'Road Trip Hostage' on Lifetime: A run-of-the-mill hostage thriller with nothing new to offer

'Road Trip Hostage' revolves around an aspiring dancer who gets caught in a terrifying hostage situation while trying to help someone
UPDATED APR 30, 2023
Veronica Ramirez as Emma in 'Road Trip Hostage' (Lifetime)
Veronica Ramirez as Emma in 'Road Trip Hostage' (Lifetime)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Lifetime's TV movies have carved a niche for themselves, making dull weekends exciting. Thriller movies have a way of keeping you on the edge of your seat with a gripping story, a great plot and strong characters. 'Road Trip Hostage' just released on Lifetime and here's our take on the abduction-themed movie.

The story is about abduction, dreams and a broken mother-daughter relationship. Veronica Ramirez plays Emma, who dreams of becoming a famous dancer someday. The movie is produced by Goodflix and Johnson Production Group and is distributed by Lifetime Network. The movie also stars Luke Charles Stafford as Rick Frye and Chala Savino as Hillary Moreno. 

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An act of kindness gone sideways

The story revolves around Emma, who is passionate about dance and wants to build her future around it. However, her mother is adamant that she completes her education. After an audition, when Emma gets a chance to go across the country, she takes a step towards her dreams and two steps back from mending her relationship with her mother.

Emma leaves and goes to live with her friend, promising she'll be out of her hair soon. However, she strikes up a friendship with her roommate's friend, Rick. There's a flashback then showing Rick and his father arguing after the latter says he's cutting the former out of his will. An angry Rick kills his father and flees with some money, hoping to not get caught.

Later, he meets Emma, who is trying to start her car, and asks her for a lift. A simple act of kindness turns into a terrifying hostage situation for Emma, when Rick holds her captive to drive him across the country in order to escape before he is brought to justice for his father's murder. 

A wishy-washy plot

Although Lifetime is known for movies that are entertaining and interesting, the plot of 'Road Trip Hostage' does not do justice to the actors who are trying to do a phenomenal job of making the plot interesting. Hostage-themed thrillers are a different genre and can be quite predictable.

With 'Road Trip Hostage', the plot seems wishy-washy with nothing exceptional or interesting. All in all, if you're looking for a movie to pass the time over the weekend, then 'Road Trip Hostage' is for you. The script is not really great, but the movie makes for a good one-time watch. 

'Road Trip Hostage' is exclusively available on Lifetime channel.

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