It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

In the sunny suburbs of California, young teenagers are routinely rounded-up and sold as sex slaves. Unaware of the problem, wealthy single mom Cynthia Watros (as Katherine) moves from Wisconsin into the danger zone, with her blonde and beautifully-figured 16-year-old daughter Sydney Sweeney (as Emma Hudson). Handsome young men arouse Ms. Sweeney's interests, but mom gets mad when she won't bring them home for closer inspection. Grounded and defiant, Sweeney sneaks out of the house to make time with asthmatically cute Nick Roux (as Adam). Next thing you know, she is "Stolen from the Suburbs" to be sold as a sex slave. Victims' specialist Brooke Nevin (as Anna Fray) and Ms. Watros join forces to search for Sweeney..."If you want to find Emma, you're going to have to do it yourself," advises Ms. Nevin...This is a very serious topic, and several of the performers try to give it a serious reading. Unfortunately, this TV movie production treats the subject most predominantly as escapist entertainment, with a touch of repulsion. In that regard, writer/director Alex Wright is successful. You do want to see the fenced-in, tied-up, and bikini-clad young women released before the closing credits. As the young girls' sex-trafficking mistress, tightly-attired Olivia d'Abo (as Melena) drives her unbelievable role over the cliff. The Lifetime TV channel adds a "public service announcement" about the child sex trade, but does not tell you their movie is ludicrous. For the record, the police and FBI are interested and you should tell them before going to any "Pink Motel".***** Stolen from the Suburbs (2015-08-30) Alex Wright ~ Cynthia Watros, Sydney Sweeney, Brooke Nevin, Olivia d'Abo

I'm giving this silliness 3 stars because it IS absolutely hilarious in how far fetched it goes, but past that we have a nearly fact-free plot, much scenery chewing and, yet again, a cautionary tale in the vein of "Go Ask Alice" (which appears to be the source these days for Lifetime Movies).I absolutely love the bumbling, ineffective cops (and, of course, there's an unseen shady one on the force, who's able to move with magic speed to get info to Evil Boss Lady Madam Olivia D'Abo), who even after mom and faux social worker are witnesses to a freakin' murder, right after a confession of the kidnapping, still fail to do jack about the teens. Best, of course, is how one desperate mommy is able to nearly single handedly take down an international human trafficking ring....or maybe it's the endless references to "THE Syndicate". Cause apparently there's just one, and it cannot be named.Or is it the figures concocted on the fly? "90% of the girls in juvenile hall are underage prostitutes". Really???? How strange since we routinely see police departments with case workers to help these children break free. To say nothing of the MUCH larger social service organizations that have already existed for decades.Or maybe it's how "Anna" got the DA to "bargain it down to self defense" (because it was), but still served time for manslaughter. Ummmmm, "self defense" means you're acquitted. You go free. No charges, no time. And a girl younger than the teens in this movie could already tell you that.Or was it the "Romeo trap", which was clearly taken straight from the bad spy novel concept of a "honey trap", back in the 1950's? Because this was easily the stupidest thing I had ever seen.The truth is, middle class teens (or in this case, rich ones) are not group kidnapped, because their families WILL come looking for them. Maybe not in the way we've seen here, but certainly private detectives would be rich from tracking them. And this silliness, once again, did nothing to accurately depict how human trafficking in the US really does work.In reality, most kids are the homeless runaways from bad (or at least perceived to the kid as bad) family lives described early on, because they're the easiest to prey upon. Or girls (and boys) are lured by pimps into "the game" through a slow process of manipulation, faux love, drugging etc.Or they're young women lured from eastern European countries or developing Asian nations by the promise of employment, etc into foreign countries.Want a real figure? Of the missing and exploited children (read under 18) who are kidnapped each year the percentage of those taken by a stranger (which this counts as) and not a family member or someone known to them is .02%. Yes, you read that right. The reason the cases we hear about make the news and receive so much coverage is precisely because they're the exception.I'm not saying this couldn't happen, just it's HIGHLY unlikely. Oh and for the record, I watched this with MY 15 year old daughter. And she howled with laughter.

Terrific problem dealing with kidnapped girls who becomes victims of sex trafficking. The film really doesn't say much good about police who are depicted as doing little to nothing and often treating the victim as a criminal.The film shows to the violent extent that the gangs shall use to get their victims to comply.After being kidnapped, the girls are literally dehumanized and told that they shall never see their families again and are the property of their masters.The film details one such case where a mother literally took on the gang literally to free her daughter, even if that meant endangering her own life.

Another Sunday.Another Lifetime woman-in-jeopardy film.But this one is two steps above your average Lifetime thriller.The hot button subject matter is sex trafficking but writer/director Alex Wright tells a compelling story without falling into exploitation on one side and preaching on the other side.The primarily female cast is good. Sydney Sweeney, a grizzled veteran ingénue, is compelling as the daughter. Brooke Nevin is suitably driven as the investigator.Cynthia Watros has done light comedy well (Drew Carey Show), performed melodrama (Lost) as well as any actor could follow that plot, and can now add thriller lead to her list of actress skills. Her character was intense and fearless as the mother.Olivia d'Abo having sparred with Inspector Goren on many an episode of "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" gives a different, more chilling, level of evil as the bad guy. As close to full-blown Alan Rickman as you are going to get in a Lifetime thriller.Give us more like this.