Naman Shrestha
Lifetime’s ‘Road Trip Hostage’ is a thriller drama movie that follows a young student named Emma who maintains quite a fragile relationship with her mother, Hillary Moreno, due to her stubbornness when it comes to following her dreams. When the situation worsens one day, Emma storms out of the house angrily, but as it turns out, it becomes to be one of the worst decisions of her life. Alone and angry, she gets taken hostage by an armed and deranged criminal named Rick Frye, who forces her to drive him across the country at gunpoint.
The Kaila York directorial features impressive onscreen performances from a group of talented actors and actresses, including Veronica Ramirez, Lukas Stafford, Chala Savino, Gabriella Biziou, Nicole Andrews, and Circus-Szalewski. Whether it is the sour mother-daughter relationship or the hostage situation, both themes are not something unheard of in real life. So, it is bound to make one wonder whether or not ‘Road Trip Hostage’ is based on actual events. Well, if the same question has been bothering you, let’s explore the answer to the same, shall we?
Road Trip Hostage Inspired by Real Events
Yes, ‘Road Trip Hostage’ is said to have been inspired by actual events. However, credit where it’s due, the screenwriter John F. Hayes made the most of his creativity, exquisite penmanship, and experience in the industry (‘Deadly Cheers,’ ‘Vacation Home Nightmare,’ and ‘Sins in the Suburbs’), and managed to conjure up such a gripping yet true-to-life screenplay for the Lifetime thriller.
Even though it is said that the makers got inspired and influenced by some true events that occurred in real life, it has not been revealed if it was a specific incident or an amalgamation of various similar cases. But you should know that similar terrifying hostage situations, as portrayed in the thriller film, have taken place with more than a few people in reality. For instance, in January 2017, an Australian man named Marcus Allyn Keith Martin reportedly forced her 22-year-old backpacker girlfriend Elisha Greer to drive around 1,500 kilometers through the Queensland outback at gunpoint.
Reportedly, Marcus and Elisha had met at a party at Kuranda in Far North Queensland and supposedly formed a close connection instantly. During the trial, Crown Prosecutor Nathan Crane claimed that Martin had gone violent on Elisha after two weeks, beating and sexually assaulting her regularly for weeks. After five weeks of disappearance, Elisha was eventually rescued after a petrol station worker noticed her state and called the police.
This case does not only follow a similar storyline to ‘Road Trip Hostage’ but the characters of Emma and Rick supposedly share some similarities with Elisha and Marcus, respectively. Moreover, although the Lifetime film is based on real-life events, the makers possibly added certain elements and subjects to dramatize the story and keep it entertaining for the audience. So, in conclusion, it would be fair to say that ‘Road Trip Hostage’ is inspired by actual events and is rooted in reality.
Read More: Is Lifetime’s A Nurse To Die For Based on a True Story?
