Cleveland Abduction

Should have been a series... maybe then it could have covered the rest of the girls. Other questions like how did they arrest him... how is it that they were not able to escape during all those years. The acting was good but the character building was a bit lacking and the full story unclear.

Well... do I need to say more... This movie is well structured and shows great acting from especially the two main characters.

I think this true crime movie deserves a 7.4 (almost 8 stars).

Raymond Cruz is a most effective actor. For those who watched 'Breaking Bad', Tuco Salamanca is one of the all time great TV villains thanks to Raymond's convincing intense performance. Here he is pretty scary as Ariel Castro. The real Ariel Castro looked more benign than him. Raymond is a bit too scary to be the wolf in sheep's clothing that Ariel was.

The story shows things from mainly one victim's point of view. Might have been better to show things from all three victims points of view. There was enough time to show how each was kidnapped and the background of each briefly so it's strange they didn't. In this sense the story could have been better written. The TV movie does not make it that clear how one of them couldn't run out while Ariel Castro was sleeping or something for such a long time.

Overall watch this for a TV version of the terrible crime.

It's 2002 Cleveland. Michelle Knight (Taryn Manning) is a struggling single mother. Her mother is unreliable. Social services is trying to take away her son. While walking to court to get him back, she is kidnapped by acquaintance Ariel Castro (Raymond Cruz). She is kept as a sex slave for 11 years during which he also kidnaps Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus. They finally escape in 2013.

It's a Lifetime movie. The brutal true story is told in a straight forward manner. Taryn Manning makes this more compelling than simply the material. The brutality is kept at a certain level since it's a Lifetime movie. It's a harrowing story. A couple of scenes after the rescue are actually quite heart-breaking.

In 2002, the single mother Michelle Knight (Taryn Manning) is walking to the court for the custody case of her five year-old son Joey, of whom she had lost custody. She realizes that she is late and accepts the ride from her acquaintance Ariel Castro (Raymond Cruz), who is the father of a schoolmate. He lures Michelle telling that his dog delivered several puppies and he would like to give one to her for Joey. Once inside his house, he imprisons her with chains in a dark room. For eleven years, Michelle is beaten and submitted to sexual abuse and abortion. In 2003 and 2004, Ariel also kidnaps and abuses of Amanda Berry (Samantha Droke), who has a child with him, and Gina DeJesus (Katie Sarife). In 2013, Amanda succeeds in escaping from the house and the police arrive and release the women.

"Cleveland Abduction" is a great TV movie that tells the cruel story of a monster and his victims. The direction and performances are impressive for a movie made for television. I still recall this notorious case in the Brazilian news and it is very sad to see how cruel a human being can be. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Sequestro em Cleveland" ("Cleveland Abduction")