Trafficked: A Parent's Worst Nightmare

Don't watch it.

This movie could be condensed into 20 minutes. It has no idea whether it is trying to say "sex trafficking is bad" or "revenge is awesome." It's just a bore when it's not aggravating, a near complete waste of time.

Low budget doesn't excuse poor characters and story. Some poor acting too.

Yeah, this 2021 movie titled "Trafficked: A Parent's Worst Nightmare" (aka "A Parent's Worst Nightmare") is a movie that, oddly enough, is based on sex trafficking, which in itself is a terrible topic.

And indeed, there have been movies out there that deal with the same issue, but doing so in a much more fulfilling way, in terms of it being a movie that brings entertainment - despite revolving around such atrocious things as sex trafficking. But "A Parent's Worst Nightmare" just didn't have the same impact as some movies of a similar nature.

Sure, "A Parent's Worst Nightmare" was watchable, but it wasn't an overly entertaining movie. And the reason for this was partially because of some inferior writing from writers Joel Paul Reisig, George P. Saunders and Scott Voshel. Which is some accomplishment in itself. I mean, three writers not being able to come up with something more worthwhile. But it is also due to some rigid characters and dubious acting performances.

The characters portrayed in "A Parent's Worst Nightmare" felt like wooden caricatures that hardly displayed any real or believable emotions or acted as one would think people would act when a family member is abducted and lost for over a month. It just took away so much believability from the movie as a whole.

All in all, then director Joel Paul Reisig just didn't bring contents to the screen where it mattered and "A Parent's Worst Nightmare" felt like a rather mundane and unnecessary movie, to be honest. This is not a movie that left a lasting impression with me, and I sat through it to the very end. Nor is it a movie that I will be thinking about, if someone mentions movies about sex trafficking. It just simply fell short of being outstanding or entertaining.

This 2021 movie is hardly one that I would recommend you wasting your time, money or effort on. My rating of "A Parent's Worst Nightmare" settles on a three out of ten stars.

So right off the bat, we see indicators of how low budget this movie was: poor camera work and impotent acting. This is the type of film I hesitate to review just due to how bare and dull it was.

I almost turned it off but Dean Cain actually wasn't half bad. He put some dedication in what was an otherwise filthy movie. I know nothing about trafficking but can imagine there's inconsistencies in how the topic was handled. Plus there were endless stereotypes used for the traffickers, investigators, and the main family.

There was no excitement and I had no feelings of remorse for any of the characters.

I think the overall message was well intentioned just not delivered well due to the bad acting, it left a lot to be desired. The movie is trying to shed light on a problem faced in society and advising parents to be aware of the actions of their kids, even "good" ones. The actors were obviously not A-List so what can you expect. It was slow and boring at times, not a movie i would pay to see. I gave it 3 stars for the message.