Apartment 407 (2018)

Apartment 407 (2018) (Formerly titled 'Selling Isobel') (see below for preview images)

Film in theaters on October 26th and Worldwide Release November 6th

​Directed by Rudolf Buitendach
Written and Produced by Frida Farrell (Glynn Turner, writer)
 
Starring: Frida Farrell, Gabriel Olds, Matthew Marsden
​
IMDb 8.2/10          Rotten Tomatoes NO DATA          Metacritic NO DATA

I just watched a horrifying film depicting a tragic horror that really truly IS based on REAL EVENTS. Formerly titled “Selling Isobel”, this film is based on the real life experiences of Frida Farrell, who plays a woman named Isobel in the movie.
 
Isobel is a Pilates instructor, a mother and a girlfriend.  One day she is approached by two men one day while having lunch.  The first us a homeless man asking for spare change.  When she says she doesn’t have any he gets very rude and belligerent.  Enter man number two.  He hops up from where he is sitting at the restaurant and engages the rude beggar, finally convincing him to leave her alone and leave the restaurant.
 
From that exchange, the good Samaritan tells Isobel how much of a natural beauty she is and how the people he works for are looking for someone just like her for their promo ads. He gives her his card, after she declines his interview invitation repeatedly, and says the job is worth $7000 and to check out his website and then give him a call.  
 
She discusses it with her boyfriend and they decide it’s okay for her to go to the interview, which is a very short photo session to take a couple of test shots.  She shows up at this old apartment building.  She has bad feelings from the get go.  From the moment he talked to her in the restaurant actually.  Yet, with his charm and easy demeanor, he convinces her to go ahead and come up to the fourth floor where the shoot will be happening.  She does and everything goes fine.  He has a studio set up and an assistant named Chloe and she finally feels like everything is legit.  She is told she will get a call if the client picks her.
 
She gets the call. She is told to go to the same place the next day.  And she does, no problems.  She tells her boyfriend the address of where she’s going, to be safe, and rides her bicycle there.  Once she gets there, the charming Samaritan opens the door, allows her to enter and then locks the door behind her.  That, my friends, is where the REAL horror begins.
 
Beaten, drugged and held captive, Isobel does her best to survive and to deal with the heinous and hideous things she is subjected to.  For three days and two nights Isobel is terrorized and tortured, beaten and drugged.  
 
Her bravery and intense will to be back with her daughter, coupled with her instincts turned her from a victim to a survivor.  She wanted her freedom back.  She wanted her daughter back.  She wanted her life back.  She wanted to be home with those she loved and that loved her.
 
The fact that she was able to escape is so incredible all on its own.  There are millions all over the world abducted or sold into human sex trafficking.  By sharing her gripping and emotionally intense story herself, we get a front row seat to the horrors that await so many unfortunate souls.
 
Even at almost two hours, this film is nowhere near dull or slow.  It gets right to the dark and twisted center of the topic at hand. Frida Farrell gives us excellence all the way around.  I found this movie much more terrifying and scary than traditional horror films.  I see this kind of thing on the true crime documentary shows I watch all the time.  This REALLY DOES HAPPEN.  And It can happen to anyone.  THAT is what makes it so horrifying to watch.  Watching this made me feel more horror, terror and EMPATHY than almost any ACTUAL horror flick I’ve seen to date.  It’s entirely gripping and intensely compelling.  This film will give you true insight into one of the worst epidemics destroying the fabric of human society.  This is an important issue.  These are human beings.  This is a story that needs to be told.
 
RATINGS 
5/5 Stars

About the SURVIVOR and writer:

Based on Frida's own horrific true-life experiences, APARTMENT 407 tells the story of Isobel (played by Frida), a young mother whose life is changed when a charming stranger invites her to take part in a photo shoot. Instead, Isobel is kidnapped and sold into the sex trade, and the film concerns her fight to escape. After remaining silent about her own real-life horrific experience for fourteen years, Frida transformed her pain into art not only for personal catharsis, but also as a powerful statement against gendered violence. The result is a harrowing tale of indomitable tenacity that has received 18 film festival nominations. Featuring the work of master cinematographer Stefan Ciupek (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, 127 HOURS), APARTMENT 407 is a chilling depiction of the hellish realities faced by millions of women and girls around the world daily. 
 
Frida was born and raised in Malmo, Sweden, but left at an early age to pursue a modeling career, which brought her to the international runways of Paris, New York, and Milan. At the age of 21, she resumed her studies at the prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Following graduation she started her own London-based theatre company at age 24 where she produced plays. In 2006, she moved to Los Angeles to further explore on-camera work and began working extensively in film and television. She started her own film company, Development Hell Pictures, in 2010. Frida is an ardent human rights activist and has used her platform to fight international and online human trafficking.
 
For more information, please see www.fridafarrell.com. 

Credits for this excerpt only to Anderson Publishing Group

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