Girl in the Video (2024 Lifetime)

Girl in the Video (2024 Lifetime)

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Cast: Cush Jumbo, Matthew Marsden, Tia May Watts

Director: Neil Rawles

Writer: Matthew Broughton

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Synopsis (via Lifetime)

Inspired by real events, Girl in the Video examines the story of widowed mother Mo (Cush Jumbo, The Good Fight, Criminal Record) who is managing parenting two teens the best she can. Her daughter Krissy (Tia May Watts, The Chelsea Detective) has begun secretly chatting online with Toby, whom she believes is a cute high school senior, and Krissy sneaks out one night to meet him at a party. When Mo discovers she’s missing the next morning, Mo and her son Robbie start an all-out search for her and alert local detectives. As the case garners media attention, an anonymous tip reveals Krissy is being held captive and exploited in sexually abusive live streams for money on the dark web. Racing to find Krissy before she is murdered, Mo and Robbie track down every clue they can to try to bring Krissy home.

Recap/Wine Thoughts.

The movie starts with a video, and there is a girl, uh, being kidnapped?!?!

Cut to Mo, a single mother getting back into the dating scene with encouragement from her best friend/Sister, Jen. Mo’s teenage kids, Robbie and Khrissy, argue and stress their mother out when she is already nervous about her date. Khrissy helps her mom look up her date online and says he seems boring. Her kids are supportive of her dating, which is a nice change. 

Khrissy messages with someone online and seems attached to her devices. She asks her mom to go to a party with some older guys, but Mo isn’t. The guy’s name is Toby, and he is a senior at another school. Khrissy is not letting the party go and keeps pushing. Mo cuts her daughter slack because of her father recently dying and everything. 

Disobeying her mother’s wishes, Khrissy hops on her bike and rides it to an abandoned cabin in the woods to meet Tony. The car pulls up, and Khrissy rushes to it only to be attacked by a man in a mask who abducts her and ties her up in the back of his pickup truck. (It is intense.) 

Jen and Mo searched for Khrissy as soon as they realized she had been missing. Robbie asks around the school, and the principal makes an announcement. Mo calls the police after 12 hours to report her daughter missing. A detective questions them and takes Khrissy’s tech. 

Next, they talk to her friend, Luna, who tells them about the cute guy named Toby. They also find the bike and go public with the information.

Khrissy watches the news story and cries because her masked kidnapper tells her that no one will find her. 

Lt. Brennen searches the dark web, finds a video of Khrissy, and calls the FBI. The Department of Missing and Exploited Children is on the case. 

He shows Mo the video, which is hard for her to watch. The kidnapper is charging people with cryptocurrency, and he is highly organized. The FBI agent asks Mo and Robbie to list every man they know. Mo finds a book from the guidance counselor that is signed, “Hugs and Kisses,” and she beats his ass!!!!!

The masked kidnapper opens up to Khrissy about his daughter and says that his ex-wife took her away from him. When she tries to ask him questions, he goes into a rage, and the violence escalates. Then he later shows Khrissy pictures of his daughter and asks her for advice on becoming a better father. The masked figure eventually unmasks himself, and Khrissy sees his face. 

 The videos continue to be released of the man beating Khrissy. The FBI tracks the real Toby and learns that he died from a tumor, and his social media presence is sold on the dark web for $8. Then, the kidnapper made over 20 social media profiles to make Toby look more legit and messaged Khrissy from those. He also used an encrypted IP. Mo is so frustrated that the FBI isn’t getting any closer to finding the real person, and she slaps him across the face!!!!!!

Chained and weak, Khrissy tries to work on her restraints slowly. He almost catches her, and she asks him about the sky. She wants to go outside. (That isn’t going to happen.) He tells her that his name is Jack Sweeney because nothing matters to him anymore, and she will never get to tell anyone about him. 

Khrissy watches her mother on national news, pleading for her daughter to return to her. Khrissy asks Jack why he is doing this. He tells her that he makes good money and asks if her brother watches their videos. He knows all about her family and tells her it will all be over for Khrissy soon. 

Robbie begs the FBI to see the video, which disturbs him greatly. He cries in his mother’s arms as she comforts him. 

Khrissy fights for her life and tries to stab her kidnapper with a screwdriver. He angrily makes another video, and she tries to scream his name. The FBI tries to get more information on Jack S.

The “End Game” is scheduled for 10 pm on the dark web, and Jack has a devious plan for the final video. 

Robbie breaks the case and finds a chat on his game console. It is between Khrissy and the kidnapper. They track the IP address and find the kidnapper’s wife and daughter’s home. The FBI questions the mother and daughter. They have his address and rescue Khrissy. 

The FBI arrest Jack Sweeney at his job. 

The family and Khrissy are reunited at the hospital. The end! 

Side Note/Stray Thoughts

This movie really just gives parents even more places to worry about their kids being catfished! Yikes! 

Jack Sweeney’s family was like, “He is WERID!” LOL

Overall rating

 Number of Kills: None (0 knives)

Enjoyment Level (1-5 scale) 

🍷🍷🍷 (3 Glasses of Wine)

Should you watch it?

Pour it up! (Give it a shot)

Put a Cork in It (Skip It)

What did you think of the movie? Let me know in the comments or on social media @LifetimeUncorked & @patrickmiguel 

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