Girl in the Basement (2021) - Full Movie Recap | Based on a True Story — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00The story begins with a teenage girl
2. 0:01named Sarah, full of energy and eager to
3. 0:03live life on her own terms. One evening,
4. 0:06she asks for permission to attend a
5. 0:07party at a friend's house. But her
6. 0:09father, Don, refuses firmly. Sarah turns
7. 0:11to her mother for support, but even she
8. 0:13gently tells her, "Not today, another
9. 0:15time maybe." Disappointed and
10. 0:16frustrated, Sarah storms off to her room
11. 0:19where her older sister tries to talk
12. 0:20with her, but Sarah has already made up
13. 0:22her mind. That night, defying her
14. 0:24parents, she sneaks out with her friend
15. 0:26Christopher and goes to the party
16. 0:27anyway. Later, her mother checks in on
17. 0:29her room and discovers Sarah is missing.
18. 0:31She informs Don, who becomes furious.
19. 0:33The next morning, Sarah returns home.
20. 0:35Her father is livid. He lashes out at
21. 0:38her, scolding her for disobeying. Her
22. 0:40mother arrives just as things escalate,
23. 0:42and Sarah runs to her room in tears.
24. 0:44There, she vents her frustration to her
25. 0:46mother and sister, declaring that she'll
26. 0:48soon turn 18. She tells them she plans
27. 0:50to move in with her childhood friend and
28. 0:52live life freely. Unbeknownst to Sarah,
29. 0:54her father is standing just outside the
30. 0:55door, listening. His face reveals
31. 0:57nothing, but something changes in his
32. 0:59eyes. Without a word, Don quietly heads
33. 1:01to the basement and unlocks a hidden
34. 1:03secret room. From that moment on, he
35. 1:05begins to wait patiently for Sarah to
36. 1:07turn 18. 3 months pass. Sarah is now 18.
37. 1:10One afternoon, while chatting with
38. 1:12Christopher on the phone, she finds
39. 1:13herself alone at home. Her sister is out
40. 1:15and her mother has gone shopping. Don
41. 1:17sees his chance. He asks Sarah for help
42. 1:20moving a heavy box to the basement.
43. 1:21Trusting him, she agrees. But as they
44. 1:23reach the basement, Don opens a door
45. 1:25Sarah had never seen before, a hidden
46. 1:27room. She's stunned. Before she can
47. 1:28react, Don grabs her and forces her
48. 1:30inside. He locks the door, trapping her.
49. 1:33Sarah screams for help, but Don walks
50. 1:35away coldly, unmoved by her cries.
51. 1:37Inside the sealed room, Sarah searches
52. 1:39for anything that might help. She uses a
53. 1:41hairpin to try picking the lock, but the
54. 1:43attempt fails. The lights flicker, then
55. 1:45go out entirely, and with them, the
56. 1:46ventilation shuts down. She opens the
57. 1:48box they brought down together. Inside,
58. 1:51she finds all the essentials she might
59. 1:52need to survive. Toiletries, food,
60. 1:54clothes, items specific to her. It
61. 1:56wasn't just any box. Don had prepared it
62. 1:58for this moment. Desperate, Sarah calls
63. 2:00for help through a small vent, but Don
64. 2:02hears her voice and immediately seals
65. 2:04the opening. The room becomes completely
66. 2:06soundproof, her voice swallowed by
67. 2:08silence. Upstairs, Sarah's mother
68. 2:10becomes increasingly worried. She senses
69. 2:12something is wrong, but Don remains
70. 2:14disturbingly calm. Another day passes
71. 2:16again. Sarah tries the lock again. The
72. 2:18lights go out. When Don returns to the
73. 2:20basement, she attempts to flee by
74. 2:22shoving him aside, but the basement door
75. 2:23is locked, too. Don drags her back into
76. 2:25the secret room and tells her that if
77. 2:27she obeys him, she will be set free.
78. 2:29Sarah refuses. Don becomes aggressive
79. 2:31again. He tries to force submission
80. 2:33through threats and manipulation. Her
81. 2:35condition deteriorates. She's sick,
82. 2:37helpless. A week passes. The police
83. 2:40begin an investigation. Don tells them
84. 2:42that Sarah left on her own to live
85. 2:43independently, just as she always said
86. 2:45she would. But her mother doesn't
87. 2:46believe it. She insists Sarah never
88. 2:48meant to leave like that. The officers
89. 2:50suggest waiting to see if Sarah contacts
90. 2:52them. Meanwhile, Sarah remains trapped.
91. 2:54Heartbroken by her father's betrayal,
92. 2:56she waits in darkness and silence. One
93. 2:58day, Christopher visits the house,
94. 3:00hoping to check on her. Don tells him
95. 3:02calmly that Sarah ran away with her
96. 3:04childhood friend. Time passes. 21 days
97. 3:06later, Sarah's 18th birthday arrives.
98. 3:09Don brings her a birthday cake and
99. 3:10candles. He tells her to make a wish.
100. 3:12Trying to stay hopeful, Sarah
101. 3:14cooperates, hoping that obedience will
102. 3:16earn her freedom. He even gives her a
103. 3:18costume to wear. When Don offers to
104. 3:20grant her a wish, Sarah doesn't
105. 3:21hesitate. She asks to be released. Don
106. 3:23refuses. "Not yet," he says. She then
107. 3:26asks for a clock and a television
108. 3:27instead. Don agrees. The next day, he
109. 3:30brings them to her, but Sarah has been
110. 3:32quietly planning. She fashions a
111. 3:33makeshift weapon using a food can,
112. 3:35hiding it carefully. When she calls Don
113. 3:37near, he approaches, but senses her
114. 3:39intentions. He pauses, aware that
115. 3:41something isn't right. Don had sensed
116. 3:43Sarah's intentions. He realized she was
117. 3:45planning something and responded with
118. 3:46brutal violence. He beat her without
119. 3:48mercy, even breaking her hand. And from
120. 3:50that moment, another year passed in
121. 3:52silence and captivity. Time continued to
122. 3:55crawl forward. Sarah, now pregnant,
123. 3:56suffered in pain until eventually she
124. 3:58gave birth to a baby girl. But Don
125. 4:00showed no joy at the sight of the child.
126. 4:02His face remained cold, indifferent.
127. 4:04Years passed, for to be exact. Sarah's
128. 4:07mother, still haunted by her daughter's
129. 4:09disappearance, missed her deeply.
130. 4:10Meanwhile, in the shadows of the hidden
131. 4:12room, Sarah was pregnant once more. Don
132. 4:15on the surface announced to his wife
133. 4:16that he had received a promotion. In
134. 4:18response, Sarah's mother suggested
135. 4:20hiring an investigator to look into
136. 4:22their missing daughter, but Don
137. 4:23immediately rejected the idea and walked
138. 4:25away. In the basement, the television
139. 4:26Dawn had brought offered Sarah and her
140. 4:28daughter a small escape from the
141. 4:30unbearable monotony. For a moment, it
142. 4:32felt like a rare gift, something normal
143. 4:34in a world that was anything but. Not
144. 4:35long after, Sarah delivered a second
145. 4:37child, a baby boy. But soon her daughter
146. 4:39fell ill with a fever. Don brought
147. 4:41medicine, but it did little to ease the
148. 4:43situation. He and Sarah argued once
149. 4:45again, violence always following.
150. 4:47Christopher, still hoping to uncover the
151. 4:49truth, returned to visit Sarah's home.
152. 4:51There, he spoke with Sarah's sister and
153. 4:53shared what Don had told him, that Sarah
154. 4:55had run off with an old friend. But her
155. 4:56sister felt something was wrong. A part
156. 4:58of her believed Don was hiding
157. 5:00something, that Sarah might still be
158. 5:01nearby. As time went on, Sarah became
159. 5:04pregnant for the third time. The tension
160. 5:05in the house continued to rise. Don's
161. 5:08wife argued with him over Sarah and
162. 5:09after a particularly emotional
163. 5:11confrontation, Don dropped the basement
164. 5:13keys by mistake. Sarah's sister found
165. 5:15them. Curious and cautious, she
166. 5:17descended into the basement where she
167. 5:18discovered unusual objects, items that
168. 5:20felt out of place, suspicious. Her
169. 5:22instincts flared. But before she could
170. 5:24investigate further, Don appeared and
171. 5:26sent her away. Soon after, Sarah gave
172. 5:28birth again, this time to another baby
173. 5:30boy. She begged Don to give the baby to
174. 5:32her mother, hoping he would at least
175. 5:34offer this one child a chance at
176. 5:35freedom. Surprisingly, Don agreed. He
177. 5:37left the child on his doorstep where
178. 5:39Sarah's mother eventually found him.
179. 5:41Alongside the baby was a note written in
180. 5:43Sarah's hand, saying she could not care
181. 5:45for him and asking her mother to raise
182. 5:46the child. But what Sarah didn't know
183. 5:48was that she had also left another note
184. 5:49behind, the one that revealed
185. 5:51everything. In it, she confessed that
186. 5:53Don had imprisoned her in the basement.
187. 5:55When Don read it, his rage erupted
188. 5:56again. He returned to the basement and
189. 5:58forced himself on Sarah as punishment.
190. 6:00Years passed. Sarah's older children
191. 6:02were now growing up, though still locked
192. 6:04away from the world. Don began watching
193. 6:06his daughter in a way that unsettled
194. 6:08Sarah deeply. She knew that same
195. 6:09darkness was now shifting toward her
196. 6:11daughter, and that terrified her more
197. 6:13than anything. Her daughter, struggling
198. 6:15with asthma, became Sarah's greatest
199. 6:17concern. One day, as rain leaked through
200. 6:19the roof, Sarah noticed a soft spot and
201. 6:21realized it might be a way out. She dug
202. 6:23through the ceiling and created a small
203. 6:24hole, using a light at night to signal
204. 6:26for help. One man saw it, but he told
205. 6:28Dawn. Don flew into a rage once more. He
206. 6:31beat Sarah so severely that she suffered
207. 6:33a miscarriage. Another child lost. He
208. 6:35buried the baby alone while Sarah
209. 6:37grieved silently. Despite the darkness,
210. 6:39she never forgot the son she had sent to
211. 6:41her mother. She asked about him often.
212. 6:43Don told her the boy would be playing in
213. 6:45a tournament soon. Her other son, still
214. 6:47trapped with her, asked when they two
215. 6:49could go outside. Don responded coldly
216. 6:51only when their mother behaved. Sarah
217. 6:53apologized, not for herself, but to
218. 6:55protect her children. Her kids didn't
219. 6:57understand. They blamed her, confused
220. 6:59and angry. But later, they regretted
221. 7:01their outburst and asked for
222. 7:02forgiveness. That night, Sarah finally
223. 7:04told them everything. The truth about
224. 7:06Dawn, the horror of what he had done.
225. 7:08The revelation shattered them. Her
226. 7:10daughter, overwhelmed by fear, suffered
227. 7:12another asthma attack. Dawn, furious
228. 7:14that Sarah had revealed the truth,
229. 7:16attacked her yet again. But this time,
230. 7:18her son stepped in to defend her. In
231. 7:20retaliation, Don plunged them back into
232. 7:22darkness, cutting power to the basement
233. 7:24entirely. Time passed. Don quit his job.
234. 7:26His savings ran dry. He received a
235. 7:28foreclosure notice from the bank. His
236. 7:30home was no longer his. When questioned
237. 7:32by his wife, he avoided every answer.
238. 7:34Sarah, meanwhile, worked at breaking
239. 7:36through the ventilation. Desperate, Don
240. 7:38came to a horrifying conclusion. He
241. 7:40could no longer support the lie or the
242. 7:41people trapped within it. He decided
243. 7:43they had to die. He rigged his car to
244. 7:45pump exhaust smoke through the basement
245. 7:47vent. But before he could finish, a
246. 7:48familiar face arrived. Sarah's third
247. 7:50child, the one raised by her mother. Don
248. 7:53paused. The plan was interrupted. More
249. 7:55time passed. Sarah's daughter suffered
250. 7:57another asthma attack. This time, Sarah
251. 7:59begged Dawn to let them seek medical
252. 8:00help. Surprisingly, he agreed, but only
253. 8:03Sarah and the sick child could go. The
254. 8:04boy was left behind. The moment Sarah
255. 8:07stepped outside, memories rushed back.
256. 8:09Her old life, her stolen years, her home
257. 8:11now unfamiliar. At the hospital, her
258. 8:13daughter barely survived. A female
259. 8:15doctor asked her to fill out paperwork,
260. 8:17but Sarah refused. She didn't want to
261. 8:19return to that nightmare. She spilled
262. 8:21water on the form, delaying everything.
263. 8:23While Don left to fetch a new form,
264. 8:24Sarah approached the doctor and hugged
265. 8:26her tightly, desperate for help. A
266. 8:28stroke of fate. A police officer was
267. 8:30nearby. Sensing something was wrong, the
268. 8:32doctor and officer questioned Dawn.
269. 8:34Sarah's trembling plea was enough. The
270. 8:36officer arrested him on the spot. Don
271. 8:38confessed everything. The boy left in
272. 8:40the basement was rescued. Sarah's
273. 8:42mother, upon learning the truth, was
274. 8:44devastated, but finally it was over. Don
275. 8:46was imprisoned. Sarah at long last
276. 8:48walked free, reunited with her mother
277. 8:50and sister. Her children were safe, and
278. 8:52she could breathe again. Later,
279. 8:54Christopher returned to see her. He had
280. 8:56waited all those years, still unmarried,
281. 8:58still holding hope. Together they left
282. 9:00for a long drive, away from the house,
283. 9:02the pain, and the past.