Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey (2018 Lifetime)
Cast: Shelby Bain, Alexandra Castillo, Katie Douglas
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Synopsis (via Lifetime)
On the night she plans on taking her own life, a 17-year-old girl is kidnapped and finds herself fighting to stay alive. She manages to talk her attacker into releasing her, but when she returns home, no one believes her story except for one detective who suspects a serial killer abducted her. Based on horrifying real events
Thoughts
The movie begins in Tampa, Florida, in the ’80s. Lisa works at a 24-hour donut shop. (Which seems like an unsustainable business.) Oh her way home, Lisa, on her bike, notices a car slowly following. She is abducted, blindfolded, and taken to an apartment. She is stripped at the motel, forced to shower, and then raped on the bathroom floor. The man’s name is Bobby Joe Long, and he is a serial killer.
The attack brings up memories of past trauma. Lisa’s grandmother’s boyfriend sexually abuses her. When she tells her mother about it, she won’t believe her. It is a pattern of gaslighting that Lisa will face again.
Bobby Joe Long continues to abuse her, and Lisa uses reverse psychology and connects with her attacker to humanize herself so he won’t kill her. The kidnapping breaks news and Bobby Joe Long moves Lisa from where he is keeping her captive. He takes her, bound and blindfolded, to the woods to execute her. Lisa begs for her life and tells him she is his girl. He unties her and tells her to wait five minutes before going to the cops and leaves. She runs for her life.
Lisa bursts into her grandmother’s house and screams about what happened. The grandmother doesn’t believe her and doesn’t want cops poking around her house. She reluctantly calls the police, who bring Lisa in for questioning. They think she is making the story up for attention.
Lady Detectives are brought in to get more details from Lisa. They, too, think she is lying and think her details are also strange. Lisa screams that she was kidnapped and raped and curls into a ball on the couch. Finally, the FBI detective listens to her and gathers evidence. Lisa’s family is not cooperative and refuses hypnosis. The FBI detective gets Lisa to open up about her family and the sexual assault by her mother’s boyfriend. The scumbag is arrested.
Lisa is put in temporary housing and has trouble sleeping through the night. She thinks she sees the car of Bobby
Joe Long, outside the house. The visions terrify her, and she is connected with a therapist who gives her medication.
The police start to think that Lisa’s kidnapper might be the serial killer they are trying to find. The memories and tidbits of details she provides help build a strong case. Could Lisa be the one victim who got away?
Lisa walks the scene of the abduction, and it triggers trauma. She fights through it and wants to help catch the killer. She is driven around by the cops with her eyes closed and runs through the route Bobby Joe Long took her. The police review survivance footage from a gas station and ID the killer.
The police and trail Bobby Joe Long and arrest him. They find traces of blood in his car and evidence in his apartment that corroborate Lisa’s claims.
The Detective tells Lisa that they caught him and thank her for helping them solve a case. They have been working for months to solve it and, with her details, solved the case in 12 days. The who precinct thank her. It is truly remarkable.
Lisa’s family still is the worst. She can’t turn her back on her little sister and helps raise her to keep her safe. Her aunt and uncle raise them. The REAL LIFE, Lisa is now a police officer. I like that she was involved in the making of this movie.
Side Note
Minority Report: Officer Lopez, Detective Russell, and Castle.
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Overall rating
🔪🔪🔪 🔪 🔪 (5 Knives)
🍷🍷🍷 (3 glasses of wine required.)
*Photo Credit: © 2018 Lifetime
