
Prime VideoDetailed Bias Analysis
Analyzing...
Traditional
Primary
Political: Leans Right
Confidence: Medium
The film's dominant themes align with right-leaning values by championing extreme individualism and self-reliance as the solution for an individual to defend their autonomy and privacy against intrusive societal figures, reflecting a skepticism of external intervention.
Diversity: Low
Confidence: Medium
The movie features traditional casting without intentional race or gender swaps of established roles. Its narrative does not present a critical portrayal of traditional identities or explicitly center DEI themes.
Secondary
Family Values: Strongly Progressive
Confidence: High
The film strongly portrays a radical departure from traditional family structures, depicting a child living entirely independently, subverting traditional gender roles, and consistently undermining adult and parental authority as a means of survival and autonomy.
LGBTQ: N/A
Confidence: High
The film does not feature any identifiable LGBTQ+ characters or themes. The narrative focuses on a young girl's struggle for independence and self-preservation against predatory adults, with no elements related to queer identity or experiences present in the story.
Trans: N/A
Confidence: High
The film does not feature any identifiable transgender characters or themes. Its narrative centers on a young girl living alone, protecting dark secrets from intrusive adults, and navigating her isolated existence. The story focuses on psychological suspense and the protagonist's resourcefulness.
Female Combat: N/R
The movie does not contain any action or adventure elements.
Gender Swap: No
Confidence: High
The film is an adaptation of a novel. A review of the major characters from the source material and their portrayal in the film reveals no instances where a character's established gender was changed.
Race Swap: No
Confidence: High
The film adapts a 1974 novel. No characters in the source material were canonically established as a specific race that differs from their portrayal in the 1976 film adaptation. All major characters are depicted consistently with the implicit racial context of the original work.
Hinduism: N/A
Confidence: High
Not depicted in the film.
Viewer Rating Breakdown
User Ratings
7.0
7.0
Critic Ratings
9.3
5.3
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