The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story

So this is a real story about a girl that kidnapped that really touched me. I liked some technicalities such as the sound design, cause it was often like a heartbeat which really made my heartbeat follow the rhythm. Plus I liked the performance of little Kara, she was really good, and the fact that the movie did not show the violent scenes. Finally I liked the simple cinematography.

What I didn't like: well the screenplay was not as great, there were some holes. Also some people were saying the same thing over and over again, it was not a certain word or phrase but whole dialogs. I understand that in real life in this situation you would probably make the same conversations but this is a movie, and the audience is going to get bored sometimes.

Otherwise it was really good one of the best of its kind.

Didn't really know much about this story going into it. My wife wanted to watch something that was real and true and this popped up so we gave it a try. About ten minutes into the movie and it became hard to watch. It was really intense and difficult subject matter, but we got through it. I HATED that man from the second I saw him and my hatred never diminished throughout the movie. I know he is only an actor, but he played it so well that it was him I hated and not the part.

The young girl does an excellent job of portraying a girl in a really difficult situation. Listening to the thoughts on her head gives us a unique view on what to do and how to do it. How the real Kara remained calm under intense pressure like this is amazing.

I've seen people say this is for all ages, I don't think so. I think it needs to be seen by people in their early teens, but I wouldn't want younger kids to be exposed to nightmare inducing things like this.

I'm not a fan of Lifetime movies at all, but this was a good one. I spent most of the movie wiping the tears from my eyes. It was that good. I'd have given it a higher rating except for the poor performances by a couple of the actors, but don't let that stop you from watching it.

... and this film is not going to be part of it. On Ginny and Georgia, Douglas manages to make her character stand out by underplaying, and by relying on her natural charisma. On that show, of course, she is aided by A-list writers, cast members, directors. This movie, on its best day, dressed in its best Sunday suit, is a B-movie, with shortcuts taken everywhere. Many obvious opportunities for deep emotional beats are missed, simply because the actors and the script are not up to snuff. The PR package makes a huge fuss about Kara's courage, which, in real life, was staggering. None of that comes through here. Emotions are like a roller coaster. To create the "up," you must first create the "down." By deliberately minimizing the horror of the captivity, writer Haley Harris denied viewers access to the downs. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

Shocked by some of these reviews!

Comments on police incompetence and Kara being bratty ?

It is showing what actually happens, not what we normally see in these dramatising kidnap stories, I almost had to remind myself it was a true story as I kept thinking police were involved somehow.

Kara wasn't bratty, remember what the kidnapper said "you'll always be the girl that was raped". She didn't want it to define her, not everyone reacts in the same way to trauma. I suppose we would have to speak to the real Kara to know if this was a good representation of herself.

Granted some of the smaller roles could have been played better but I feel it was a good film overall about a true story.

15-year-old Kara Robinson (Katie Douglas) gets taken from her friend's front lawn by gun-wielding creepy Richard Evonitz (Kristian Bruun) in broad daylight. He forces her into a plastic container. Her mother Debra Robinson (Cara Buono) struggles to get the police to take her seriously.

The first half is mostly Kara with her creepy captor. She has the mantra of survival which seems to be the theme of the movie. The second half could have been an intense manhunt for the creep, but the movie is more interested in Kara. I can appreciate that in a Lifetime true crime story. As for Katie Douglas, the twentysomething does look like a small teenager when compared to Kristian Bruun. That helps sell the realism.