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Netflix’s documentary ‘Abducted in Plain Sight’ is jarringly twisted

Abducted in Plain Sight is the new Netflix documentary that has taken social media by storm. It tells the unfathomable tale of how a young girl, Jan Broberg, is kidnapped not once, but twice by the same trusted family friend, Robert ‘B’ Berchtold.

The film pieces the story together from interviews given by Jan’s family and even Jan herself. Jan and her parents unveil the gruesome details of their relationship with the man who turned their family upside-down. Through the Broberg’s personal accounts of the story, it is revealed how the odd relationship dynamics between Jan’s parents and kidnapper Berchtold unfolded. Not only do we discover that both parents had an affair with Berchtold behind each other’s backs, but they also willingly allowed Berchtold to accompany Jan in bed while she slept, prior to the first kidnapping.  So entrenched was the level of manipulation and control Berchtold had over Jan, that he even convinced her that she was an alien, so that she would follow his instructions the second time he kidnapped her.

When I sat down to watch this movie I knew I was in for a roller-coaster of a story, but, I could not have anticipated the journey I was about to go on. Films are made to make us feel things, right?This movie made me feel disgusted, sad, angry and confused.  If the documentary was aiming for me to feel a full spectrum of visceral emotion, then it was definitely successful.

The use of real-life artifacts from the case makes it clear how real this story is. Voice recordings from phone calls sent shivers down my spine, and brought me back to the reality that this wasn’t just a documentary, but it was actually somebodies life. The panic in the families’ voices when they hear her over the phone is heartbreaking to the ear. The use of family photos that are shown on screen, really brings home how much Jan Broberg’s childhood and family were destroyed because of this man.

 

 

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Dumbest family in the entire world. Watched it last night, words fail me #abductedinplainsight #brobergs

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The film alludes to so many questions: How could their family be so easily manipulated? How could they have let a grown man into their child’s bed and not question his motives? The first time Jan went missing, her parents waited five days until informing the authorities. FIVE DAYS?! And how on earth was Berchtold allowed to walk free with no charges after kidnapping a 12-year-old girl?

 

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If you are the kind of person who can’t stomach a story that just gets more and more twisted, maybe stick to a good rom-com. But, if you’re somebody who loves a story that will freak you out on every level possible and want to be perpetually crept out, then this documentary is for you.

Personally, I am left confused and despondent with Berchtold’s words forever burned into my psyche,

“We sure enjoy your family”…

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