In STEPHANIE DALEY, Amber Tamblyn and Tilda Swinton turn in remarkable performances as a young girl accused of murdering her infant and the pregnant forensic psychologist assigned to her case. When Stephanie is found trailing blood in the snow on a high school ski trip, the media quickly latches onto the story, labeling her the "Ski Mom." While evaluating 16-year-old Stephanie before the criminal trial, 40-year-old Lydie (Swinton) is also grappling with worries over her own troubled pregnancy. Having given birth to a stillborn years before, Lydie is still coming to terms with what that loss meant for her and her marriage to an increasingly distant husband (Timothy Hutton). The film unfolds in a nonlinear way, with scenes of the two women's discussions opening up to flashbacks of the months preceding the baby's supposedly unexpected birth (and death), and to scenes from each woman's current situation.

What makes STEPHANIE DALEY so moving is how ordinary the title character is. Like so many adolescent girls, Stephanie is smart, shy, and when it comes to the adult world of sex, dangerously naive. Stephanie adamantly denies that she killed her baby, and explains the events of the previous year with a sadness and resignation that speak of so many female adolescent experiences. In a scene that depicts Stephanie's first sexual encounter, director Hilary Brougher perfectly captures that moment when good reason gives way to peer pressure, youthful curiosity, and a lack of confidence. Where such an experience would leave any girl feeling used and disappointed, it leaves Stephanie with a problem so great she can't even admit it until it's too late. The film uses graphic scenes powerfully, and while never passing judgment on its characters, raises important issues about a woman's right to choose and about womanhood itself.