The Bride He Bought Online
| The Bride He Bought Online | |
|---|---|
 Official poster | |
| Directed by | Christine Conradt |
| Produced by |
|
| Written by | Christine Conradt |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Richard Bowers |
| Cinematography | Roberto Schein |
| Edited by | Josh Muscatine |
Production company |
|
| Distributed by | |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Bride He Bought Online is a 2015 American television thriller film, written and directed by Christine Conradt, and starring Anne Winters, Alexandra Paul, and Jamie Luner. It was broadcast on the Lifetime network in the United States on July 18, 2015.[1]
Plot
What starts out as a harmless online prank takes a dark turn for 17-year-old Avery Lindstrom (Anne Winters) when her friends, Mandy Kim (Lauren Gaw) and Kaley Mack (Annalisa Cochrane), create a fake profile for an international dating website and begin to communicate with a lonely, socially inept computer programmer named John Bennett (Travis Hammer). Having lived a life of isolation and bullying, the humiliation he feels when he realizes he's been duped unleashes a wrath that no one would have expected. Bent on revenge, John does a bit of digging online and finds the identities of the three girls who played him like a fool on their blog with their cruel prank. While both Avery and Mandy feel bad for what they did to him and show some remorse, Kaley doesn't, being the "mean girl" of their school.
John decides to get back at the girls by hiring a good-looking guy about their age name Nick (Randy Blekitas). Nick is a male prostitute, and John tells him he is playing a trick on his niece, and wants him to get the three girls to fall for him and then stand them up. John finds their hangout and sends Nick there to flirt with them, which works well, as both Kaley and Mandy express interest and give him their phone numbers.
Nick tells the girls he had just moved from Pittsburgh, and they invite him to a party that Avery is throwing. John sends a text message to invite Kaley and Mandy to their hangout at the Skate Park, and when they arrive, it seems as though no one is there. John kidnaps Mandy outside the hangout first, which Kaley initially thinks is a practical joke being pulled by Mandy or Avery. Kaley returns to the party and plays a practical joke on Avery's crush Trevor, pouring water on the crotch of his pants, then posts video of the prank on their blog. At this point, Avery has had enough of Kaley and ends their friendship.
Upon returning home, Kaley turns on the TV, but John uses his computer hacking skills to scare her by turning off the security system in Kaley's home. Having succeeded in panicking her, he then enters the house and kidnaps Kaley, taking her to the warehouse where he is holding Mandy hostage. The next day, Avery is being interviewed by an agent, as the parents of Kaley and Mandy are looking for their daughters. Avery tells the agent about Nick, and the cops mark him as a suspect.
Later that day, Avery is also kidnapped by John, and having now captured all three girls, he takes them to sell to a man he found online. However, John gets scammed by the men, who only take Kaley with them. Afterwards, John takes Mandy and Avery back to the warehouse, where Avery slashes him with a piece of glass and tries to escape, but is unsuccessful. Upon returning home, John's hooker neighbor offers to find him someone else to sell the girls to, and the pair return to the warehouse. However, instead of aiding John in his trafficking attempt, the neighbor shoots him in the arm, allowing Mandy and Avery to escape. John then retaliates by shooting his neighbor in the chest while the girls hide in the warehouse, armed with the neighbor's gun and a cell phone. They call the police and are saved, though John commits suicide before he can be arrested.
As the film ends, Avery is in the hospital, being questioned by law enforcement. The final scene shows her taking things out of Kaley's locker, while Avery's voice-over explains that Kaley was never found.
Cast
- Anne Winters as Avery Lindstrom
- Travis Hammer as John Bennett
- Annalisa Cochrane as Kaley Mack
- Lauren Gaw as Mandy Kim
- Alexandra Paul as Kathy Schumaker
- Jamie Luner as Rihanne Lindstrom
- Chase Austin as Trevor Lansing
- Kesia Elwin as Wanda
- Randy Blekitas as Nick
Release
The film first had a limited release in Canada on May 24, 2015. It was then broadcast on the Lifetime network in the United States on July 18, 2015.[2]
References
- ↑ Carra, Mallory (July 19, 2015). "Is 'The Bride He Bought Online' Based On A True Story? The Writer & Director Talks What Inspired The Lifetime Movie". Bustle.
- ↑ McEwen, Lauren (July 17, 2015). "TV highlights: 'The Bride He Bought Online' premieres on Lifetime". The Washington Post.