Girl in the Box

Based on the real story of Colleen Stan who in 1977 was abducted by Cameron and Janice Hooker in California while hitchhiking to a friend's birthday, the movie explores the intense and shocking reality of those years in the life of Colleen.

Girl in the Box doesn't waste any time and from the beginning we are thrown into the story following a young couple riding in their truck. We're already aware this is not a normal couple, and when they stop for Colleen to give her a ride, an uncanny foreboding starts to shape before us. The film is compelling not only because it is based on real events but also because of the horrific nature of it all and how well it portrays the events that took place in those seven years. Seven years that were hell on earth considering the lengths the Hookers put young Colleen through. She was totally humiliated, debased, and abused while treated as a slave. These are the types of scars that, unlike physical ones, never heal. The performances were convincing all the time; Addison Timlin successfully conveys the psychological distress her character went through, the manipulation that took place, and how she, understandably, reacted after so much time deprived of her freedom. Zane Holtz successfully embodies the depravity, while Zelda Williams accurately portrays her character's evolution from fear to jealousy to guilt.

Stephen Kemp's Girl in the Box not only delves into themes of kidnapping and trauma, but also faith and patriarchal structures and how they can serve as a vehicle to realize the darkest of desires. The box is clearly the reification of traditional gender roles, a symbol of that macrocosm reality where "master" and "slave" signify not bondage codification but its immanent gender dynamics. This is precisely what philosophers describe as the risks of belief when they are not subjected to necessary scrutiny. Ultimately, the pessimism of the story is how we, as human beings, as subjects, cease to be in order to be looked as objects when under the gaze of others. A reminder that you cannot trust strangers, no matter how trustful they may look.

A shocking movie that shows the true store of a girl who was hitchhiking and was kidnapped by an unsuspected couple by several years. The girl was living in a box most of the time, humiliated all time and treated as a slave.

This other person that reviewed the movie obviously doesn't know this is a true story, and the girl kidnapped was a16 old child. Having said that, I don't care about the movie, but until you're kidnapped in the 70's, kept in a goshdarn box and told lies about people watching you...shut the heckk up. She was a kid. This is a true story. It's devastating.

True story of Colleen Stan, age 20 who convinces her parents she'll be okay hitchhiking from Eugene, Oregon to northern California to surprise a friend on their 21st birthday. She hitches a ride with Cameron and Janice Hooker, only to be kidnapped by them and spends the next seven years of her life as their sex slave. As Janice tells her, "You're only here to take the pain."

This is a film reminds all of us, people are rarely what they seem and how the human mind, body, and spirit can survive in horrific conditions. The film contains violence (bondage) and very adult situations, but a must see if you or anyone you know still think hitching a ride is just as safe as any other type of transportation.

Overall I enjoyed this movie; it kept me engaged throughout and stuck fairly close to the true narrative, but did have a lot of creative liberties take .

Along with that, I thought the acting was good in this film. Addison Timlin have a good performance as Coleen Stan, and made the movie believable and the performances by Zane Holts and Zelda Williams were decent, not great, but well enough to make for a decent movie. The production and film direction were above average for its class, and that trend continued through the movie.

This is one of the better movies that Lifetime has released, so if you're a LT fan, it's right up your alley.