Wicked is a 1998 American thriller film directed by Michael Steinberg and starring Julia Stiles as a disturbed teenage girl.

Fourteen-year-old Ellie Christianson lives in an affluent neighborhood with her parents, Karen and Ben, and younger sister, Inger.

Karen, meanwhile, passes the time by pursuing an illicit love affair with the family's next-door neighbor, Lawson Smith, while her daughters are getting ready for school.

While the supposed love triangle is playing out in Ellie's mind, her mother's tragic "accident" is investigated by Detective Boland.

During the wedding celebrations, Ellie gets drunk and is found by Lawson who takes her to his house, washes her hair and lets her sleep.

Director Michael Steinberg considered actresses like Rachael Leigh Cook and Katie Holmes for the role of Ellie.

Julia Stiles, who was then 15, won the role when she faxed a letter to Steinberg in which she gave an interesting take on the character.

Prior to its Sundance premiere, the film was initially picked up by Paramount for theatrical release to three hundred theaters nationwide in October 1998, but the studio backed out during final negotiations.

[6] In a positive review, Glenn Lovell of Variety wrote the film is "chockablock with nods to Lynch and early De Palma" and called it "a stylish, dandy nail biter.

"[7] Of Stiles, Lovell wrote, "the young actress is more than up to the task, segueing from surly, troubled teen to garishly dolled up seductress, then back again.