The Cleveland Abduction: Movie Analysis

The Cleveland Abduction is a film based on a crime that was committed in the early two thousands. Ariel Castro, a bus driver from Cleveland, abducted three women, Michelle Knight, Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry, between the years of 2002 and 2004. These women were held captive by Castro until May of 2013. During their captivity these women were abused mentally and physically, being raped and bound by chains daily. Amanda Berry became pregnant by Castro during this time and gave birth to her daughter, which was also being held captive. The film goes into great detail of how Castro treated these women and what life inside this “prison” was like on a day to day basis for almost a decade.
In the film, Ariel Castro reveals he was molested as a child and that was his reasoning for doing these horrific things to these women. Research does prove that trauma like this can deform a person’s judgement and psychological behavior, but Castro never received any kind of help to deal with his trauma. Some say that Castro could not help this because of his psychological standing, however even as an adult he did not seek help. During Castro’s trial he stated that he “is not a monster”, which could be confirmation that he was unable of controlling his rage from the abuse he experienced. The film shows the neighborhood that Castro lived in. I would

The film shows that one day while she was looking for a job, she left her son with her mother. Knight’s mother was nowhere to be found when she got home and her son was with a man, assumed to be Michelle’s father, which was drunk and not properly watching after her son. This scene lead me to believe that she did not have the best upbringing and she somewhat did not get along with her parents. She was also raising a son by herself. It was made very clear, in this film, that Michelle loved her son and was a good