Stolen from the Suburbs

In the sunny suburbs of California, young teenagers are routinely rounded-up and sold as sex slaves. Unaware of the problem, wealthy single mom Cynthia Watros (as Katherine) moves from Wisconsin into the danger zone, with her blonde and beautifully-figured 16-year-old daughter Sydney Sweeney (as Emma Hudson). Handsome young men arouse Ms. Sweeney's interests, but mom gets mad when she won't bring them home for closer inspection. Grounded and defiant, Sweeney sneaks out of the house to make time with asthmatically cute Nick Roux (as Adam). Next thing you know, she is "Stolen from the Suburbs" to be sold as a sex slave. Victims' specialist Brooke Nevin (as Anna Fray) and Ms. Watros join forces to search for Sweeney...

"If you want to find Emma, you're going to have to do it yourself," advises Ms. Nevin...

This is a very serious topic, and several of the performers try to give it a serious reading. Unfortunately, this TV movie production treats the subject most predominantly as escapist entertainment, with a touch of repulsion. In that regard, writer/director Alex Wright is successful. You do want to see the fenced-in, tied-up, and bikini-clad young women released before the closing credits. As the young girls' sex-trafficking mistress, tightly-attired Olivia d'Abo (as Melena) drives her unbelievable role over the cliff. The Lifetime TV channel adds a "public service announcement" about the child sex trade, but does not tell you their movie is ludicrous. For the record, the police and FBI are interested and you should tell them before going to any "Pink Motel".

***** Stolen from the Suburbs (2015-08-30) Alex Wright ~ Cynthia Watros, Sydney Sweeney, Brooke Nevin, Olivia d'Abo

For a tv movie on lifetime this turned out to be half decent. It reminds me of a film from the eighties or nineties although by now the audience would probably be expecting a lot more from this type of movie. Still, the fact it's made for the tv somehow saves it. Tv movies tend to have a lower expectation in my view, if I was to make a comparison off the top of my head I would say, it's a story that closely resembles Taken. However, Taken has a lot bigger budget and could undoubtedly produce way better action with Liam Neeson tumbling enemies to the ground.

Yet, with a smaller budget often comes a more believable approach. This isn't to say Stolen from the Suburbs is without flaws. The story is intriguing enough and the situation the girls are put in means I can't help but root for them, yet it's the vacant roles that leave me somewhat astonished. Where is Courtney's (Tetona Jackson) parents or family? I can excuse some of the girls that have been captured a while as their family might've given up hope sometime ago, but seriously Courtney was taken in practically the same time as Emma (Sydney Sweeney). What I do like about this narrative is it explores very real life dangerous circumstances that can arise, existing in our world today and it highlights the need for young girls to be careful.

As far as acting goes it's the early signs that Sydney Sweeney has everything in her repertoire to become a good actress as the young lady convey distress well and a little feisty naivety early on. Another standout is the antagonist (Olivia d' Abo) as Milena, the viewer really gets a taste of the ruthless money grabbing cold hearted emotionless bitch she really is. I couldn't help but detest her every action, as well as admire the performance to have me respond in such a way in the first place. (Cynthia Watros) as Katherine and (Brooke Nevin) as Anna had a scene together in the car that could've had way more empathy from Cynthia as well as being the definitive moment yet it just felt flat and lacking emotion. Anna explains how she got into investigating sex trafficking as well as her background story, how she felt about helping the girls and why she was doing it. This moment lacked the intensity and didn't create the bond between the two woman I felt it set out to do. After this Anna was practically nowhere to be seen leaving Emma to pull the trigger in the climax amongst some cruel torturous scenes prior to this.

The acting from the villains throughout gave the film more interesting dramatic elements, it was almost as if all the men were under Milena's spell. I felt the humiliation for the young student girls left without dignity, without food and half naked. Overall the story was good and the lack of support from the police seemed feasible considering the vast amount that were going missing it often seemed like the police wouldn't bother leaving it to be the norm.

Here we go again, cliche' after cliche' and again I ask myself, "Why do they keep making these HT films. This one, is really done with a Z grade style, whuch I actually admire, if that makes any sense. The disjointed and sloppy film, which has some implausible and such pathetic moments, spells amateur. Again, this is one HT film, you'll be rolling your eyes with. Hot teen, hotter when, almost buff, Sweeny is tricked, fooled by a nice looking youth (cliche) who happens to be an asthmatic, who costs her her freedom, when she's kidnapped, by heartless, sex slavers. Sweeney's girlfriend, also hottie material-aren't they all, also falls prey, coaxed into a relationship by an older guy, not boy (Can you add up the dots so far). Then there's the particular evil burnt out madam (an unrecognizable D'abo) who must of gone to the same place as Daryl Hannah, for face libosuction. Her words are cruel and curt, to her new caged, fresh stable of pretties (cliche). Apart from a familar Drew Carey show face as Sweeney's mother, D'abo is the best actor in this. Suburbs is a particularly nasty, if repellent HT film, especially up towards it's end. A few things are wrong here, like In the photo still scene, where the girls are all brought out, tied to each other (good thinking 99, and an impressive tactic) if for one girl, untied, making a failing attempt to run for it, and guess who.... but back to the things out of place, why would they have one girl, hugely overweight in their stable, and with a few other HT films, it's one question, I've always asked myself. Amateur moment. Also shaming the Pink Motel, in this dredgy fiction, using it as trick pad- would traffickers get away with it, at this iconic motel? A rescuing scene here-cliche. Now the buggest hiccup which really angered me in this potential trash, was the scene with Sweeney's mum, and that young pretty woman advocate, who had a horrofying story, herself as once a victim. What she was saying, when at the computer with the mother (cliche) about the cop's attitudes, and statistics, I couldn't swallow, as I did, other stuff in the movie. And why was D'abo, an ex human trafficking victim herself, so fascinatingly evil, Entertaining and nastily shocking, this movie is. Excellent, well acted, forget it.

Another Sunday.

Another Lifetime woman-in-jeopardy film.

But this one is two steps above your average Lifetime thriller.

The hot button subject matter is sex trafficking but writer/director Alex Wright tells a compelling story without falling into exploitation on one side and preaching on the other side.

The primarily female cast is good. Sydney Sweeney, a grizzled veteran ingénue, is compelling as the daughter. Brooke Nevin is suitably driven as the investigator.

Cynthia Watros has done light comedy well (Drew Carey Show), performed melodrama (Lost) as well as any actor could follow that plot, and can now add thriller lead to her list of actress skills. Her character was intense and fearless as the mother.

Olivia d'Abo having sparred with Inspector Goren on many an episode of "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" gives a different, more chilling, level of evil as the bad guy. As close to full-blown Alan Rickman as you are going to get in a Lifetime thriller.

Give us more like this.

Sex trafficking is a pressing matter all around the world, but especially in the south of USA. California is one of the main hub of the nation for trafficking of underage sex slaves, both boys and girls, and the issues usually doesn't receive the right kind of attention the authorities.

So if this film can serve as a means to raise the awarness of people, it does a good job. The cast is decent and the portrayal of a mother in search of her kidnapped daughter is quite moving. Even the bad guys do justice to their nefarious roles. So overall a decent product.

Last but not the least, Stolen from the Suburbs (aka Stolen from Suburbia) shows once more what a bright future awaits Sydney Sweeney: even in her early days she did complex and tough movies, nothing superficial. So you don't wanna underestimate her.