What is the Cleveland Abduction documentary about and when was it first released?

Cleveland Abduction, a true-crime drama that tells the story of the Ariel Castro kidnappings has been resurfacing on the internet. Based on true events which began in 2003 and lasted a decade, viewers have labelled the film “disturbing" and "sick".

The film focuses on the story of Michelle Knight, who was the first of three victims to be imprisoned by Castro at his home in Cleveland. Knight, who is portrayed by Taryn Manning, has appeared in Orange Is the New Black.

Here's everything you need to know about the film.

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What is the Cleveland Abduction documentary about?

The documentary film follows the Castro abductions from Michelle Knight’s point of view - the first of the three victims to be imprisoned by Castro. Knight first disappeared on 23 August 2002 after leaving a cousin’s house. She was 21 at the time and scheduled to appear in court for a child custody case for her son.

She was held captive in Castro’s home in Cleveland alongside two other women and subjected to sexual and physical abuse. Amanda Berry, 17 at the time, was the second person to be abducted. She went on to give birth to Castro’s child while still imprisoned.

Gina DeJesus, the third person to be abducted went missing in April 2004 at the age of 14. The three women were forced to live in filthy conditions where they were chained in their rooms, barely fed and given buckets to use as a bathroom.

The victims were eventually rescued and Castro arrested after Jocelyn (Amanda’s daughter) noticed that Castro had left the home where he was holding the women. The mother and daughter made their escape by contacting a neighbour who called emergency services.

Castro was sentenced to life imprisonment without the chance of parole after pleading guilty to 973 counts of kidnapping and rape for victimising the three women. However, one month into his sentence he killed himself in his prison cell.

When was it first released?

The movie was released in 2015, two years after the victims made a miraculous escape. Cleveland Abduction is not currently available on Netflix in the UK, but users have taken to Twitter calling for Netflix to add it for UK viewers.

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