Lifetime's 'Amish Abduction' Review: A woman's quest to get her son back from her estranged husband turns her into her own hero
Lifetime's 'Amish Abduction' is a bold tale of a typical Amish mother, Annie, crusading to conquer what is rightfully hers. In this case, she wants to gain custody of her son as she knows the little boy needs her and vice versa.
Amish people remain closely knit and are known for their simple ways of life as they only believe in the Almighty for all their problems. But what happens when you taste the forbidden fruit and the temptations drive you to do the unthinkable?
This story revolves around the lives of Annie (Sara Canning), Caleb (Liam Hughes), and Jacob (Steve Byers).
The central conflict of this story lies in the English vs the Amish ways of life. Jacob is Annie's husband who is bored with everything that has to do with the Amish life, be it carpentry, farming or even being a husband.
He had once explored the English ways of life and became so obsessed with it that he begins enforcing it on his family. He starts drinking whiskey, commits murder and starts to become a violent person.
Jacob loses all his Amish roots and becomes heavily influenced by the western style of living that includes using smartphones and technology to the fullest.
A much deeper conscience that was intended to be talked about is Jacob's choice when he decides to resort to the English ways. After all, it is his personal choice to do so, but then he has to think about his family and not be so selfish.
He grows tired of everything after his baby with Annie is stillborn, since there is no professional medical help available. He loses a child and that leads him to detest everything about the Amish community.
In the context of this film, Annie watches her husband turn into a drunk malevolent man. Naturally, she would think that the world outside the Amish boundaries was corrupt and immoral.
All Jacob wants to do is start a new life in the city and there seems to be nothing wrong with it. However, his faux pas is that he kidnaps his own son, Caleb, and takes him to stay in the city.
Just because he is sick and tired of living the Amish life does not mean his son has to live his way. Meanwhile, the previously saintly mother Annie is up to no good either.
At one point in the movie, she finds herself attracted to Thomas (Ryan Bruce), who happens to be Jacob's brother. There is obvious sexual tension between the two characters and all this barely two days after Caleb is kidnapped!
When she goes to the city to fight for custody of her son, not only does she go on to win the case, she takes home a bigger prize — going back a strong independent woman who can fight with her abusive husband all by herself.
She gets the courage to do it only after she steps out of her comfort zone. The city isn't too bad, after all, was it?
The film succeeds in portraying a very realistic representation of the Amish lifestyle in terms of how the characters are dressed up, from head to toe.
It inculcates the most intrinsic details like the use of buttons over zippers and especially Caleb's wooden horse that is faceless. Overall, it is a good one-time watch movie and it succeeds in portraying several important worldly aspects— consent and the rise of strong women.