It's hard to fathom people could behave the way they do in the new-to-DVD film "An American Crime," but the horrible tale is based on an actual murder case circa 1965.

The repeated torture of a teenage girl at the hands of a sadistic single mom is tough enough to absorb, but the film features children who take part in the abuse as well as the most neglectful parents in recent screen memory.

Yet "An American Crime" plays out like sophisticated torture porn despite its real roots.

Catherine Keener stars as Gertrude, a single mom juggling bills, a gaggle of kids and an ex beau (James Franco) with a hand permanently extended. She decides to take in two teenage girls for extra money, but almost immediately turns on the older girl, Sylvia (Ellen Page). Gertrude blames Sylvia for everything, especially the flaws of her own promiscuous daughter.

What happens next is difficult to watch, and the combined acting talents of Keener and Page rarely make sense out of the depravity.

Page shows little of her snarky "Juno" persona, but her character isn't fleshed out enough for the actress to leave a similarly powerful impression.

What we fail to see are the reasons why Gertrude, or anyone else for that matter, behaved the way they did. The film intersperses the story with scenes of Gertrude's subsequent trial, but even these sequences shed little light on what we're witnessing.

The film, which had its Showtime premiere May 10, becomes an exercise in punishment.

Director Tommy O'Haver does set up a disturbing scenario grounded convincingly in the era. And the film's soundtrack, loaded with period pop hits, makes the unfolding crime even more chilling, if that's possible.

"An American Crime" isn't exploitative like "Saw," but it shares that film's willingness to rub our noses in depravity.

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