The Girl Who Wasn’t Dead (2024 Lifetime)
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Cast: Lyndsy Fonseca, Emma Tremblay
Director: Simone Stock
Writer(s): Yuri Baranovsky, Angela Gulner
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DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearlySynopsis (via Lifetime)
A Lifetime Original movie inspired by true events, The Girl Who Wasn’t Dead tells the story of 15-year-old Erica (Emma Tremblay) who vanishes without a trace. Authorities believed Erica may be the victim of a local serial killer, but her mother, Carrie (Lydnsey Fonseca) refused to believe the worst. In an incredible turn of events, Erica emerges from the shadows at her own murder trial, three years after her disappearance. Erica wasn’t abducted, but had run away and chosen to live in seclusion with her 21-year-old boyfriend, Andrew (Kyle Clark), less than a mile from her mother’s house. Banned from seeing her older boyfriend, Erica chose to spend her teenage years hiding from visitors and concealed behind drawn curtains.
Recap/Wine Thoughts
Inspired by True Events.
In July 2005, a teen named Erica, with some severe Nickelodeon vibes hides out in a seedy hotel on the run with a hunk named Andy. It turns out that the hunk is a manipulator/statutory rapist who has convinced Erica to run away with him. Erica is fifteen. Her mother, Carrie, is going through a divorce, and her wits end with her rebellious daughter.
Carrie’s soon-to-be ex-husband lives three hours away and is starting a new family with a baby! He blames Carrie for not being strict enough. The parents are extra stressed because a local teen, Ana Martinez is missing and is around Erica’s age.
Erica has a GAY FRIEND, YAY! He gives her the best advice, “Don’t get murdered.” Erica, of course, doesn’t listen and skips school to meet back up with Andy. (Does Erica also have a pager? Which was totally not allowed in schools; pagers are for drug dealers.) Andy breaks up with Erica because she is underage, and his case isn’t looking good if he keeps getting caught canoodling with a minor.
1 Month later, things seem to be getting better with Andy out of the picture. Erica helps around the house and gets along with her mother better. Erica even gives her mom a hug at school drop-off. (RED FLAG)
The Gay Friend, Liam, goes bowling with Erica, and she is acting strange. She orders a bunch of food and puts it on his tab, and Liam vents to the server that he wants to “kill that bitch.” It is a bad choice of words because Erica doesn’t come home at the end of the night.
Carrie freaks out and goes to the cops; they are not too worried because Erica has run away before. They searched Andy’s house and found nothing. He has a solid alibi. Carrie goes to the motel to look for her daughter. The motel manager tells Carrie to hang up the missing person flyer on the wall of missing girls at the motel. (Not a good look!) After some pressure from Carrie, the police chief agrees to hold a press conference.
Carrie teams up with Ana’s mother, Martina. They use their mother’s intuition and round up volunteers to sweep the county. They don’t find anything.
Two years later, the bowling alley manager comes forward with a memory about Liam, saying he was going to kill Erica. The police brought him in for questioning but cleared him pretty quickly after a serial killer admitted to a fellow inmate about killing girls. There are maps of where the bodies are buried. The map uncovers the bodies of multiple girls, but still no Erica.
Three years missing, the family decides to hold a funeral for Erica, even though no body has been found. Andy shows up to the service crying, and Carrie basically tells him to go to hell.
In court for the murders, ERICA SHOWS UP ALIVE????? WTF??!?!?
The movie rewinds to August 21st, 2001, the day Erica disappeared, and we see the story from her perspective. She gives her mother that awkward hug and goes bowling with Liam. Instead of going home, Erica stays at Andy’s house and stays with him. He sets up a keyboard for her to play music and lets her decorate the house. Erica was even in the house when the police searched his home., hiding in the vents. Andy wants to come clean, but Erica convinces him to hide her in his house now that the police have cleared him.
They hide out and act like they are having a freaking sleepover??! Erica and Andy see Carrie on the news and convince themselves they are doing nothing wrong; it is romantic. After three months, Erica is going stir-crazy and wants to go out. She is severely depressed and lethargic as time ticks by and feels trapped. (Her family also thinks she is dead, so there is that!!!) Erica shows no remorse or concern about faking her own disappearance and now death. Erica even sends Andy to her memorial.
After almost four years in captivity of her own making, Erica wants out. She calls a tipline about her missing file case and tells them that she isn’t dead and just wants to go home. Erica hopes that coming forward at 18 will keep Andy out of trouble.
Back at court, Erica apologizes to her mother and cries in her arms. The press has a field day with the story. Erica is surprised at how unsympathetic the public is to her story but feels like she deserves to be punished for what she did. Carrie blames herself for not being there enough for her daughter. Erica’s brother wants nothing to do with Erica because she ruined his life. (I can’t blame him; he only tells Erica how selfish she was.)
Carrie and Erica talk to the “National media” while Andy serves jail time. They have to pay for the police work that went into solving her case, and Andy will get out of jail in no time! Andrew and Erica continue living in the home she couldn’t leave for four years. Erica takes full responsibility for the plan and tells the press that Andy DIDN’T manipulate her fifteen-year-old brain.
The movie ends with a freaking cookout and Erica talking about how free she fells. Wow. What is the point of this movie?
Side Note/Stray Thoughts
The lead characters are framed as some kind of romantic Romeo and Juliet, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. They are manipulative, selfish, and delusional.
Emma Tremblay is the sister of actor Jacob Tremblay. (Room, Wonder)
The “true story” aspect of this is very loose. I couldn’t identify one story that resembled this case.
Overall rating
Number of Kills: 🔪🔪🔪 (3 knives)
Enjoyment Level (1-5 scale)
🍷(1 Glass of Wine)
Should you watch it?
Put a Cork in It! (Skip It!)
What did you think of the movie? Let me know in the comments or on social media at @LifetimeUncorked and @patrickmiguel.
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*Photo Credit: © 2024 A&E Television Networks, LLC
That was a complete waste you said put a cork in it but I got bored and watched it anyways. I mean god she is so selfish and naive
Found this on Hulu and watched it, and then wondered why I watched it, and then wondered what true story this was based on.
Anyway I found this and have to agree this was not worth watching. Also, the story was based on a woman named Natasha Ryan.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natasha_Ryan
Oh, Interesting!!!! Thanks for this.