At this stage in her career, Sophie Turner is best known for her role as Sansa Stark on Game of Thrones. There’s nothing wrong with that, as the HBO series is among the biggest and most loved shows ever made. Still, with the show six years in the past, Turner would probably like to move forward and be seen as an actress who can excel as the lead. With Trust, she has the rare chance to show what she can do with the top billing in a feature film. With Twisted Pictures attached, you might expect Trust to be another horror film, but instead, what we get is a cabin in the woods thriller that puts Sophie Turner’s character, Lauren Lane, against two groups of foes in a race against time. Written by Gigi Levangie and directed by Carlson Young, Trust does a great job of showing what Turner is capable of. The problem is everything around her. Pardon the pun, but it takes an interesting premise and doesn’t trust itself to craft a compelling story with interesting characters around it.
What Is ‘Trust’ About?

Trust nails its setup, which revolves around a young actress named Lauren Lane (Turner), who has played Sally Johnson on the hit sitcom The Johnsons since she was a little kid. Playing opposite Billy Campbell as the TV dad, Peter, Lane has risen to such a prominent place of fame that the media calls her “America’s sweetheart.” The problem, however, is that a news report says this as the lead before getting to a story that will change Lane’s life forever. In a story ripped from the headlines, there is a celebrity hacking scandal, which Lauren finds herself involved in. Not only has the hacker released risqué photos of her, but also a photo she took of a positive pregnancy test. With Lauren not having any disclosed boyfriend, the media and the team behind The Johnsons wonder who the father is and how this will affect the shooting schedule. Lauren is overrun by people who only care about what the scandal does to them, with only her assistant showing any concern about how Lauren feels. Breaking down under the pressure, Lauren decides to get away from it all by retreating to a secluded cabin in the woods. Outside of her dog Georgie (don’t worry, the pooch doesn’t die), she’s going to be all alone until it blows over. That never goes well in a movie, as Lauren is soon fighting for her life all by herself from two different foes: a group of burglars and someone who knows too much about her mysterious past and wants to shut her up.
Sophie Turner Carries ‘Trust’ When She’s Allowed To

Trust works throughout its first act. What Lauren is going through is horrible and traumatic, and we’re immediately placed in her shoes and on her side. She’s no wilting flower either. Although she’s hurt by having her personal life out there, she’s not above calling out people, including her mother, for making everything about them. She’s also a three-dimensional character, because even though she’s told to avoid the internet, she can’t help but seek it out anyway. She is a celebrity after all, and fame is what she wants, so she needs to know what others are saying about her. Gigi Levangie writes a strong character worth following. She even has a dog she loves for Pete’s sake. When she gets to that spacious cabin in the woods, we want her to be okay because she’s already been through enough. On top of that, she’s carrying a child, which becomes her focus to making it out of what’s to come alive. There are other well-crafted characters as well. Most notable is Peter, with Campbell able to play the well-liked guy, while also showing a more antagonistic side once the cameras are away. Then there’s Katey Segal as Loretta, the small-town dog-obsessed woman who finds Georgie on the side of the road after shit goes down and gives it her all to reunite the doggie with her owner. If Trust had kept things small and followed characters worth investing in, it could have been effective, but then comes the villains, the most horribly written trio of idiots you’ll ever meet.
Horrible Writing and Worse Characters Hinder ‘Trust’

Lauren Lane (Sophie Turner) with her hand over her mouth in ‘Trust’
Image via Paramount

The cabin Lauren is staying in is an Airbnb, with one of its employees being small-time criminal Marcus (Gianni Piallo). He’s a bad guy who spends his time watching Lauren from the unseen cameras in the home, but when his ex-con of an uncle, Darren (Rhys Coiro), and his doofus of a sidekick, Merg (Forrest Goodluck), find out who’s in the cabin and want to rob it, he tries to stop them. This leads to disaster, not just for the events to follow, but for the audience, because a big chunk of the rest of the movie sees Lauren trapped in a boiler room and unable to get out. Rather than making her the center of the action, she’s kept hidden with nothing much to do except scream and cry out for help in scene after scene. With Lauren sidelined, the trio of criminals becomes who we follow through the coming events, and they, especially Darren, check every box on the cookie-cutter movie bad guy list. These aren’t real people, but stereotypes, from the one who doesn’t want to go back to prison, to the one who is unhinged and wants to commit worse crimes. At a certain point, a gun comes into play with one of the most absurd outcomes you’ll ever see. And although this trio talks nonstop, they have nothing to say except the standard bad guy comments. It’s as if their dialogue was written as a placeholder for the time being, then the writer forgot to go back and punch it up. Sometimes it’s so awful that you wonder if comedy was the intent, which makes for an uneven tone, or if it’s just simply that bad. The third act of Trust, when all of our characters collide in a burst of chaos, isn’t much better, as the viewer has to suspend disbelief to the highest degree to convince themselves that any of these scenes are how a character would act. For example, one scene in a hospital will have you shaking your head and yelling at your screen over how dumb a character is written to be. Sophie Turner is a talent who deserves more. She gets it at times, including a powerful final moment in Trust (it’s the best one in the movie), which brings everything full circle and speaks to the importance we’ve put on celebrity. But instead of ending there with that emphatic visual, Trust couldn’t help itself from including a final comedic scene that kills what just came before. If you turn your brain off, there is a decent, suspenseful enough watch here with a credible actress giving her all, but trust us, this one isn’t going to help anyone’s career. Except for maybe the dog. Trust comes to theaters on August 22.

Trust

An interesting first act falls apart once the action kicks in.

Release Date

August 22, 2025

Runtime

86 minutes

Director

Carlson Young

Writers

Gigi Levangie

Pros & Cons

Turner’s character is easy to root for due to the believability of the inciting incident.
The cabin is a great setting for the action to come.

The villains are horribly written with every bad guy trope imaginable.
The lazy, implausible writing makes everything that happens feel unrealistic.
The dialogue is so poor that it removes the tension from every scene.