Girl in Room 13 (2022)

A girl is seen fleeing a motel and hiding under a car from her possible kidnapper. Five days earlier, we learn that Grace has been in and out of rehab, and her biggest supporter has been her mother, Janie. (Played by the late Anne Heche. ) They celebrate five days sober with the whole family, and things seem to be going well.

Janie is worried that she is too concerned about her daughter relapsing and shares her concerns with her husband, Burt. Grace used to be a competitive diver until her addiction took over. A fellow diver asks for some tips at the local pool and is star-struck by Grace. Grace coaches the girl and mourns the person she could have been without the drugs. Janie is there to comfort her daughter when she is afraid of relapsing. Richie, Grace's ex-boyfriend/drug pusher, finds out she is back in town and sends her gifts to her hostess job. He also face times her with his son. When Richie's son is supposedly ill, a fellow waitress asks Grace to bring some money to Richie to help pay for the medical bills. The whole thing is sketchy, and Janie is skeptical of the impromptu errand. She reluctantly allows Grace to borrow the family car and dog for the road trip. At the drop-off point, Richie smokes a cigarette and shadowboxes. Grace drops off the money and hugs Richie, and as she does, he chokes her out and throws Grace in his car. Richie drags Grace to a motel in room 13 and rapes her. Richie then force-feeds her vodka and admits to planning to human trafficking Grace. When the family car and dog are found abandoned in the parking lot, Janie is sure that something horrible happened to her daughter. The police get involved but aren't sympathetic because Grace is an adult and probably relapsed in their opinion. Richie tries to sell Grace off, but the buyer only wants $2000. On the fourth day in captivity, Richie brings Grace to a big box store to make some returns for quick cash. Grace continues trying to get away and thinks she has been saved multiple times. A driver almost runs her over, but ignores Grace's screams for help. The same for the motel manager, who has cut a deal with Richie. Janie frantically looks for her daughter and talks to Grace's drug dealer, who tells her that Richie roofies girls and sells them into human trafficking. Janie realizes that the police are not going to help her and finds security footage that shows Richie abducting Grace. Janie's own husband doesn't believe her. Burt calls Grace's card company and learns that she is using the card to charge items and then return them for cash. (If Richie wasn't the worst already, he tries to force Grace to film a sex video. These scenes keep getting more and more disturbing, which is the point. It typically takes 10 days to break someone down enough for human trafficking. Grace has been abducted for eight days and loses her will to fight. It all seems so hopeless, and Grace is exhausted from the constant torment. Of course, Janie makes missing person flyers and hands them out around town. She learns about the "Heroin Highway" and posts the missing flyers at the businesses along the route. It ends up being fruitless, and the frustrated mother cries and screams in a car. The cashiers from the big box store recognize Grace from the flyer and send Janie to the motel where Grace is. Janie bursts in and saves her daughter and many other girls from life in human trafficking. Richie and the buyer are both arrested. Six months later, Grace is back at the pool and is back on the 20-meter board. She goes for a back-tuck layout and nails it. Grace finds her strength and self-worth. The movie then shares the following statistics. In 2020, the International Labor Organization estimated that there are currently 25 million victims of human trafficking around the world. To conduct their operations, traffickers need the assistance of the hospitality industry, the banking system to launder money, the transportation industry, and internet platforms to recruit and advertise their victims. Human trafficking is a $150 billion-a-year global industry. (thanks to lifetimeuncorked)