Girl in the Box – 2016 – Based on a True Story

Girl in the Box is based on a true story. It’s always uncertain how many facts and how much fiction there are in films like this but in hindsight, it seems pretty legit if you ask me. I think that the torture bits are a little toned down though. Maybe not compared to the reality behind the movie but compared to other movie violence. Most of it is kept off-screen and you’ll have to imagine what happens. Not all of course. Some are very clear, like som whipping for instance. Though, there is no explicit footage showing wounds and /or blood.

But to start from the beginning. It starts off with this couple hiding a body in the woods. They have a shovel and bury the body somewhere in the wilderness. This sets the tone of course. We learn that the woman is highly religious and the real sadist is the man. He is the driving force for real. Soon we get to see another young woman hitchhiking and that the couple picks her up. That is the beginning of seven-year imprisonment where she’s tortured and held as the couples slave. It’s evident that the woman in the couple is not comfortable with the situation but she still needs her to take the pain. As long as there’s a slave around she, herself, doesn’t have to suffer to her husband’s BDSM urges. He can use the slave instead.

AS a fan of strong movies I would have liked the imagery to be a little more explicit. I honestly think it’s a bit lame. Of course, the situation that the woman is in is horrible. She’s in pain and she finds herself buríed in hopelessness. There is no escape and sheäs brainwashed into believing that there is a might corporation that will hunt her down and punish her severely if she tried to escape. A situation that would be far worse than what she’s already into. She here horrifying stories about those who tried to escape and lost arms and legs because of it. Painful deaths etc.

A Stockholm-syndrome-like relationship is developing. More and more she believes that she really has no choice of being a slave. Even if she’s out of her cage she still feels like he belongs. She has accepted her situation and willingly submits to her master. It’s actually really sad to witness her degradation. She’s broken down totally.

A little more nerve and a little more terror and Girl in the Box would have been a monster hit in my mind. But there’s not enough terror. It becomes a little vanilla and the disgust we as an audience are supposed to feel becomes a little pale.