Girl in the Closet (2023)

Girl in the Closet (2023)

More of an overlong PSA than an actual film, Girl in the Closet uses the shock value of human trafficking, but fails to explore its complex reality

5.0

Movie

United States of America
English
Drama, TV Movie
2023
JAIRA THOMAS
Daijah Peters, Danielle LaRoach, Remy Ma
88 min

TL;DR

This is the kind of TV movie that plays late at night or very early in the morning—basically when no one is up to catch it.

What it's about

After her mother is hospitalized, Cameron (Daijah Peters) is taken under the wings of her Aunt Mia (Tami Roman), a seemingly caring figure with a dark secret.

The take

Girl in the Closet is a low-budget TV movie that gives us a peek into the lives of trafficked children, but nothing more beyond that. There is no compelling story or drama; no suspense as to how the children might possibly escape, or rousing speeches about how the system failed these kids. Instead of a real plot, the movie strings together one shocking abuse after the other and constantly jumps forward in time (one year later, five years later, nine months after) in an attempt to rush towards its predictable ending. It would’ve been thoroughly unwatchable if it weren’t for some dedicated performances, namely by Peters and Roman, who give much more than what the flimsy script and loose editing deserve. 

What stands out

Though the filmmakers have yet to confirm it, some viewers connect the film to the real-life “Girl in the Closet,” a victim named Lauren Kavanaugh who was kept in the closet as a toddler and subject to domestic and sexual abuse. If it’s true that this movie lifts from Kavanaugh’s case, it feels disrespectful to put out something as slapdash as this to commemorate her and other victims’ struggle. It’s this gall, more than anything, that stands out about this movie. 

Comments

Add a comment

What did you think? Who should watch it?

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

More like this in

Bheed (2023)

An intense Indian social drama depicting inequity in a COVID-19 checkpoint

7.7

Lingui: The Sacred Bonds (2021)

Solidarity is salvation in this moving portrait of female resilience

8.3

L’Argent (1983)

This bleak moral tale is a resounding swan song for legendary filmmaker Robert Bresson

8.7

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

A star-studded and riveting legal drama with a blockbuster feel.

9.1

The Guilty (2018)

A minimalist, razor-sharp thriller that will have you gasping for air.

9.0

Rohan at the Louvre (2023)

A riveting supernatural mystery contemplating Japanese art in relation to the world

8.2

System Crasher (2019)

A tale of trauma and one of the most talked about movies on Netflix in 2020.

9.0

Can You See Us? (2023)

Zambia makes its debut on Netflix with this moving drama about a boy with albinism

7.3

A Silent Voice (2016)

A coming-of-age movie that circles around friendship and the atonement of a boy

8.7

Smoke (1995)

A gorgeous indie gem whose every note is worth inhaling

8.7

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2023 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.