Utah’s most famous crime has a chilling documentary that you need to watch, followed by other kidnapping flicks.<\/b>
\nThis year is starting off strong for Netflix, with over 7,000 movies for you to watch. Some are obviously more worthwhile than others, which is why I’ve put on my streaming cap to recommend a few for the week, using metrics like popularity, ratings on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, and personal preference. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s The Rip is still the top pick, but at a close second is a documentary about one of America’s most famous kidnappings. Learn about Elizabeth Smart and check out some movies that riff off her case.Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart
Certain crimes captivate the world’s imagination, and the mysterious disappearance of Elizabeth Smart is one of them. In June 2002, the then-14-year-old vanished from her bedroom, only to be found by police wandering on a street nine months later. She’d been held hostage by a pair of religious lunatics, and once she was freed became an activist for other missing people. Kidnapped is getting rave reviews for how deeply it delves into every aspect of Smart’s ordeal and her life beyond it.
Director: Benedict Sanderson
Genre: Documentary
Rating: TV-MA
IMDb Rating: 6.7\/10Abducted In Plain Sight
Skye Borgman is one of Netflix’s favorite documentary directors, and 2017’s Abducted In Plain Sight helped build that reputation. This also tells the story of a young girl kidnapped from her own home, but the case of Jan Broberg is even more bizarre, because she got snatched twice by the same guy, family friend Robert Berchtold. Stories of alien abduction, parental complicity, and bungled police work make this one a must-watch that you’ll be talking about with friends long afterwards.
Director: Skye Borgman
Genre: Documentary
Rating: TV-14
IMDb Rating: 6.8\/10Vanished Into The Night
This 2024 Italian film revolves around the abduction of children, this time a twisty thriller full of betrayal and bad vibes. Pietro Torre and Elena Walgren are mid-divorce when their two daughters vanish from the dad’s country house immediately after a man who he owes 250,000 euros to shows up. Now the estranged parents must work together to find ransom money and navigate some very dark corners. I won’t spoil how this one ends, but you won’t see it coming.
Director: Renato De Maria
Cast: Patxi Amezcua, Alejo Flah, Luca Infascelli
Genre: Thriller
Rating: TV-MA
IMDb Rating: 5.2\/10Kidnapping Stella
Our final abduction movie for the week is 2019’s Kidnapping Stella, a remarkably tight German movie with some great atmosphere. When two ex-convicts hatch a scheme to ransom the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, they make the capture just fine but things start to unravel when she recognizes one of them as the father of her unborn child. Betrayal, lies, and some nasty schemes make this one fly by.
Director: Thomas Sieben
Cast: Max von der Groeben, Jella Haase, Clemens Schick
Genre: Thriller
Rating: TV-MA
IMDb Rating: 4.9\/10
Want to see everything that’s new on Netflix this month? We’ve got you covered.<\/p>\n