Girl in the Basement true story: Horrific real-life case behind Lifetime movie

Girl in the Basement revolves around Sara (Stefanie Scot), a teenager who is held captive by her father Don (Judd Nelson) in their family basement.

Don tells his wife Irene that Sara has run away and holds her captive in the basement for decades, torturing and raping her underground.

The film is inspired by elements from the real-life case of Josef Fritzl, though speaking to TheWrap, Röhm said the film was also based on multiple other stories.

"It's a horrible thing to be able to say that this did not just happen once," she explained. "The film is a call to action to put the spotlight on the monster that lives within any household, who is not confronted and goes with no accountability because the mother or children or the wife is turning a blind eye to behaviour that, when it's ceded, can grow into a monster like this.

"Lifetime has broken boundaries with this movie by telling a story that's a call to action about abuse on a very significant level."

Want to know more about the case? Read on for everything you need to know about the true story behind Girl in the Basement.

Girl in the Basement true story: How many children did she have?

While the film changes names, locations and doesn't strictly follow the exact events that occurred in real life, it is tragically based on a true story.

In the film, Sara is a stand-in for Elisabeth Fritzl, an Austrian girl who went missing on 28th August, 1984, at the age of 18.

Her mother Rosemarie filed a missing-persons report, but her father, Josef Fritzl managed to fool everyone by getting Elisabeth to write a letter claiming that she had run away and didn’t want to be found.

In reality, Fritzl knew exactly where Elisabeth was – in the basement of her family home where he had imprisoned her.

While in the film Don keeps Sara imprisoned for 20 years, in real life Elisabeth was kept in captivity for 24 years, during which time she was repeatedly raped and abused and gave birth to seven children.

Three remained in the cellar and were tortured alongside Elisabeth, while one died shortly after being born. Fritzl brought three of the children up to live with him, planting them on the doorstep of the family home and pretending they'd been sent by Elisabeth.

She was discovered and freed in 2008. In 2009, Josef Fritzl pleaded guilty on all counts to the charge of manslaughter by negligence of his grandchild, and charges of false imprisonment, incest and rape of Elisabeth. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and remains in prison.

Elisabeth and her six children now live safely in an undisclosed location and are guarded by Austrian authorities.

Who stars in Girl in the Basement?

The film stars Judd Nelson (The Breakfast Club) as Don, while Stefanie Scott (Insidious: Chapter 3) plays Sara.

The rest of the cast is rounded out by Joely Fisher, Emma Myers, Braxton Bjerken, Jake Nuttall and Emily Topper amongst others.

If you've been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can find help, support and more information at Rape Crisis and Victim Support.

Girl in the Basement is available to watch on My5.

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