On the night of his retirement sheriff Jerry Black (Jack!) pledges to a mother to find the killer of her eight-year-old girl. A man has already confessed to the killing, and in turn killed himself over the forced confession, so as far as the remaining police force is concerned the case is closed. The case eats away at Jerry. When he uncovers evidence that the girl had made friends with a 'giant' who calls himself 'The Wizard' and had befriended several other slain children, he buys a petrol station halfway between two small towns that he thinks 'The Wizard' may call home and studies the drawings of the dead girl in the hope of working out what kind of car he drives. Matters get more complicated when Jack befriends a young mother whose young daughter fits the profile of 'The Wizard'...

The Pledge is Sean Penn's third directorial effort (at last, an actor-turned-director keeps his face off the screen!) and easily his best to date. A cast of respected, smaller-name actors all perform superbly in what is one of the most compelling thrillers of the last few years. Unafraid to question the morals and ethics of everyday people, The Pledge really works on its audience's moral anxieties. Gripping stuff