Cleveland Abduction

Cleveland Abduction
Genre	Thriller
Based on	Ariel Castro kidnappings
Written by	Stephen Tolkin
Directed by	Alex Kalymnios
Starring	Taryn Manning Raymond Cruz Joe Morton
Music by	Tony Morales
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producers	David A. Rosemont Stephen Tolkin
Cinematography	Richard Wong
Editor	Henk Van Eeghen
Running time	88 minutes
Production company	Sony Pictures Television
Original release
Network	Lifetime
Release	May 2, 2015 (2015-05-02)

Cleveland Abduction is a 2015 American crime drama television film directed by Alex Kalymnios from a teleplay written by Stephen Tolkin. Based on the kidnapping of three Cleveland women by Ariel Castro in the early 2000s, the film stars Taryn Manning, Raymond Cruz and Joe Morton. It debuted May 2, 2015 on Lifetime.

The film is based on the memoir, Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed by Michelle Knight.

Plot

In Cleveland, Ohio, Michelle Knight (Manning) a 21-year-old single mother had lost custody of her son. On August 23, 2002, Knight was on her way to the court when she accepted a ride from her acquaintance Ariel Castro (Cruz), who was the father of a schoolmate. However, Castro abducted Knight and held her captive in his home. Finding strength through her belief in God and determined to be reunited with her son, Knight refused to be broken down by Castro. Soon thereafter Castro kidnaps and rapes two more girls, Amanda Berry (Droke) and Georgina "Gina" DeJesus (Sarife). These girls too become imprisoned along with Knight. They become friends and fellow victims; treat each other as sisters through their years in captivity.

When Berry became pregnant with Castro's child, it was Knight who delivered her baby, even performing CPR on the infant girl under the threat of Castro killing her if Berry's child didn't survive. Despite enduring more than a decade of brutality and captivity, Knight's spirit would not be broken as her faith in the face of what she once thought would be a hopeless situation was a testament to the human spirit. On May 6, 2013, Berry succeeds in escaping from the house and the police arrive and released the women. Knight is finally given the chance to reclaim her life after nearly 11 years of captivity.

Cast

• Taryn Manning as Michelle Knight
• Raymond Cruz as Ariel Castro
• Katie Sarife as Gina DeJesus
• Samantha Droke as Amanda Berry
• Pam Grier as Carla
• Joe Morton as Agent Solano

See also

• Ariel Castro kidnappings - the case on which the book this movie was based on, was itself based on.

External links

• Cleveland Abduction at IMDb
• Cleveland captivity abc story