Girl in the Basement (2021), a Lifetime movie directed by Elisabeth Röhm and written by Barbara Marshall, is a scary story that has made people horrified and curious about where it came from. Sara (Stefanie Scott), a smart and driven teen who can’t wait to turn 18 and get away from her controlling father Don (Judd Nelson), is at the center of the story. But her plans to be free are cut short when Don locks her in the basement of their house. This becomes a dream that lasts for twenty years.
As the movie goes on, Don tricks his wife Irene (Joely Fisher) into thinking that Sara ran away. At the same time, he sneaks into Sara’s basement to torture her unbearably, including abusing her over and over again. Sara gives birth to several children by herself over the years. Don’s web of lies keeps getting more complicated when he leaves one of the kids at the family’s door with a note that he says was written by Sara. Irene is now sure that her daughter did run away but is still alive. At the very end of the movie, Sara finally gets away and tells her family the horrible truth.
A scary thing about Girl in the Basement is that it’s based on real events. The famous Josef Fritzl case is the basis for the movie, which is part of Lifetime’s “Ripped From the Headlines” box set. Let’s learn more about the horrifying true story that this exciting movie is based on.
The Real Story Behind “Girl in the Basement”
Elisabeth Fritzl was held captive by her father, Josef Fritzl, in Amstetten, Austria, from 1984 to 2008. The story of Girl in the Basement is a lot like her shocking case. In real life, Josef locked Elisabeth up in a hidden basement for 24 years in a quiet Austrian town, though the movie takes place in the United States.
Elisabeth’s trouble started when Josef tricked her into going into the basement by saying she would be helping him put in a door. Once she was inside, he locked her in and used an ether-soaked cloth to knock her out. She had to write a letter to her mother, Rosemarie, saying she had run away and didn’t want to be found. This was something Josef made her do. This letter was part of Josef’s plan to explain why she disappeared so quickly and keep people from thinking she was up to no good.
Over the next 24 years, Josef raped Elisabeth many times, and seven children were born as a result. Three of the children stayed with Elisabeth as prisoners in the basement. One of them died soon after birth, and the other three were taken upstairs to live with Josef and Rosemarie. Josef told his wife and social workers that Elisabeth had left these kids because she was living somewhere else and couldn’t take care of them.
Elisabeth and her three children were held captive in the basement, where conditions were unbearable. At one point, Josef made them dig with their bare hands to make the prison bigger. Even though things were very bad, Elisabeth tried to give her kids a sense of normalcy by teaching them to read and write and telling them stories about the world they had never seen.
In 2008, one of Elisabeth’s children, Kerstin, got very sick. This was the turning point. Josef made the mistake of letting Kerstin be taken to the hospital, which cost him his life. The medical staff became suspicious and called the police, who found out the horrible truth about Elisabeth’s captivity. Josef Fritzl was arrested on April 26, 2008, and was later given a life sentence.
Read More: Where Is Elisabeth Fritzl Now?
Changes Made to the Movie
The plot of Girl in the Basement is very similar to Elisabeth Fritzl’s book, but some details were changed for the movie. There were changes made to the characters’ names and the movie was set in the United States. The order of events and some plot points were also changed to fit the way the story was told in the movie.
One big difference is that the movie adds a character named Chris who is Sara’s boyfriend. Elisabeth Fritzl didn’t have anyone like Chris in real life. A creative choice was made by the filmmakers when they added this character and his love story. Some critics have said that this part takes away from the seriousness of Elisabeth’s situation by adding an unrealistic, feel-good side story.
The way Sara’s escape is shown is another big change. On the other hand, Sara and her kids have a somewhat happy ending in the movie, while Elisabeth’s story is very sad. After she was freed, Elisabeth had to go through years of therapy to deal with the mental damage her father had caused. Some people think that the movie’s ending, which makes it seem like everything will be okay in the end, oversimplifies the long-term effects of such a terrible event.
Why Girl in the Basement Hits Home
Even with the changes, Girl in the Basement is still a strong and unsettling story about abuse and manipulation. The movie doesn’t make the bad guy likeable, which is a common mistake. Like Josef Fritzl in real life, Don’s character is shown to be a manipulative and severely mentally ill person who controls his family by making them afraid and lying to them.
The movie’s look at the mental and emotional effects of being held captive shows how strong survivors can be. Sara’s determination to keep her kids safe and her eventual escape show how strong people can be, even when things look the worst.
Read More: Is ‘The Calendar Killer’ Based on a True Story? The Truth Behind the Prime Video Thriller