A Chance in the World – Review

A Chance in the World – Bounce TV – 2 hours and 0 minutes

Steve has dreams about being cold, being hurt, and seeing the world whirl by him.  But he doesn’t know if those dreams are real or his imagination.  When he wakes, he awakens to a nightmare.  His adoptive parents have rules to belittle and berate him.  Rule #4: I am ugly and dumb, there is something wrong with me, and everyone knows it.  Rule #5: No one will ever take my word over yours.  Rule #8: No one will ever want me, especially not my own mother and father.  Betty and Willie are his adoptive parents, and they have three biological children, Eddie, Lisa, and Reggie.  In Steve’s eyes, Betty and Willie treated Eddie slightly better than him.  However, when Eddie tells Betty he is leaving town for a job, she degrades him and throws him out of her home.  Eddie tells Steve to keep his head down, and he will be able to leave one day too.  Until then, Steve endures consistent verbal, physical, and mental abuse at the hands of all the Robinson.  One day Willie tells Steve to come downstairs and explain himself.  Mr. Sykes, a counselor at Steve’s school, wants to meet Steve during the summer.  They want to know what he did.  Steve doesn’t have an answer for him and tries to explain himself.  Betty reminds Steve to keep his mouth shut, or there will be hell to pay.  At school, Mr. Sykes gives Steve good news.  He did very well on his placement test.  With his scores, he can skip a few grades and go to college.  First, his mother will have to sign a form permitting him to be in the Upward Bound Program.  The program will give him weekly tutoring, college planning, and financial help.  Excited, he runs home to bring the forms for Betty to sign.  She grabs a pen, looks at Steve, and then rips up the application.  Betty tells him he will never be good enough for college and to give it up.  She calls Mr. Sykes and Mrs. Holt, the program director, and tells them Steve doesn’t want to join.  Mrs. Holt asks to speak to Steve, who reiterates Betty’s words under extreme duress.  When Mrs. Holt insists on visiting the home to talk to Steve, Betty relents and asks her to give Steve new forms, and she will sign them.  This program is Steve’s path to freedom, a chance to prove the world wrong, and a line to his past.

Based on A Chance in the World: An Orphan Boy, A Mysterious Past, and How He Found a Place Called Home by Steve Pemberton, this movie will draw a quiet rage in you (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer).  Knowing parents such as the Robinsons exists will make your blood boil.  However, your heart will break during Steve’s hospital visit.  Everyone can see Steve’s bruises, but he won’t tell anyone what happened.  Betty promises to give Steve the one thing she knows he has always wanted: to understand the person looking at him in the mirror.  With one promise, she holds him hostage.  With all his torment, Steve found his escape in books like Encyclopedia Brown and Watership Down.  He found the beauty in his pain, and through that, his family.  Watch this one today and donate to A Chance in the World Foundation.

I give it 5 out of 5 stars

You better tell her no or there won’t be enough left of you to go to that program – Betty

No one will ever want me especially not my own mother and father – Steven

I can’t imagine anyone not wanting their child to be a part of my program – Mrs. Holt

Sometimes the apple does fall far from the tree, as far as it can get – Eddie

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Secrets in the Woods – Review

Secrets in the Woods – Lifetime – 2 hours and 0 minutes

After months of missed opportunities, Brant asks Sandra to spend time with him at his family’s cabin.  Sandra says bye to her sister, Becky, and city life, and heads to the woods.  They drive up a deserted dirt road, and Brant gets out of the car.  He explains they have to walk the rest of the way. Sandra grabs her bags but notices the trail is missing.  Brant tells her he knows the way.  Sandra loves the cabin; however, she is slightly crestfallen to learn her cell doesn’t work.  She uses it as an opportunity to get to know Brant better.  They enjoy hikes, sitting by the fire, and ax throwing.  On these trips, she lost her phone and her clothes.  Brant suggests she should wear his mom’s clothes for the time being.  Sandra felt weird, but Brant convinced her it was ok.  Later, Sandra waited in the bed for Brant wearing sexy lingerie but lost focus when she heard a commotion outside.  Sandra walked out to check on Brant but found another man in the woods.  She tried to run away; however, she didn’t get far.  She wakes up with a bruise on her head and a chain cuffed to her ankle.  Brant introduces Sandra to his father, Langley.  Langley lays down the ground rules.

1. They wake up at dawn, but they don’t own clocks.  They lived their lives based on the sun
2. They get the food, and she cooks it.  And they all sit and eat at the table together
3. They maintain and fix the house, she cleans it and makes it feel like a home
4. She must take pride in the home because it belongs to her as well
5. She must keep the bathroom clean
6. If she runs, they will hunt her

If that’s not bad enough, Brant horrifies Sandra when he tells her she is a gift for his father.  She will replace his mother and be Langley’s new wife.  With no phone, no people within miles, and no internet, how will Sandra escape these sick and evil men?

This movie puts the creepy factor on 11.  You will be grossed out and entertained.  This father/son duo has reached new depths of depravity, and you are going along for the ride.  At first, it’s unclear why Brant continues with his father’s plan.  The writers explain everything, but you have to stick to the movie.  Misplaced loyalty and fear are the catalysts to their relationship.  With that aside, it’s eye-opening to ascertain how Brant picked Sandra.  While her looks were just one aspect, she had a lot of red flags for him to read.  He read her profile and saw a woman unsatisfied with her life, little family, and desperate to create a new family.  It will have you taking a double look at your social media profile.  While entertaining, watch with the lights on, and stay out of the woods.

I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars

I’m just looking forward to seeing where he grew up this weekend – Sandra

Everywhere has cell service, except my bathtub – Becky

Your eyes and your ears can play tricks on you around here – Brant

It takes a special kind of woman to survive out here – Langley

I still have your sandals – Karl

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