TRAFFICKED: A PARENT’S WORST NIGHTMARE

TRAFFICKED: A PARENT’S WORST NIGHTMARE is a sobering drama about the real-life issue of human trafficking, told through the story of one family’s search for their kidnapped teenage daughter. Available on Apple TV, Amazon and other outlets, TRAFFICKED is an intense, well-acted movie stressing prayer, trusting God, justice, and integrity, but there is some brief foul language, and the subject matter warrants extreme caution for mature viewers.

The movie opens on the eve of Allison’s 16th birthday. Allison loves horses and is horseback riding with three of her best friends. At the same time, her parents prepare a surprise birthday party for her. Allison mentions to her friends she’s talking to a guy online she has yet to meet. Late at night, Allison agrees to sneak out of her house and meet with the boy, who she thinks is named Tyler.

When the boy pulls up in his car, things seem normal, but he doesn’t tell Allison where they’re going. Allison realizes the real danger she is in when the boy gets out and shakes a man’s hand. Allison is promptly kidnapped and wakes up on the floor with several other girls who are being trafficked.

Allison’s parents, sister and grandma are shocked she would leave the house on her birthday but assume she’s that she is just with her boyfriend, Tyler. However, after guests have arrived and nighttime descends, Allison’s mother, Joanna, starts to fear her daughter is indeed missing.

Allison’s father, Case, looks for her all the next day but to no avail. After calling the cops leads nowhere, Case says he has a private investigator he can call named John Belton. Joanna is beginning to get desperate, so they hire Belton and his crew. Their price is high, but Allison’s grandma agrees to pay the fee to find her granddaughter.

After months of searching, however, Belton and his crew have come up empty. Joanna has reached the end of her rope. She decides that Belton is a crook who just wanted their money. Case grows depressed and leaves the house to drink. While at the hotel, Case gets drunk and drunk and contemplates suicide, Belton shows up and encourages Case not to give up hope. Despite agreeing as a family to stop paying Belton, Case goes behind their back and rehires him.

As it turns out, Case’s decision is a good one after Belton and his team find their first real lead in a month. There’s a risk the traffickers will move Allison if Belton’s team chooses the wrong house, but Belton leaves it up to Case to make the final decision.

Will Allison ever see her family again?

TRAFFICKED is an intense, sobering, well-acted look at human trafficking. Based on real-life stories, the movie tries to show the horrifying truth that sex trafficking is still a real part of America’s economy. The movie does an excellent job of addressing a graphic subject matter without explicit content. That being said, it is still a weighty and serious attempt to discuss the reality of trafficking properly. The movie contains brief Christian elements and themes like prayer, trusting God, and doing what it takes to protect family. However, by the end of the movie, a sense of hopelessness remains, but this seems to be the movie’s intention. TRAFFICKED also has some strong moral elements like integrity and justice on display, but MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution for mature audiences.