OH MY GOD!
If you love true crime, you need to stop what you’re doing right now and run, don’t walk, run to your nearest Netflix portal.
Abducted In Plain Sight is about a pedophile who cozied up to a nice suburban family in order to have access to their young daughter, Jan. Lots of pedophiles know that you catch more flies with honey, and this guy was the whole damn hive. Apparently charming as hell, the “fun dad” from across the street, “B” would do anything to get close to Jan, and Jan’s parents were naive and trusting and just plain dumb. I mean, dumb enough that they BOTH had their own sexual relationships with this man when all the while all he cared about was screwing their kid. Which they basically invited to happen as they allowed him to sleep beside her in her bed because he asked nicely.
He kidnaps her eventually, and I’m not sure why since he had such cushy, unfettered access to her even in her own home, but he clearly had this elaborate hoax ready and was intent on seeing in through. He gets aliens in on the scheme, and a winnebago in Mexico. It’s pretty sordid stuff. But eventually Jan is returned home, months later, and apparently married to this guy even though she’s all of 12, and the parents drop all charges. But they don’t understand how brain-washed Jan is, and how motivated B is to continue their relationship. It just goes on and on and on. I guarantee you you’ll scream at your TV. How could any parent be this stupid, this cavalier with their daughter’s body, her well-being?
This film is bananas. You can’t and don’t want to believe it’s true, and yet here is Jan, all grown up, very neatly and intelligently laying the story out for us. And even more amazing than her survival is her forgiveness of her parents who failed her on pretty much every level a parent can, and then when they ran out of ways to fuck her over, they went ahead and invented some more for good measure. And the film goes out of its way to assure us that THESE ARE GOOD PEOPLE. Sure they are. But…but what the hell? How could this happen? Honestly, this story is so crazy you’ll need to hear it from Jan’s own lips to believe it, and then you’ll need to scrub your brains out with soap just to go on with your life because seriously dudes, WHAT THE HELL? You could make a legit drinking game out of just seeing how many times you mumble WHAT THE FUCK while watching this thing. It’s only 90 minutes long BUT YOU WILL DIE OF ALCOHOL POISONING FOR SURE.
I CAN’T EVEN with this review. It’s been a few days but I’m still reeling, and still really wanting to subject as many people as I can to this, because I shouldn’t have to experience this haunting on my own.
I’m grimacing reading this. And WTFing.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hmm…..this is not so much a film about B the creepy, sneaky, convincing, perv, as it is a film about the town that puts Qualudes in their drinking water. Everybody…..I mean EVERYBODY…..is dumb as a sock full of gassed roaches. Even the FBI agent who worked the case, at one point he’s speaking about walking into B The Pedophile’s trailer and finding the walls plastered with pictures of the young female child of hi desires.”It was like a mosulume, the way he had all those pictures up”.
Yep, shucks, I think the lead FBI agent meant shrine.
But like I said, this is an entire 90 minutes of how stupid can people be. EVERYBODY. AInknow, I’m back to saying everybody.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I saw this when browsing for something the watch the other night but I was put off by the last documentary I watched (something about serial killers but it was as dull as dishwater, couldn’t get through the first episode). Will add this to my list now so thanks for the heads up, sounds like an interesting, yet horrific because it’s true, one. x
LikeLike
oh yeah, no dishwater here!!
LikeLike
thank you for being the person who manages what I watch.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I guess I’ll have to queue this one up then. Always like a good crime doc.
LikeLike
Wow, okay – it’s on my list. Ready to get my WTF on
LikeLike
I saw this when it played a local festival. I and most of the audience were in disbelief that it was a true story. More than one of us had to Google it before we fully believed it.
LikeLike
I guess I don’t have a choice. Watching it this weekend. 🙂
LikeLike
Holy Hell… and those are clean cuss words. JESUS, how do these things happen to children? At least Jan survived!
LikeLike
No. I don’t think I can handle this. I’ll leave it to those that enjoy watching this sort of thing.
LikeLike
sounds so sad
yet true 😦
an amazing
act of forgiveness.
LikeLike
Great review. It’s the horrors of other human beings that just make me want to avoid these true crime documentaries, but they pull you back in all the time.More because you cannot believe people like this exist to behave in this way!
LikeLike
I’ll leave this one one the table. It’s a little too close to home.
LikeLike
I am one of those who will get so pissed at things like this – and it’s not like there isn’t already 495960392 things to irk someone as they wake up each morning so sometimes I wonder & question in advance whether I should even watch at all.. #Nervousbreakdown 🙂
LikeLike
This one has been on my Netflix’s recommended list for weeks, but it didn’t really pique my interest. Until now, that is. Great review!
LikeLike
I can’t watch shit like this, instant rage. I appreciate your review though!
LikeLike
Hah, yes. Up my alley. Will watch and report back.
LikeLike
Just reading this made me say wtf multiple times so I can imagine how many more times watching it will do.
LikeLike
Well, you succeeded, I watched it first thing as you said. Can you direct me to watch something really good the next time, please? I mean uplifting, breezy and full of love. Not that this wasn’t worth it. Can’t even about sums it up. Why is she so familiar to me? Is she an actress? Do I have a friend that reminds me of her? Also, goes well with the Neverland reports (haven’t seen it yet but you know).
LikeLike
Yes she is an actress, look up her Wikipedia page, and see her film career. I do remember her in the criminal minds episode. The irony *eye roll*
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ew, icky! Is this actually a true story, or a “mockudrama”?
LikeLike
Yes she is an actress, look up her Wikipedia page, and see her film career. I do remember her in the criminal minds episode. The irony *eye roll*
LikeLike
I had to wait weeks to reply to this because I must have said, “What fresh hell?” every 60 seconds during this show. Bananas is right. Fucking bananas.
LikeLike
It’s been a while since I have watched this and I still can’t get my head around this bizzare documentary. It is just beyond belief.
LikeLike