History Film / Case39

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Emily manages to kill Lilith by driving into the water and drowning her, ending the child's reign of terror for good. She gets herself out, but is likely to be permanently traumatized and might face jail time.]]

* CreepyChild: Lily starts to show signs of this.

%%* EarnYourHappyEnding

* MeaningfulName: Lilith is the name of a demon from the Bible. [[spoiler:Turns out Lilith is actually a demon.]]

* OurDemonsAreDifferent

* KillItWithFire: Lilith's parents tried doing this to her (specifically, by roasting her in their oven). Emily and Mike stopped them. [[spoiler: Later, Emily attempts this by burning down her house while Lilith is sedated. It doesn't work. Inverted when Emily does ultimately Kill It With Water.]]

%%* DangerTakesABackseat

%%* EnfantTerrible

* MeaningfulName: Lilith
* MoodWhiplash: [[spoiler: After Emily locks herself in her room and hides under her bed, Lilith --- who at this point uses her super strength to break through Emily's bedroom door--- comes in menacingly, looking for her. She finds Emily under her bed, and the first thing she does is smile and ask "What are you doing down there, you silly pumpkinhead?" before quickly switching back to CreepyChild mode.]]

''Case 39'' is a 2009 (released 2010 in the USA) horror film starring ReneeZellweger and Creator/BradleyCooper. Zellweger plays Emily, a Child Services worker who's working thirty-eight cases--and then saddled with [[TitleDrop one more]]. It's Case 39 that leads Emily into strange, sinister territory, with suspicious parents and a little girl who may not be all that she seems.


!!Tropes used in Case 39 include:

* BrokenRecord: Why Emily? Why Emily? Why Emily?...

* EyeScream: [[spoiler: After Lilith's father stabs an inmate whom Lilith spoke through, he accidentally stabs himself in the eye with a fork]].

* NeverTrustATrailer: Trailers suggested that [[spoiler: a demon was after Lilith, and her parents planned to sacrifice her in order to save themselves]]. In the actual film, [[spoiler: Lilith ''is'' the demon, and her parents were actually justified in trying to kill her.]]
** They didn't just show scenes out of context. They actually created [[MissingTrailerScene all new scenes that are nowhere in the film]].

''Case 39'' is a 2009 (released 2010 in the USA) horror film starring ReneeZellweger and Bradley Cooper. Zellweger plays Emily, a Child Services worker who's working thirty-eight cases--and then saddled with [[TitleDrop one more]]. It's Case 39 that leads Emily into strange, sinister territory, with suspicious parents and a little girl who may not be all that she seems.

Reviews were middling to negative, complaining about an unoriginal plot.

* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Emily falls in to this several times.

* [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Why Did It Have To Be Hornets?]]
** Crosses over with [[{{Eyescream}} Eye Scream]]. [[spoiler: A hornet crawls out of Doug's eye.]]

* DangerTakesABackseat
* [[spoiler: EarnYourHappyEnding]]
* EnfantTerrible

* OhCrap: Lilith, [[spoiler:when she realizes Emily isn't scared after trying to trick her with an illusion of her mother driving fast when it was raining and Emily asks her, [[IronicEcho "Are you scared?"]]

* CreepyChild: Lily starts to show signs of this. [[spoiler: Then ItGotWorse]].

* KillItWithFire: Lilith's parents tried doing this to her (specifically, by roasting her in their oven). Emily and Mike stopped them. [[spoiler: Later, Emily attempts this by burning down her house while Lilith is sedated. It doesn't work.]]

* KillItWithFire: Lilith's parents tried doing this to her. Emily and Mike stopped them. [[spoiler: Later, Emily attempts this by burning down her house while Lilith is sedated. It doesn't work.]]