1998: A father and son are driving home at night when they see a woman in a nightgown drenched in blood, a knife in hand. Just a little way up the road, a young girl is running for her life. Just in time, the duo is able to rescue the girl and subdue the woman long enough for emergency services to arrive. It could’ve been the end of the story.

20 years later: Christina Bowden (Lexi Johnson) is a middle school teacher in the middle of adopting a girl around the age she was when she was rescued from local serial killer Elizabeth Caulfield (Kaye Tuckerman). But her plans are put on hold when she gets word that Caulfield has escaped from prison. Out of the five little girls Caulfield kidnapped, Christina was the only one to make it out alive. And now it looks like she’s back to finish off The Girl Who Got Away.

Christina is watched over by Jamie Nwosu (Chukwudi Iwuji), a deputy in a local sheriff’s department who should really find a different line of occupation, if we’re being honest. He diligently stakes out Christina’s house every night so that she feels safe, but very little of what he does is actually helpful, and as Christina’s past comes rushing back towards her, she begins sleepwalking and lashing out at those around her, including Lisa (Willow McCarthy), the wayward girl whose adoption is now on hold for reasons Christina finds too painful to explain. Part of me understands why Christina doesn’t want to talk about her past, but if she just did, so much misfortune and misunderstanding could be avoided. She’s a sympathetic protagonist, but she’s also kinda like that one friend you just want to shake by the shoulders and ask, “Why are you like this?” except we know why she’s like this. We’re just powerless to help.

Intercut with Christina’s present are scenes from her past with Elizabeth Caulfield and the dilapidated house in the upstate New York woods. These scenes especially elevate the movie from thriller to horror, with the sense of dread ever-present for Christina and the other girls. The young actresses do a great job with their roles in the way that so many other child actors don’t manage to pull off.

But despite the stellar acting, music, and visuals, something about The Girl Who Got Away just doesn’t click. It’s hard to put a finger on exactly what it is, but something in the way the big plot twist is set up feels clunky. There’s also a weird undercurrent of victim-blaming that’s very haphazard.

It’s not on the same level as certain Netflix originals that feel more like poorly planned cash-grabs than someone’s artistic vision, but The Girl Who Got Away will not likely be the stuff of repeat viewings, even for fans of dark, psychological films. But I do recommend judging it for yourself.

 

7.5 out of 10

 

The Girl Who Got Away
RATING: NR
THE GIRL WHO GOT AWAY Official Trailer (2021)
Runtime: 1 hr. 56 min.
Directed By: Michael Morrissey
Written By:

About the Author

Elaine L. Davis is the eccentric, Goth historian your parents (never) warned you about. Hailing from the midwestern United States, she grew up on ghost stories, playing chicken with the horror genre for pretty much all of her childhood until finally giving in completely in college. (She still has a soft spot for kid-friendly horror.) Her favorite places on Earth are museums, especially when they have ghosts.