Sometimes, there’s nothing better than a guilty pleasure.
Netflix just added a new thriller that seems to be crashing the top 10 for being just that. Taken in Plain Sight is a Lifetime Channel film from 2024 about a mother who takes finding her missing daughter into her own hands.
If you’re going into a Lifetime movie, you know what you’re getting, and in this case, it’s some fun thrills and an easy way to pass about one to two hours of your time.
See why Watch With Us feels that Taken in Plain Sight is worth those one to two hours.
‘Taken in Plain Sight’ Is an Exciting, Emotional Thriller
Taken in Plain Sight follows mom Abby (Tennille Read) and daughter Zooey (KJ Romani), who together embark on a road trip that ends in tragedy. In a moment out of her mom’s line of sight as a restroom, Zooey is abducted — every parent’s worst nightmare. After months of searching, the police are no further to catching the culprit, but Abby is convinced she’s found him.
When the authorities dismiss her claims, Abby decides to go and find the suspect herself. But Abby’s search for her daughter and quest for the truth becomes even darker than she imagined, pushing her to see how far she will go to save Zooey. Taken in Plain Sight isn’t reinventing the wheel, but it also knows what the people want to see. Child abductions are both horrifying and poignant (the subject of many a true crime doc), and purveyors of these morbid stories will be enthralled.
The Movie’s Formulaic Nature Is Weirdly Soothing
Again, Taken in Plain Sight isn’t doing anything different with its story and structure — and for many people, that’s exactly what they’re looking for. You don’t tuck into a paperback crime novel you find at the airport expecting groundbreaking prose and artistry: you want a pulpy story with plot twists and character archetypes you’ve come to know and love. It’s kind of like being with an old friend.
It’s the same thing with the movies you find on the Lifetime channel. You’re not looking to be challenged — you want familiarity and comfort, and oddly, a thriller about a child abduction will do just that. The fast pace of the narrative, the emotional stakes and melodramatic acting all feed into what fans of thriller soaps want to see. The creators behind Taken in Plain Sight know their audience, and they deliver in spades.
There are Plenty of Twists and Turns to Keep You Hooked
Tennille Read in Taken in Plain Sight
If there’s one new thing that fans of films like Taken in Plain Sight do want to see, it’s ample plot twists — expecting the unexpected, if you will. And director Cat Hostick knows just how to dole out the surprises to make them count. Even when the plot is fairly predictable, Hostick still does a great job of building tension exactly where she needs to and creating satisfying shocks in the process.
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It makes sense why Taken in Plain Sight has made its way into the Netflix top 10 in the middle of October, because a twisty true crime-esque thrill ride is what a lot of people probably want to watch in the background while they carve up Halloween pumpkins that they can occasionally look over at and get the serotonin boost they desire from plot twists. Trashy novels and Lifetime movies all have their place in the pop culture consumption sphere, and Taken in Plain Sight fits in there beautifully.
Watch Taken in Plain Sight now on Netflix.
