The "abnormal" or para-normal subject of "Nell" poses a number of problems. "Nell" is about the discovery of a feral young woman, a "wild child" -- even though this term is rejected by the Liam Neeson character in the movie. He plays kind family doctor Jerome Lovell who opted for the simple, natural life in rural North Carolina. When the body of an old woman, a hermit, is discovered in a remote cabin, her daughter Nell (Jodi Foster) who grew up with no contacts with the outside world, becomes the object of Dr. Lovell's curiosity, study, sympathy, solicitude and help.

I won't describe the attributes, characteristics and behavior of Nell. They go more or less, go by the "wild child" canon, except that she speaks a near-impenetrable language of her own invention. This is nicely explained: her mother became a recluse after being raped, and strokes that paralyzed...