Long Lost Daughter (2018 TV Movie) User Reviews (19)

Different kind of obsession

[phd_travel · 5/10 · 16 January 2019]

Slightly different type of obsession here where a couple who lost their young girl after she goes missing thinks that this young teacher 20 years later is her.

Starts off fairly plausible then gets far fetched as they go psycho and kidnap her.

Why didn't she just some DNA?

Anyway it's not unwatchable but not great either.

Ending

[mashelle-02474 · 4/10 · 15 November 2018]

So basically what he means when he says that "you gotta tell her," The dad killed the little girl. Which is why he made the comment while choke Michelle, "Cathy wants all of this to be true. So you can either play along or I'll tell her your ran away again." And before being stabbed by Cathy, he says, "you're not my little girl."

Personally I feel that all of this could've been avoided had someone thought of doing a DNA test. But now it leaves the door open for many more questions. Like why Michelle just won't come out and tell Cathy the truth and where is the real Michelle buried.

Do a dna test

[lopezpatricia-06139 · 5/10 · 27 October 2019]

Wow it's only the other reviewers that really explained the ending to me. So thanks for that. It gets the stars because of molly Hagen I love her. But I did wonder throughout the film. Just do a damned DNA test. You have the means. I don't mind been left wondering in a film as it provokes thought, but not to this extent

How Did It End????

[mom-79425 · 3/10 · 8 October 2018]

Same problem with my recording. The last couple of minutes didn't tape. Last I saw and heard was "Michelle, you have to tell her...." Michelle looked out of it, like she was suffering PTS but then nothing!!!! If that was the ending, it was horrible.

Ending????

[rstarcich-74164 · 7 October 2018]

It was a good movie, but it off the last two minutes when she opens her pkg. Her husband says, "you've got to tell her". What was it????

Slow moving, even for a Lifetime Movie

[aaronz-74365 · 2/10 · 6 October 2018]

Nothing happens until the movie is about 70 minutes in. you can watch the first 10 minutes to learn who the characters are then fast forward to the end. Awful.

Useless movie

[kimmyk-01191 · 1/10 · 10 November 2020]

This movie is so unrealistic. I was actually enjoying it up until it was clear that Cathy was apparently unstable because she lost a child..like come on now if any parent thought someone was their child after losing them for 20yrs, yes they may be a bit overwhelmed but would they not want to atleast get some truth..DNA testing etc even if they are that far gone why try and harm your own child ..its just stupid. Whoever the writers are and the producers need to go find new jobs! Utter nonsense!!

Lacked in depth but decent one

[mattfrancis-03963 · 7/10 · 10 November 2020]

You wouldn't know this when watching the film but apparently this is based on actual real life events. If that's the case although the characters are believable, the acting is decent and things become interesting, this film lacks a bit of depth in places. I didn't like that there is inconsistencies. For instance a school with seemingly only one teacher and it's apparent the budget wasn't great or the research wasn't done well. As you'd expect the usual tense and predictable drama unfolds, usual psycho possessive mother figure and well this I found strangely predicable. The lead role who plays Michelle is a very good natural performer. But yeah perhaps because of there being so many films like this out there at the moment you'll want to avoid this.

No action, very poor movie

[andreeea_toader · 3/10 · 2 November 2019]

Reading the other reviews I have realised I have a totally different oppinion about the end of the movie. It is not confusing and not an open ended movie. The dad said 'you have no idea how many things I have done to protect my wife/marriage' which to me means he had to kill his daughter for her not to tell mum about him abusing her. He was very convinced that the old Michelle is not his daughter because he knew she is dead. When Michelle has received the gift from 'granny', her now husband told her 'you need to tell her the truth' which means 'you need to tell her you are not her missing daughter'. Anyway, not a good movie at all with all the keeping Michelle locked in that room to realise and remember that actually they are her parents. Not a good idea to keep a close relationship with an unknown crazy lady who forced you to stay in her house and who killed her husband. Waste of time.

Not too bad

[geoffox-766-418467 · 7/10 · 7 October 2018]

It is a bit slow in starting but slowly became very interesting. Good acting with entire cast and well directed. It is always amazing to me how most of the female performers in many of these films look alike that it's hard to tell them apart. Long hair over the shoulders, parted in the middle and hanging. Sometimes we get a break and there is an actress with short hair, styled and having body. But I am being picky. I gather this is the style these days. Still their work is excellent.

SHOCKING!!!

[josiahcf · 1/10 · 6 November 2019]

The movie was extremely naff. Only about 10 mins of the movie was actually relevant. The sound quality was shocking, budget must've been really low. I feel sorry for the actors to be honest, the ending was also extremely disappointing but what should've I expected with such a crap movie. Very disappointed, can't believe Netflix would even consider showing this. Is this really the sort of content I'm paying a £7.99 subscription for?

Her Smile at the End

[anissamcdougle · 9/10 · 8 October 2018]

Her smile at the end made me think it was really Michelle and she smiled because she got revenge on her dad. I rewinded to the beginning and it looked like the little girl knew she was leaving because she looked at her mom one last time. Even the bruise on her arm makes sense about her running away.

At the end when her fiance said you've got to tell her, I dont think he knows the truth. I think he meant you've got to tell her that you're not her daughter, but her smile was like oh but I am ;)

Who is Michelle?

[laporshiawilliams · 6/10 · 22 September 2018]

***SPOILER ALERT*****

Michelle is dead! And yes! This review did just start with that old cliche and they continue. Instead of spiraling down that path, let's talk about Michelle.

How common is that name? Google it.. then get back to me. We all know, after watching this movie, (prepositional phrase) that the runaway did not "run away" and that she's gone. Like (dead and gone dead and gone 🎶).

Our Michelle (the protagonist) is an orphan. Her parents abandoned her opposed to murdering her like the author's husband did after raping his daughter. This is my first review. Cut me some lack, but she is not the original Michelle. It is, however, fun to pretend. Hence (which is why) her fiancé/baby daddy (who know if they are married at this point) states that she has to tell them the truth.

Do NOT be fooled. She is not the truth, but hey Isn't it fun to pretend?

Don't waste your time

[andy-salter · 2/10 · 19 October 2019]

God I hate films that don't have a proper ending. When I watch a movie I want to get lost in it and not have to work what happened.

Great plot twist!

[tiffaniswallace · 10/10 · 23 July 2020]

I was convinced until the last 3 minutes that Michelle wasn't the little girl that was lost, however some factors changed my mind. #1 The little girl in the beginning was clearly leaving, the way she looked at her mother and told her she loved her was as if she was never coming back. #2 Michelle, the protagonist, never seemed bothered by Cathy, she seemed to really like her and enjoy her company. She even defended her and said she was decent. #3 When Michelle was locked in that old room and got up off the bed and sniffed the bunny, why do that if you know you aren't Michelle? Also, when she tore up the room, it was as if she was looking for something. An average person would not know there was a cassette tape in the vent. Michelle actually felt around for the tape, like she was sure something was there. #4 Michelle must have kept in contact with Cathy in order for her to know that Michelle was pregnant and send a gift. If this psycho, crazy woman locked you in a bedroom under the false belief that you are her daughter, why feed into her delusions? Better yet, why talk to her at all? Michelle seemed happy at Cathy's gift, she smiled as she read the card from Cathy and hugged that bunny to her and the way she smiled when her husband told her that she needed to tell Cathy the truth said it all. Michelle was the little girl from the beginning the whole time. Not sure if it was to get revenge against her dad or maybe because she missed her mom, either way, she was Michelle and I was thoroughly surprised.

Pay closer attention and the ending makes perfect sense

[ukproject · 8/10 · 10 November 2019]

Do you think she found the cassette tape randomly, or was she actually looking for it?

Nice twist. Bravo!

Good one

[LaverneandShirleysucks · 8/10 · 26 May 2022]

I liked the ambiguous ending that left viewers to decide themselves if Michelle was the daughter or not.

I think she was because if she wasn't and the father did kill her when she was little, then why would he chase this woman down and kidnap her? He would know she was freaked out by his wife's accusation of her being the daughter that she would never return there ever again...and probably move out of the state to get away from them.

Unless....she WAS the daughter he abused as a child and had to kidnap her before she remembered and told authorities what he did to her. Also, as another reviewer mentions, Michelle subconsciously knew to open the floor vent for the tape she hid. I think being in her old bedroom brought the memories back that she blocked out.

The idiot boyfriend saying "You have to tell her the truth" means nothing because throughout the whole film he was shown to be a moron and he most likely just wasn't told the truth by Michelle.

I like watching these crappy Lifetime movies to make fun of them as I watch the bad acting, huge plot holes and crazy stories, but this one was really good. Recommended.

Chilling

[lavatch · 9/10 · 19 September 2020]

"Long Lost Daughter" begins as a mundane drama of Michelle and Jonathan moving to a small town where Michelle will begin her job as the Early Education Program manager at a local pre-school. Jonathan is working on a science fiction novel. But by the midpoint of the film, a transformation occurs that turns Michelle's experience of the small town into a nightmare.

The most chilling of the characters are the couple Kathy and Derek Rhodes, whose little girl went missing twenty years ago. The child left the home for school, yet uncharacteristically left behind her stuffed animal, a rabbit named Mr. Poppins. She never made it to school that day and never returned home. Ironically, the child was named Michelle. Was this the long lost daughter who is now returning home to her parents?

The best scenes in the film are those with Kathy Rhodes, performed with great nuance by Mary Hagan. Kathy turned her daughter's stories of Mr. Poppins into a string of children's books. Now, she is prepared to write the finale, "Mr. Poppins' Last Adventure." When Kathy asserts that "everyone finds their way home eventually," we begin to sense the fragility of a psyche that was damaged beyond repair.

Will art imitate life, or vice versa? Kathy wants to believe that her daughter has returned home. In the most shocking moment of the film, Michelle is kidnapped by Kathy and Derek and held hostage in their home. The quick-thinking Michelle begins to play along as the daughter who has returned to her grieving mom. But is she merely playacting? The filmmakers leave the door open to speculation in this fast-paced, well-scripted domestic thriller.

A superb all-around effort by the director, screenwriters, and performers.

very good thriller

[bouhanamarc · 8/10 · 3 October 2019]

To answer your questions in the end it is because it is not her that is my opinion but something strange about the father when he say i did it for my wife so she is in it too ??