While many of Lifetime's fan-favorite crime dramas are fictionalizations, some of their most shocking and spine-chilling original movies are actually based on true events. The network's latest, The Girl Who Wasn't Dead, is one such true crime adaptation, centered on a teenage girl who vanishes without a trace, only to reemerge years later at the place you'd least expect.
Debuting tonight, October 5 at 8pm Eastern Time on Lifetime, The Girl Who Wasn't Dead tells the story of 15-year-old Erica—played by Emma Tremblay, sister to actor Jacob Tremblay (Room, Wonder)—who mysteriously disappears from home one day. She's believed by local authorities and the larger community to be a victim of a serial killer, though her mother Carrie (Lydnsey Fonseca) refuses to believe the worst.
However, "in an incredible turn of events, Erica emerges from the shadows at her own murder trial, three years after her disappearance," reads the official movie description, per Lifetime. "Erica wasn’t abducted, but had run away and chosen to live in seclusion with her 21-year-old boyfriend, Andrew (Kyle Clark), less than a mile from her mother’s house. Banned from seeing her older boyfriend, Erica chose to spend her teenage years hiding from visitors and concealed behind drawn curtains."
Along with Tremblay, Fonseca and Clark, the movie's cast includes Logan Pierce, Bronwen Smith, Everett Andres, Paul du Toit, Scott Fee and Isa Sanchez. And Simone Stock directs from a script by Yuri Baranovsky and Angela Gulner.
To watch the premiere of The Girl Who Wasn't Dead on Saturday, October 5, you're going to need access to the Lifetime network. Those with cable packages can watch on their local Lifetime channel, but even if you don't have traditional cable, cord-cutters can also tune in online with a live TV streaming service that carries Lifetime, such as Frndly TV, Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and Philo TV. And if you miss the television broadcast tonight, Taken in Plain Sight will also be available to stream on MyLifetime.com beginning tomorrow, Sunday, October 6.
The Girl Who Wasn't Dead is the latest new title on Lifetime's fall movie slate. Upcoming releases hitting the network later this month include Nobody Dumps My Daughter, starring Ana Ortiz, Jasmine Vega and Sheila E. on October 12; Husband, Father, Killer: The Alyssa Pladl Story, with actors Jackie Cruz, Matreya Scarrwener and Matthew MacCaull, premiering October 19; and Mormon Mom Gone Wrong: The Ruby Franke Story on October 26, headlined by Heather Locklear and Emilie Ullerup.
