The Stolen Girl

Somewhere deep inside is a plot that has some merit but, with the exception of Holiday Grainger, the acting is so bad it's beyond laughable. One can only suspect that Disney+ signed it up unseen.

The performance of the distraught mother (Elisa) and the lead detective (D. I. Sinclair) are disgraceful but award winning by comparison to journalist (Selma) and her editor (Kaleb). Most of the others are bad but could easily blame diabolical direction.

Selma interviews without taking notes and receives photographic evidence via email which arrives within seconds and without having given her address.

Reactions are amateurish and situations contrived however, the worst part of all is that I watched all 5 episodes but in my defence, I had a wager on the ending.

I'm actually a bit lost for words on this one. It is so badly written, the story is ridiculous with characters doing things no real person would do, ever and the acting by the lead is so bad that it's hard to understand how this actress got the job. The whole production feels cheap and lacking any quality. How can this be on Disney? How did it get made? Who hired this writer who doesn't seem to have the most basic grasp of storytelling and cannot write dialogue that even vaguely approximates real life. One of the reviews says it's from the same team as those Harlen Coben dramas on Netflix and that makes sense as they are equally rubbish with unbelievable female characters and storylines, poor production values and terrible actors. 1/10 is generous.

A well acted and we'll written thriller with a strong cast and good performances throughout. It play's on the fears of parents everywhere. The tension builds from the start and whilst it stretches credulity a little in places with maybe one too many plot twists the overall premise is sound. It would probably have benefited from being longer which is a rarity in these days of streaming and looking back at it in hindsight there are a few minor plot holes but nothing significant enough to spoil my enjoyment. Somewhat reminiscent of Harlan Coban but where as his work does have a habit of getting a bit preposterous this tended to stay just the right side of the line. Looking forward to the next Alex Dahl adaptation.

The main plot of the show is really good, and the production is paced well. It has that problem that most 'streaming binge' drama has in that it is constantly explaining the obvious, treating the audience as if they are either a) on their phone or b) really stupid. So the script feels a little on the wonky side from the get go.

The major drawback, and this stops it getting a higher score for me is just how howlingly bad some of the acting. Everything line comes at you with a sigh, every line has a sharp intake of breath and a really laboured way of delivering 'plot' which makes it feel less classy than a show of this budget should.

It's okay and passes a few hours of telly wallpaper but with a plotline that's as potentially good as this it could have been much much better.

The abduction was quite innovative in the way it was planned so there was some initial intrigue. That said, this series failed to deliver on several fronts, the motive for the kidnapping was silly, and so was the whole line of the story associated with it. The ending fell flat. The car crash scene was verging on the ridiculous, the way the stationary car was overturned and destroyed and yet the other car travelling at speed didn't so much as get scratched, farcical. But the worst thing about the series for me was the acting of Ambika Mod, painfully wooden and bland. The character she was playing was also childish and annoying, not sure if that was intentional or not. Unbearable to watch either way.