![]() ![]() I felt the producers did a very good job in providing the facts of this 11 year case history. As mentioned earlier the films run time was only approximately 90 minutes and maybe the producers could have provided more in depth of the psyche of both the perpetrator Ariel Castro and the victims at the time of their abduction who were Michelle Knight (21), Amanda Berry (she turned 17 the day after her abduction) and the youngest and last of his victims Gina Dejesus (14) had the film been produced as a 4 or 6 hour mini-series. Castro was arrested on May 06, 2013, more than 10 years and 8 months since he first abducted Michelle Knight. This is both a film about hopelessness, family by circumstances, and the evil of men with no conscience. In fact the film also depicts how Ariel Castro beat Michelle up when he felt she was pregnant with his child and so he ensured Michelle would abort the fetus by hitting her in the stomach with a barbell and kicking her in the stomach. Taryn Manning who played Michelle Knight made the audience feel how a kidnapped victim may have despaired as the years progressed and the abuse continued. The press and police had communicated publicly that she most likely chose on her own accord to disappear as she had lost custody of her son to the state. It is sad to realize that Castro's first victim, Michelle Knight was considered a runaway and very little was done to look for her as she was 21 years old at the time of her abduction. As in the actual events we get to see how Amanda Berry gave birth to Ariel Castro's daughter with the assistance of Michelle Knight who was threatened with death if she did not succeed in ensuring Amanda's baby lived. This 90 minute film also does a good job of encapsulating the friendship and feeling of family the three girls shared which most likely made it a bit more bearable under the circumstances of being chained, beaten and repeatedly raped. Fortunately the director Alex Kalymnios chose to maintain a factual film theme and limit the depiction of the hundreds of rapes and beatings that Ariel Castro subjected his victims to. For those of you who have watched Breaking Bad you will be familiar with Tuco's violent and crazy side so when I first heard that Raymond Cruz was playing the role of the vile Ariel Castro I was a bit concerned that the film may include some gratuitous violence as it was in Raymond Cruz's capacity as an actor to emulate this scum of the earth kidnapper Ariel Castro. ![]() Actor Raymond Cruz recently starred in the multi Emmy winning series Breaking Bad as drug kingpin Tuco Salamanca. Fortunately for the films viewers we were spared any vivid graphic violence and rape of the three girls. ![]() The film does more than an adequate job in the 90 minutes made available to capture the imprisonment of the three young girls and how Ariel Castro first physically and then mentally subjected his kidnapping victims to torture to the point that they knew if they even attempted to escape they would receive a beating. The film focuses mainly on the relationship between the dominant kidnapper Ariel Castro (played by Raymond Cruz) and his first victim Michelle Knight (played by Taryn Manning). Subsequent to Michelle Knight's kidnapping Ariel then kidnapped Amanda Berry on Apand Gina DeJesus on April 02, 2004. Michelle had agreed to get in to Ariel Castro's truck as she knew Ariel's daughter so she failed to see any danger in getting in to Ariel's truck at that time. Michelle was in the process of trying to regain custody of her son from the state when she was abducted. The actual perpetrator Ariel Castro was 42 when he first abducted Michelle Knight on August 21, 2002. This drama is based on actual events that occurred over a period of more than ten (10) years.
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