Summary
- The Lifetime movie Girl in the Basement takes some liberties with the true story of Elisabeth Fritzl, changing names, locations, and adding failed escape attempts for dramatic effect.
- The addition of a romantic interest for Sarah in the film, Chris, adds unnecessary fluff to a story that should focus on strength and survival, rather than romantic love.
- The real Elisabeth and her children now live in a secret location under new names, and little is known about their lives today, although reports have surfaced about Elisabeth marrying her bodyguard.
Warning: This article contains material regarding discussions about sexual assault, rape, and incest which might be disturbing to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.
The 2021 Lifetime movie Girl in the Basement tells the horrifying but true 1984 story of Elisabeth Fritzl, who was imprisoned by her father Josef, in Amstetten, Austria. For 24 years, Elisabeth was locked away in the basement of her family home and suffered rape and abuse at the hands of her deranged father. During that time, she gave birth to seven children: three remained with her, three who required medical attention were brought upstairs to live with her unsuspecting mother, and one infant died shortly after childbirth. Elisabeth's mother, Rosemarie, was tricked into believing that her daughter had run away and joined a cult. Josef said the three children he brought to live with them were found on their doorstep–left there by Elisabeth.
Elisabeth was finally freed in 2008 when a trip to the hospital with her father set off alarm bells from medical staff. Shortly after, her father was arrested on charges of rape, abuse, incest, enslavement, kidnapping, and "homicide by neglect" for failing to seek medical attention for one of Elisabeth’s babies, who died shortly after birth. In 2009, Josef pled guilty to the charges and was sentenced to life in prison. Today, Elisabeth and her six children have changed their names and live in a secret location while Josef remains locked behind bars for the rest of his days.
The Lifetime film Girl in the Basement brought attention to this heinous crime but was only somewhat accurate to the true story. As is the case for most mainstream films, it takes some liberties to tell a more dramatized version of the disturbing true story.
Failed Rescue Attempts
In actuality, Lifetime made a lot of changes to the Elisabeth Fritzl story. Most of these are minor, such as name changes from Elisabeth Fritzl to Sarah Cody, changing the number of years that Sarah was imprisoned from 24 to 20, changing the number of children Sarah had from seven to four, and changing the location where the story took place from Austria to America. Instead of Josef, her father is named Don.
In addition, Lifetime added several failed escape attempts that Sarah made, which included persuading her father to take one of her babies upstairs to be raised by her unsuspecting mother and then hiding a secret note in the baby’s basket. Unfortunately, her father discovers the note instead of her mother, and he rapes her in a fit of rage.
A few years later, Sarah makes another attempt by digging a hole in the ceiling and trying to signal with a flashlight for help. However, her signal is spotted by a neighbor who alerts her father, who then beats her, causing her to miscarry her unborn baby, which would have been her fourth child. These attempts add tension and conflict to a story that’s already saturated with emotional strain. They feel unneeded, almost as if Lifetime felt that the story wasn’t gripping enough without them, and felt the need to ramp up the plot.
Girl in the Basement's climax begins when Sarah and Don's daughter Marie has an asthma attack shortly after Don attempts to murder his daughter and grandchildren by pumping carbon monoxide into the basement. Sarah guilts him into taking Marie to the hospital, where she manages to alert a concerned nurse to her circumstances. Don is arrested, and Sarah and her children are rescued. Similarly, the real-life Elisabeth was 42 when she gained her freedom after she convinced Josef to seek medical treatment for their daughter Kerstin who fell unconscious from kidney failure. Josef did not allow Sarah to accompany him to the hospital, however, and his odd behavior with medical staff led to Elisabeth's missing person case being reopened. After a week, Josef eventually released Sarah and allowed her to accompany him to the hospital, which led to Josef's arrest.
Lifetime Adds Sarah's Boyfriend to the Story
When it comes to changes, the biggest one Lifetime made was adding a romantic interest for Sarah, which fluffs up the story. Sarah Cody, played by American actress Stefanie Scott, has a loyal boyfriend named Chris (Jake Etheridge), and throughout the 20 years that Sarah was imprisoned, he never gave up hope on her, despite Sarah’s father trying to trick him by telling him that Sarah ran off with her childhood friend, Steve. In real life, Josef led everyone to believe Elisabeth had run away and joined a cult.
After Sarah is rescued, Chris comes to see her. He still has a pink motorcycle helmet that he has kept for 20 years, which he is finally able to give her. Chris asks if Sarah would like to go for a motorcycle ride, and the film ends with the pair riding off into the sunset, metaphorically speaking.
An Unnecessary Romance
Chris’ character is important in the film because he is the driving force behind Sarah’s need for survival. Before she is imprisoned by her father, there is a scene between Sarah and Chris that is prominent throughout the film. Chris is a songwriter and wrote Sarah a special song.
During the years locked in her family’s basement, Sarah sings Chris’ song to herself and her children. The song is a beacon of light in a dark place and serves as a reminder to Sarah that she is loved and cared for. It’s this song that plays at the end of the film as Sarah and Chris enjoy a motorcycle ride before the credits roll. In addition to the song, Sarah also tells her children her story in the form of a fairy tale about a fairy princess who has her wings chopped off by her evil father because she is in love with a prince.
While the song and the fairytale story provide sweet moments between Sarah and her children, it also adds unnecessary filler to a real story that is not about romance. Even the ending with Sarah and Chris riding a motorcycle almost seems to erase everything that Sarah endured as the film ends on a happy note. In comparison, an intense movie like Room was able to depict PTSD and the immense psychological and emotional adjustment it takes to enter back into the world after something like this.
Elisabeth’s story is one of strength and survival. She survived on willpower and the love of her children. While the Lifetime film does show the love that Sarah has for her children, it also focuses a bit too much on romantic love as the driving force behind Sarah’s will to survive. The relationship between Sarah and Chris adds too much fluff to a disturbing story that deserves to be told accurately. Furthermore, it proves once again that mainstream movie companies think that no film is complete without a romantic relationship.
Where is the Real Sarah Cody now?
The end of Girl in the Basement shows Sarah's three children playing in the yard while she enjoys the sunshine in the company of her mother and sister before Chris arrives to whisk her away. While this is obviously a cinematic ending meant to imply a happy ever after for Sarah and her children, the reality is quite different. Following the trial against her father, Elisabeth, and her children were awarded new names, which have been kept secret.
However, reports surfaced that Elisabeth and her children had to undergo intense therapy to deal with the trauma they'd endured. The family allegedly lives together in a private home in the Austrian countryside where security guards patrol the perimeter to keep strangers out. In 2021, a tabloid reported that then-52-year-old Elisabeth had fallen in love with her 29-year-old bodyguard, and the two had married. However, little else is known about Elisabeth or her children's lives today.