The Girl Who Got Away

No pun intended - the movie starts off with us in the woods ... and it has a few shockers at hand. We see someone running away ... and while the father is trying to avoid to actually do something ... he decides to "help" - whatever that would mean for him and his kid.

From the start we know there is more to the movie and the characters than meets the eye. And of course another inciting incident will help the movie to roll along many years after the initial beginning of it. Relationships get explored, twists are being thrown at you .. and there is a bit of fun to be had. Though it mostly is suspense to say the least. Well done, especially considering the budget that the movie has.

This is a visually captivating psychological thriller that I really enjoyed. This is def more silence of the lambs then Halloween though.

I am all about imagery and the cinematography here does a great job of showing the emotional weight of the story, making you feel the trauma and fear that the characters experience.

The play between shadow and light is particularly effective, with dimly lit scenes that create a sense of unease. This visual style reflects Christina's inner struggles, played by Lexi Johnson. You can really feel the weight of her past which helps you connect with her journey.

The settings throughout the film-ranging from tight, shadowy interiors to wide, empty landscapes-enhance the mood.

This film is probably not for everyone I will say that but If you appreciate films that use visuals to tell deep emotional, sometimes crazy stories, this one is definitely worth a watch!

One day in 1998 in the town of Mesena, New York the serial killer Elizabeth Caulfield is arrested. This brings to an end ten years where five young girls were kidnapped. Only one survived; Christina Bowden. Twenty years later and Christina is still living in Mesena where she works as a teacher and is contemplating adopting a troubled teenage girl. Then one day Elizabeth Caulfield escapes from custody. Christina is warned by police officer Jamie Nwosu but refuses to leave town; soon people close to her start turning up dead... it looks as if Caulfield is after the girl who got away. Or is there more to it than that?

This film got off to a solid start and progresses well enough. In many ways it goes as expected; that is to say there are plenty of twists, some better than others. Most of the murders appear off screen but those that are shown are reasonably but not excessively gory. The Upstate New York setting was good although much of the action takes place indoors. The acting is solid enough, nothing to trouble the awards panels but certainly not poor, at least not in the main roles. At a little under two hours it is a bit too long; it could have done with trilling it down by ten to twenty minutes. Overall I'd not say this was a must watch but it is okay if you enjoy the genre.

We are introduced to Christina, the only survivor of a house of horrors. Although there is gore, this is really not a horror movie. Elizabeth Caulfield kidnapped children, each one a year after the previous one, and killed all but Christina. Christina is making a new life for herself as a teacher, when Elizabeth Caulfield escapes during a traffic accident while being transferred. Police are certain she will track down Christina, but Christina won't run, saying "she took everything from me once. I can't let that happen again." It is a small town, and one officer, Jamie, winds up trying to protect her. Jamie perhaps plays the best role of any of them, and he starts to realize that not everything adds up, and goes over the case. He finds there are lots of secrets. As the search for Elizabeth continues, the body count in that small town starts to climb, almost anyone who is connected with Christina. While there is a simmering pot at the start, it slowly starts to raise to a boil. And those are some of the problems with the film. Whether it is the script, the editing or characters, it gets confusing near the end. It is however, worth staying to the end.

This is an odd film with long scenes of dialogue that go on too long and other scenes with sudden fits of explosive violence. It reminded me a lot of 1982's ALONE IN THE DARK in that manner. TGWGA is not terrible, definitely not incompetent. The script and the editing needed to be more focused and tightened. As an editor of 15+ years, I saw many pauses that could have been pulled up and bits of repetitive dialogue that could have been trimmed to cut a good 10 minutes out of this film without losing a single scene, although I would have jettisoned the one truly bad scene with the social worker at Christina's home late in the movie. It's not well acted and is unintentionally funny. At 116 minutes, many will find this movie to be plodding, not thrilling.

I wish this thriller had a little less talk and a little more thrill to it. I wish the backstory of the serial killer was fleshed out a bit more and that the movie had less characters/subplots. I hope the makers of this film get a chance to make another movie and hone their skills because there's definitely talent behind the camera.