I wish I could have saved you, Cookie.
- Sylvia's whole story is sad enough, but the crowner has to be her Dying Dream of escaping and reuniting with her parents, who tearfully apologize for leaving Sylvia to live with Gertrude. It gets worse when it's revealed to be a dream and that Sylvia is dying. You knew the escape scene wouldn't last, but damn, how you wanted it to be real.
- If you have any sympathy for Sylvia at all, expect to cry during the torture scenes.
- The ending: Gertrude and her family are found guilty and there is a small amount of Alas, Poor Villain towards the family and especially some when Gertrude sees Sylvia's ghost in her cell and before she can even utter a tearful "I'm sorry", Sylvia vanishes.
- A mix of Nightmare Fuel and Tear Jerker, during the trial (based on the real trial), the children who knew about Sylvia and took part on it are asked why they hurt her. Most of them reply that they don't know. A few are shown in flashbacks laughing as they torture Sylvia. Humans Are Bastards indeed.
- The final shot: Sylvia on a ride at her parent's carnival, the only place she felt safe. Made a little more horrific by the final line's implication that Sylvia's spirit may remain here, at an empty carnival, forever, or until she makes sense of her death. At the very least her words underscore the emptiness and pointlessness of her death:Sylvia (voiceover): Reverend Bill used to say, "For every situation, God always has a plan." I guess I'm still trying to figure out what that plan was.
- The saddest part of all is the fact that it's Based on a True Story. Sylvia was a real girl who died a violent, painful death at the hands of someone she trusted, and her sister Jenny was left horribly traumatized by the whole ordeal.
