Kidnapped in a Small Town (2025 Lifetime Movie)
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Cast: Alicia Blasingame, Joesy De Palo, Chelsea Rose Cook
Director: Mike Hoy
Writer(s): Jesse Mittelstadt, Richard Switzer
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DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearlySynopsis (via Lifetime)
On a road trip to drop her daughter Ruby off at college, Sarah’s car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. A passing driver, Allie, offers a ride into town for help, and though hesitant, Sarah lets Ruby go while she waits for a tow truck. But when Sarah arrives at a nearby diner to meet them, Ruby is missing, and Allie claims they’ve never met. Alicia Blasingame, Chelsea Rose Cook, Joesy De Palo, and Holly Anspaugh star (2025).
Recap/Wine Thoughts
Sara is the mother of a vegan teenage daughter named Ruby. They are headed on a trip before Ruby heads off for college. Sara tries to keep the mood light, but Ruby is a hater. They stop in a small town, Shadyvale, for some snacks at a gas station, and Sara pays with $100 bills, having a wad of cash she withdrew from the bank.
A local with a boobie sweat jumps out from behind their car and warns the mother-daughter duo that their car is leaking oil. Sara tells the man that they just had the car serviced, and they drive off.
Not ten minutes into their drive, the car breaks down, and Ruby tries to wave down a passing car and is almost run over. Sara tries to call for help, but there is no cell service. A good Samaritan named Allie stops and offers them a ride to the local diner. Sara doesn’t want to leave their fully packed car, so Ruby rides off with the stranger to call for a tow. Ruby promises her mother that she will be safe and shows her some pepper spray.
Sara is alone with the car and thinks back on her dead husband. He was estranged from his family, and Ruby never got to meet her relatives on her dad’s side of the family. Sara fixes the car after finding something unplugged, and she heads to the diner.
At the diner, Sara sees Allie and asks her where Ruby is. Allie says she doesn’t know what Sara is talking about, and Sara thinks the woman is joking. Allie tells the Sheriff that Sara is harassing her and says she has been eating breakfast for the past hour. No one in the diner has seen Ruby. Sara sees that Allie’s eyes are bloodshot and is convinced that Ruby used pepper spray on her.
The Sheriff takes Sara to the station for questioning, and Sara recounts what happened. Sara becomes increasingly distraught, but is relieved when her phone pings and she receives a message from Ruby. The messages take a dark turn, and Ruby says she doesn’t want her mother to hurt her like she did her father. Sara rushes off without the police and goes to the location that Ruby sends her to. When Sara arrives, Ruby is nowhere to be found.
A woman named Jane warns Sara that she isn’t safe in town and warns her to be careful. Shadyvale is SHADY! Jane tells Sara not to trust anyone, especially not the police. Jane’s brother also went missing in town. Jane wants to help Sara find her daughter so that the same thing that happened to her brother doesn’t happen again.
Jane and Sara work out a plan, but it isn’t clear precisely what they are planning to do. Sara takes a taxi to Jane’s house, but the cab drops Sara off in the middle of nowhere at an abandoned home. Sara continues to get strange messages from her daughter about abandoning her. Sara walks through the old house and finds a picture of her, Ruby, and her dead husband, Michael. Is it his family’s old home?
Sara chases a black truck literally down the street, and it leads her to the house of a farmer? The farmer promises to help, and he goes off to investigate a noise. Jane screams for help and shows up with a cut on her arm. The farmer doesn’t return because someone kills him. I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON, AND I HATE MYSTERY LIFETIME MOVIES.
Somehow, clues lead Sara to the creek where Michael died, or no, they don’t. Sara is hallucinating. Sara sees a little girl with a stuffed animal that belongs to Ruby. The little girl and her parents claim they saw Ruby at the diner, and everyone else was lying.
Sara rushes to the diner, and I’m surprised this plot point has come back, but Ruby’s veganism is proof that she was there. Ruby orders a hamburger, hold the “burger.” (I actually did order a Cheeseburger once with no cheese, and the waiter was like “you mean, a hamburger?” So embarrassing.)
Allie sits down with Sara and pours some tea. Allie keeps avoiding Sara’s question and whispers, “Just play along and keep quiet.” The police are in the other room watching on a laptop. The Sheriff tells Sara to take them to Ruby, and no one else needs to get hurt. Sara runs off into the night as police sirens flash.
Sara wakes up on the side of the road, and an elderly couple stops to help her. Sara steals their car instead. She calls Jane to let her know she is okay, and as they talk, Jane is abducted. Sara finds her car abandoned on the side of the road. Sara sits in the car and repeats, “I’m not crazy!”
Now, after a commercial break, Sara is in another home with pictures of Sara, Michael, and Ruby. In a child’s room, the video of Michael’s death plays on a laptop and lures Sarah upstairs. The sweaty booby local grabs Sara, but she fights him off.
Sara rushes to save Ruby, but is stopped by Jane, who is Michael’s sister. She is out for revenge. Whatever. This movie is terrible.
Jane explains how she convinced everyone that Sara was crazy. Jane is the crazy one, and she killed her brother.
Everyone is saved, and Ruby is back. Okay bye.
STRAY Thoughts
Most of the Movie was Sara just screaming for Ruby, and me being confused.
Overall rating
Number of Kills: 🔪🔪🔪 (3 knives)
Lifetime Tropes: Gaslighting, Mother-Daughter relationship,
Enjoyment Level (1-5 scale)
🍷 (1 Glass 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 at @LifetimeUncorked and @patrickmiguel.
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