Noone is given a memoir written by teenager Pete Logand that chronicles the many years of sexual abuse that he suffered at the hands of his parents and their friends.

Noone's personal secretary Anna adds fuel to the fire by discussing her research of people who fabricate elaborate stories to get attention.

Determined to prove that the boy exists and that his story is true, Noone decides to pay a surprise visit to Pete in his hometown in rural Wisconsin.

A police officer arrests him for breaking and entering but, mistakenly believing that Noone is one of the boy's abusers, attacks him with a stun baton before taking him to the station.

Noone convinces the police that he meant no harm and is released, finding Donna waiting for him with the news that Pete is dead; also, that he was in a Milwaukee hospital and not in Madison.

In the final scene, Donna is searching for a new home in a coastal town, telling the realtor that she needs it for herself and her son, who has just lost his leg but will be released the next day.

In 1992, the author was sent the manuscript of a memoir allegedly written by fourteen-year-old Anthony Godby Johnson, who had been sexually and physically abused by his parents since childhood.

The two quickly developed a close telephone relationship, and Maupin frequently discussed the boy's various physical ailments (he had been diagnosed with AIDS) with his adopted mother, Vicki Johnson.

The website's consensus reads: "This psychological thriller compels by blurring the line between truth and fiction; unfortunately, the film itself gets muddled in a hazy account of Maupin's original novel.

"[5] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle described it as "a movie with lots of heart but no heartbeat ... it feels infected by a malaise ... yet the film has intelligence and integrity and cannot be dismissed.

"[7] David Rooney of Variety thought it was "tediously solemn" and a "dawdling mystery thriller [that] manages to flatten two protagonists that had far more depth in the novel ... Lenser Lisa Rinzler gives the film a somber, elegant look, and Peter Nashel's score adds a layer of intensity.