The Gabby Petito Story

To all those who are complaining that the filmmakers didn't have permission to make the movie, I think you need to shift your focus.

A few years ago in the US four women per day were murdered most often by a current or former partner.

Recently it's now five women per day. No one else is doing anything substantial to help stop women in this country from being murdered, nor stop the victim blaming, except movies like this which show what an abuser and victim look like.

It does a fantastic job of showing the different stages in a situation between an abusive partner and their victim.

Movies like this save lives much more than people who complain about little things.

This movie only serves to prove the fact that Hollywood is without morals.

This poor girl only died LAST YEAR in 2021, and there is already a movie about it, ONE year it took for some low life proeuction company to turn it her ruthless murder into entertainment. And that is all they've tried to do here.

This isn't some facutal documentary covering the details of a crime, this is a dramatised movie, for entetainment purposes. I dont see how anybody could watch this and not feel disgusted by its exsistance this soon aftere the event.

Everybody invovled in this movie should be ashamed of themselves. From the writer and directer, to the C and D list celebrities they bought cheap to play the roles. Shame on everybody. I bet nobody invovled would like to see a cheap movie being made about the murder of their own kid only a year after they had been burtally murdered. Disgusting. That's all it is.

The good - Brian Laundry - what an actor - absolutely spot on. He's every bit the awkward jealous, insecure Brian Laundry we've seen on footage. The scene where he kicks off in the cafeteria is probably one of the best scenes in the film.

The bad - Gabby Petito - the over acting, cringe voice she puts on in an attempt to sound like Gabby footage is dreadful. Because she's way older too than Gabby was it comes across immature.

The ugly - sad to learn that the Petito family wasn't approached and that nothing was donated to their foundation.

Thora Birch trying to keep her hand in acting by directing/producing this probably wasn't the wisest of choices in what appears to be a money grab and wasted opportunity to get the real story across about who Gabby Petito was and why her tragic death and story is so important. Birch and her acting is absolutely dreadful. Constantly clearing her throat is annoying and the scene at the end where she takes the phone call about Gabby is some of the worst acting I've ever seen. A lot of the facts too seem to have either been forgotten or changed. We know Brian told his parents Gabby was missing before he got back to Florida in her van so why then is he seen rehearsing telling his folks? We also know how she died and how she was discovered. Why then is he seen digging a hole to bury her? Very strange. As a stand alone domestic violence film without using the Petito name it would have been better. Especially for the family.

Looks like there's a split here with reviews for the movie. Some people hate it; some people were satisfied with it, me included.

First off, I understand that value of respect, or disrespect according to others, of the story still being fresh in their eyes. As well as the fact that the actual families of Gabby and Brian did not put any of their time into this adaptation. Or that this was only a cash grab. Frankly, I think those reviewers thought too much into it. It's a movie. An adaptation of the real-life story of Gabby and Brian and truthfully, I think the cast, directors, producers did a fine job. I am quite certain they tried their best to respect the lives affected by this and all they wanted was to project the life Gabby and Brian had together leading up to her murder.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It was interesting to actually see the dramatizations that many of us already had in our minds about Brian, specifically. They brought every snapshot the media reported and the in-between of what may have happened. I watched it until the very end just glued to the TV and it brought back the sorrow and sympathy I felt for Gabby when this was national news a couple years ago.

This was a low-budget film, I mean it was a Lifetime movie, not a Hollywood blockbuster. So I already knew what to expect from this production. So with that said, I took this movie in with curiousity and intrigue and have enjoyed it. Cash grab? No. Too soon? Nah. The parents' disapproval? Sure, that's their choice. But I would not let it prevent you from watching it.

All I can say is that I did enjoy it, I definitely was intrigued by it, and it did help piece together some of the narrative I already had in my thoughts. I'm sure the cast and crew just wanted to bring the story together so we can sympathize it even more. So, because of that at face-value, I give it an 8 out of 10. I'd say watch it. It was entertaining enough.

Lifetime did not have permission to make this movie. They made it anyway. They did not have the rights to Gabby's image. They made it anyway.

They had 30 minutes of ads throughout the premiere and are now selling the movie for $5 online. Yet not a dime has been given to the Gabby Petito Foundation. That's just wrong.

If you want to watch the movie, I'd suggest finding a way that doesn't involve Lifetime getting any money from it (Arrrrr).

They re-enacted Gabby's videos, her pictures, they re-enacted the Moab police stop. It's weird, the actress even wore the same clothes Gabby did. The rest of the story is highly fictionalized. They got pretty much all the fictionalized parts wrong. But I'm not here to correct them, that's up to Gabby's family.

I'm giving it 3 stars because the actress did nail Gabby's voice and mannerisms.