Arresting Gena on AllMovie

Gena (Aesha Waks) is a 16-year-old girl whose mother has fallen into a coma; with her immediate family unable to watch over her, it's decided that she'll spend the summer with her Uncle John (Paul Lazar). Gena takes a part-time job at a beauty parlor and makes friends with a girl named Jane (Summer Phoenix). Jane, however, is not an especially good influence; she's a recent runaway from a halfway house and is looking for her missing brother Sonny (Sam Rockwell), a convicted felon. When Jane disappears, Gena searches for her and is led into a netherworld of drugs, crime, gang violence, and sexual initiation. This independent drama was screened at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival; Heather Matarazzo of Welcome to the Dollhouse appears in a supporting role.