What accounts for the appeal of abduction movies? They can be seen as a graphic act of misogyny or, in the best case, an inspirational story of survival. Either way, the appeal, such as it is, is to imagine a woman being kidnapped and to witness her violation and suffering.
The news used to carry intermittent cases of men keeping a woman—or women—chained up in the basement. We were meant to react in horror, but the Abduction Narrative has become a sub-genre of the horror film, spawning novels and films like Room, the Don't Breathe franchise, the various motifs of M. Night Shyamalan movies (i.e., Split) and Netflix series like the current Dear Child. These Abduction Narratives are usually produced by men.
This makes Last Known Location an interesting anomaly since it was written and produced by a woman. Aimee Theresa and her partner Danny Donnelly put out genre films under their Silver Octopus Productions. Last Known Location is their most recent offering.
Three women from different backgrounds are kidnapped by a shadowy figure and chained to the wall of his basement. Callie (played by Ms. Theresa herself) is a shy English tutor, and Danay (Sophia Lucia Parola) is a high-end therapist. They’ll be joined mid-film by Marly (Jennifer M. Kay), a feisty bartender. The women test their shackles, fear their turn to be taken upstairs, and plot to escape.
And they talk. And they bond. Ms. Theresa's script brings that to the genre: she uses it as a springboard for backstories that underscore the women's personal stakes. Callie is gay and unlucky in love. Danay has abandonment issues with her single father. Marly has just turned her online romance into a real one but frets that it's not real enough for her new partner, Keith (Patrick Hickman), to read her disappearance as anything other than ghosting.
In a genre that runs on perversion and bloody violence, Last Known Location is uncharacteristically clean. There isn't much blood, and the brutality isn't explicit. The filmmakers' purpose is drama and character development, which the script accomplishes with sensitivity. Ms. Theresa's script is compelling, even if her version of police procedures and the resolution is a little too tidy. But kudos to her for writing fleshed-out characters who are not objectified and with whom we can sympathize.
While the storytelling is solid, the filmmaking falls short. Last Known Location resembles a TV movie. Actual locations, not sets, are used: a local bookstore and a generic office serve as a police station. The basement prison is minimalist: chains, mattresses, and toilet, too orderly and spread out to be the site of forced captivity (in the closing credits, one cast member is thanked for the use of "her home" as a film set). The direction is unimaginative; more creative camera angles and lighting would have created a visually claustrophobic frame that heightened tension.
The actors do uniformly fine work; they are skillful and convincing. Here, in the dialogue, director Danny Donnelly keeps their conversations flowing at an engaging pace. The principal performances are augmented by Jamie Kerezsi and Dax Richardson as detectives, and Keith Illidge as Danay's father in flashbacks. An IMDb search shows the cast is becoming a sort of stock ensemble, cross-pollinating by appearing in films like The Arrangement, several shorts, and the Tubi series Certifiable.
Silver Octopus Productions is one of several regional companies supplying VOD content. They're based in Pennsylvania and besides narrative films do corporate videos, etc. In a market of exploitation and low standards, Silver Octopus strives for quality and is one production house to keep an eye on.
Ultimately, what makes this abduction film special is its woman-centricity. It's a stretch to call it refreshing, given the genre (and one can only wonder why Silver Octopus chose to work in this one, except to draw flies). All told, Last Known Location isn't perfect, but it's sincere.
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Last Known Location. Directed by Danny Donnelly. 2024. From Silver Octopus Productions. Available on VOD. 114 minutes.