The Tie That Binds is a 1995 psychological thriller film directed by screenwriter Wesley Strick, in his directorial debut, starring Daryl Hannah, Keith Carradine, Vincent Spano, Moira Kelly and Julia Devin.

John Netherwood (Keith Carradine) and his wife Leann (Daryl Hannah) are murderers and fugitives on the run with their young daughter, Janie (Julia Devin).

However, a suspicious neighbor calls the police, and Officer David Carrey (Ned Vaughn) arrives on the scene, shooting John in the shoulder and forcing him to flee with Leann.

Despite being precocious and charming, Janie's mental trauma begins to manifest itself in disturbing ways; she hides in the Cliftons' closet, has nightmares about her parents, and cuts herself with a bread knife she keeps under her pillow.

Leann picks up Officer Carrey at a bar, and when he takes her back to his home, John appears and brutally beats him; after getting the name of the adoption agency from him, they kill him.

Leann threatens to harm Lisa Marie's child, forcing her to tell them where the Cliftons have fled to—an unfinished house that Russell has designed for his family and financed out of his own pocket.