Little Children

Little Children is set in an affluent Boston suburb, where the daily routines of parks, pools and quiet streets bring several adults into contact with one another. Sarah Pierce is a married mother at home with her young daughter, recalling the ambitions she once had. Brad Adamson is a husband caring for his son while his wife builds her career. Sarah and Brad, both dissatisfied and drawn to each other, begin an affair. Their wish to start a new life together is complicated by the return to the neighbourhood of a man recently released after serving a sentence for a sexual offence against a child, which alarms local parents, including Brad's friend Larry. The film follows these intersecting lives as the characters give in to temptation or try to resist it.

Todd Field directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Tom Perrotta, adapting Perrotta's novel, and produced with Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa. It was the second feature Field directed, following In the Bedroom (2001) and preceding TÁR (2022). The main cast includes Kate Winslet as Sarah, Patrick Wilson as Brad, Jennifer Connelly as Kathy Adamson, Gregg Edelman as Richard Pierce, Sadie Goldstein as Lucy Pierce and Ty Simpkins as Aaron Adamson, among 85 credited cast members.

Made for 26 million USD and taking 15 million USD worldwide, Little Children was not a commercial success. By contrast, it holds a 7.5 rating on IMDb from 122,000 votes and a 7.1 on TMDB from about 1,200 votes, while film critics gave it 7.7 from 159 reviews.