Dear Child has taken Netflix by storm and has quickly reached the top of the Netflix Top 10 TV charts (not English) since its release on September 7, 2023. The intense psychological thriller made the fans so nervous that they wondered (or rather worried) that the series was based on a true story. Is Dear Child based on a true story with similarities to other unique and terrible stories?
Dear Child is the story of a young girl, played by Kim Riedle, who was kidnapped from a parking lot, only to spend the next thirteen years in a small windowless apartment in a forest in northern Germany. The kidnapper of the young woman dyes her hair blonde and calls her ‘Lena’. Lena is held captive under the strict rules of her kidnapper and is raising “her” children Hannah and Jonathan (played by Naila Schuberth and Sammy Schrein).
Lena manages to escape with Hannah, but is hit by a car in the forest, as a result of which she and Hannah are taken away in an ambulance. But when Hannah has disturbing answers to some questions from the nurse, the police are alerted, which leads to the case of the disappearance of a thirteen-year-old being reopened, revealing that Lena’s name is actually Jasmine.
The six-part psychological thriller captivated all his fans, all the more so the author of the book from which the story was adapted , Dear Child by Romy Hausmann. Hausmann’s book was written only recently, in 2019, and quickly became a bestseller not only in his native Germany, but also internationally.
When she saw that her book was being adapted into a series by Netflix, Romy Housman would have been thrilled that something she had painstakingly created on her little laptop at home not only became a bestseller, but that she would have the opportunity to do so. his story was brought to life in live action.
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She could not believe what she saw when she was on the set with the crew and director Isabel Kleefeld and even admitted that she had cried when she first saw the series, watched the first episodes and did not really believe that her story had turned into something that was “suddenly so big”, she tenderly shared. It was an honor for her that “everyone involved in the project was so committed” and “went to their limits.” After Isabel Kleefeld read the book in one sitting, she knew that she had to create this story for the small screen and do it justice.
Given the exciting story, fans around the world were worried that the series and the book could be based on a true story. After all, the story has a similar and captivating storyline to Room, but with the terrible twists of Gone Girl . Although there are undoubtedly frightening and tragic stories about girls who have to go through similar situations to Lena / Jasmin, fortunately, this one is completely fictional.