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Girl In The Basement begins with a rather rushed scene which doesn’t quite give away precisely what’s happening, other than Don Cody (Judd Nelson – Transformers: The Movie) and his daughter, Sarah (Stefanie Scott – I.T.), going into hospital, but to avoid spoilers, the rushing aspect does rather benefit that, as you’re not quite sure exactly what’s happening.
We know that then, it goes back 20 years later, even though Mr Nelson, best known for The Breakfast Club, doesn’t look massively different, as he still has a ridiculously bushy goatee (MEN! SHAVE THOSE OFF! THEY LOOK RIDICULOUS!)
Once we go back in time, Don is annoyed that teenage daughter Sarah is staying out all night with her boyfriend, Chris (Jake Etheridge), and heads down to the cellar to brood, but there’s a locked door with mysteries behind…
Meanwhile, his family have no idea what he does down there, and think it’s just his “man cave”, but when he asks Sarah to help take some items down to the cellar, he claims it’s the bomb shelter created by the previous owner… and locks her in.
Initially, she’s seemingly left down there for four days, without food, since the script skirts past a number of days, so she may have done. Either way, she can’t escape because even if she tries the keypad on the door, three failed attempts and the power and ventilation shut off… So, this is partly about wearing the victim down.
But there’s worse to come, because it’s based on the Josef Fritzl case, where he also abused his daughter, Elizabeth, sexually. Girl In The Basement does stick to a fair number of the facts in that horror, but does rather canter through the years because it has to fit it in within 90 minutes.
Along the way, at just 38 days in, we see Don allows her to have a can opener, and cans have serated edges… Can that provide a way out?
Either way, you do need a strong stomach for this, especially when we get to a year in and she’s not only heavily pregnant, but about to give birth… It’s very stomach-churning to watch.
If you’ve seen Room, you’ll get an idea, but I can’t begin to imagine what would go through the mind of someone like Don/Fritzl wanting to do this. And since we know that Sarah is later seen back on solid ground 20 years later, how the whole family begins to process all of this later on, is anyone’s guess.
However, it’s not about the destination, but the journey, so you need to stick with the harrowing detail.
As for Sarah’s disappearance, initially? Well, you’ll see, but despite it being a ‘made for TV’ movie, it is certainly worth watching.
Of course, it’s impossible to get many, many years of pain and anguish into 90 minutes. As such, it strarts to get crazy-disturbing when the kids are almost as old as she was when she first ended up down there.
Ms Scott does a fantastic job in her role of Sarah, and Nelson shows he still has the acting chops, so it’s a shame he’s not back in regular rotation in mainstream cinema. Perhaps now is the time?
Girl In The Basement is stated to be a “Paramount+ original”, but similarly, Sky and Amazon also have “original” movies, yet like this one, they’ve bought it in from somewhere else, so in the case of this film, it premiered in February 2021 on other streaming platforms.
As an aside, the Josef Fritzl case is a horrific one, and would you believe that in 2023, he’s actually eligible for parole?!
Thanks to our friends at Paramount+ for the screener prior to release.
Girl In The Basement is on Paramount+ from tomorrow, but is not available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 83 minutes
Release date: February 7th 2023
Studio: Paramount+
Format: 1.78:1
Rating: 7.5/10
Director: Elisabeth Röhm
Producers: Alex Kerr, Ron Robinson, Eric Tomosunas
Screenplay: Barbara Marshall
Music: Ozzy Doniz
Cast:
Don Cody: Judd Nelson
Sarah Cody: Stefanie Scott
Irene Cody: Joely Fisher
Marie Cody: Emma Myers
Michael Cody: Braxton Bjerken
Thomas: Jake Nuttall
Amy Cody: Emily Topper
Toddler Michael: Liam Pileggi
5yr old Marie: Madison Johnson
Chris: Jake Etheridge
Toddler Marie: Sydney Kowalske
Investigative Police Officer: Mac Wells
Hospital Police Officer: Nic Starr
Attending Physician: Yossie Mulyadi
Dog walker: Vince Pisani
Nurse: Carmen Alexis
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.