Parents' Guide to

Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Girl uses smarts to escape from rapist; violence.

Movie NR 2018 87 minutes
Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 15+

Based on 1 parent review

age 15+

Believe me

I put 15+ since there's a lot of violence, rape, sexual assault, abusive role models and implying bad messages. But overall it comes down to the maturity level of who's watching it. It's definetly not horror movie scary but there is a few jumpy bits and out of nowhere flashbacks but when you know when it is you get used to it. Towards the end theres a lot of good role models but at the start there's abusive households and sexual assault. There is also guns and a lot of violence but I guess it's on maturity a bit. Even tho I'm under the age I've implied I am

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (8):

Once the action in Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey focuses on the investigation leading to the capture of Lisa's attacker, director Jim Donovan provides a gripping and satisfying narrative. Lisa's high intelligence, astounding eye for detail, and unusual ability to recall the tiniest but most helpful particulars has the audience rooting for her all the way. The movie emphasizes how she used her skills for placating her uncaring mother and grandmother and the grandmother's sexually-abusive boyfriend to save herself from her murderous abductor. Katie Douglas gives a searing performance of a girl with courage and smarts to spare.

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate