Viewers 'still traumatized' after watching disturbing true crime film that 'made them sick' – news

Warning: This article contains discussions of child abuse and sexual abuse that some readers may find disturbing.

Viewers are feeling sick after watching a film that shows some of the worst things parents can do.

Real crime detectives may even find this case too much, as it details the shocking things a young girl endured for decades at the hands of her sadistic father.

Set in Austria, the 2021 film is inspired by one of the most sensational cases the country has ever seen.

Directed by Elisabeth Röhm, the main roles include Judd Nelson, Stefanie Scott and Emma Myers.

One viewer took to the Netflix Bangers Facebook group and said: “This is a Lifetime movie based heavily on true events. “It's honestly terrible.”

The themes presented include abuse, violence, sexual violence and incest, making it a very difficult film to watch.

The worst part is that it doesn't take into account the full extent of the abuse the poor girl endured or the consequences she will have to live with forever.

One viewer wrote: “When I tried to watch this the other day I felt sick.”

Another added: “I'm still traumatized by this film.”

The plot centers on Sarah (Scott), a teenage girl who is looking forward to her 18th birthday to get away from her controlling father Don (Nelson). But before she could even blow out the candles, Don locks her in the basement of her house.

Girl in the basement is closely based on the true case of Josef Fritzl, who imprisoned his 19-year-old daughter Elisabeth in August 1984.

The Fritzl case

The father initially asked her to help him install a door in their basement after he spent months building a dungeon beneath their house.

According to The Guardian, Fritzl received planning permission and partial funding from the government to implement his plans during a time of unrest when a bomb shelter was seen as a necessity for every family.

What he created, however, was an area where he would imprison his daughter for 24 years.

On that August day, his daughter (who had threatened to run away from home several times) helped him install the last of eight doors reinforced with concrete.

When she was finished, she turned to leave, but a cloth was placed over her face and her world went dark.

Josef Fritzl was sentenced to life imprisonment (SID Niederösterreich via Getty Images)

Fritzl's wife Rosemarie filed a missing person's report when she learned that her daughter had disappeared, but he had convinced the police and his wife that Elisabeth had left a note in which she claimed to be staying with friends and did not want to be found .

During her time in the windowless, soundproof basement, Elisabeth gave birth to seven children through incest – three of whom lived upstairs with Fritzl, three remained in the basement and one died shortly after birth.

The case came to light in 2008 after a medical emergency required one of the then-teenage children to be hospitalized.

Fritzl was arrested shortly afterwards and received a life sentence after pleading guilty to his crimes in 2009.

However, he could be released soon.

After Fritzl's arrest, Elisabeth and her children were taken into the care of the Austrian social welfare office and now live under new aliases.

If you are affected by any of these issues or would like to speak to a confidential person about a child's welfare, please contact Children's Aid The U.S. National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453)) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week and accepts calls from throughout the United States, Canada, the US Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.

If you are affected by any of the issues mentioned in this article, you can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline 24 hours a day at 800.656.HOPE (4673). Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org.