Institute History
Description
Her affluent and easy background causes Franny Bettinger (Mary Stuart Masterson) to question her own self-worth. During the summer, after she turns sixteen, Franny goes to work in a city shelter for children who are wards of the state, children who have run away, played truant or committed minor offenses, or whose parents are in jail, incompetent or have abused them.
Franny tries to effect cool savvy as she encounters these girls: a black girl who never speaks, her disinterested and scared sister, and Alice (Traci Lin), a volatile, vulnerable and seductive street girl, who can’t wait to turn eighteen so she can return to the streets. Just as Franny is beginning t make inroads, all goes haywire. Her naivete is exposed when she makes some irrational choices that put lives on the line. A keenly observed drama about class, friendship, idealism and growing up, My Little Girl is a honest and heartfelt film.