#Elisabeth fritzl kids now movie

The girl was assaulted, sexually abused and raped numerous times during her imprisonment in the basement of their home in Austria.Įlisabeth gave birth to seven children and three of them remained in captivity with their mother.

#Elisabeth fritzl kids now movie

Furthermore, it proves once again that mainstream movie companies think that no film is complete without a romantic relationship.Elisabeth Fritzl was held captive for 24 years by her father, Josef Fritzl. The relationship between Sarah and Chris adds too much fluff to a disturbing story that deserves to be told accurately. While the Lifetime film does show the love that Sarah has for her children, it also focuses a bit too much on romantic love as the driving force behind Sarah’s will to survive. She survived on willpower and the love of her children. In comparison, an intense movie like Room was able to depict PTSD and the immense psychological and emotional adjustment it takes to enter back into the world after something like this.Įlisabeth’s story is one of strength and survival. Even the ending with Sarah and Chris riding a motorcycle almost seems to erase everything that Sarah endured as the film ends on a happy note. While the song and the fairytale story provide sweet moments between Sarah and her children, it also adds unnecessary filler to a real story that is not about romance. After a week, Josef eventually released Sarah and allowed her to accompany him to the hospital, which led to Josef's arrest. Josef did not allow Sarah to accompany him to the hospital, however, and his odd behavior with medical staff led to Elisabeth's missing person case being reopened. Similarly, the real-life Elisabeth was 42 when she gained her freedom after she convinced Josef to seek medical treatment for their daughter Kerstin who fell unconscious from kidney failure. Don is arrested, and Sarah and her children are rescued. Sarah guilts him into taking Marie to the hospital, where she manages to alert a concerned nurse to her circumstances. Girl in the Basement's climax begins when Sarah and Don's daughter Marie has an asthma attack shortly after Don attempts to murder his daughter and grandchildren by pumping carbon monoxide into the basement. They feel unneeded, almost as if Lifetime felt that the story wasn’t gripping enough without them, and felt the need to ramp up the plot. These attempts add tension and conflict to a story that’s already saturated with emotional strain. However, her signal is spotted by a neighbor who alerts her father, who then beats her, causing her to miscarry her unborn baby, which would have been her fourth child. Related: The Black Phone Has a Scary True Story Behind ItĪ few years later, Sarah makes another attempt by digging a hole in the ceiling and trying to signal with a flashlight for help.

Today, Elisabeth and her six children have changed their names and live in a secret location while Josef remains locked behind bars for the rest of his days. In 2009, Josef pled guilty to the charges and was sentenced to life in prison. Shortly after, her father was arrested on charges of rape, abuse, incest, enslavement, kidnapping, and 'homicide by neglect' for failing to seek medical attention for one of Elisabeth’s babies, who died shortly after birth. Josef said the three children he brought to live with them were found on their doorstep–left there by Elisabeth.Įlisabeth was finally freed in 2008 when a trip to the hospital with her father set off alarm bells from medical staff. Elisabeth's mother, Rosemarie, was tricked into believing that her daughter had run away and joined a cult.

During that time, she gave birth to seven children: three remained with her, three who required medical attention were brought upstairs to live with her unsuspecting mother, and one infant died shortly after childbirth. For 24 years, Elisabeth was locked away in the basement of her family home and suffered rape and abuse at the hands of her deranged father. The 2021 Lifetime movie Girl in the Basementtells the horrifying but true 1984 story of Elisabeth Fritzl, who was imprisoned by her father Josef, in Amstetten, Austria.