The movie based on a true crime, but the acting itself is just okay. Filmed in Manitoba is a plus for the Canadian film industry; however the script flow isn't so great. Lea Thompson does an okay job as Cari's mom, and not sure how the real-life story went, but I would think that the mom would be on the case with the cops. Alicia Witt does an okay job as Liz. She is better known as the love interest in Hallmark movies. The cops involved in the case sound really stupid and not tuned into real detective work in 2015. The only reason I watched to the end was to see how the movie ends. A time waster movie at best.

This was another Ripped from the Headlines movie from Lifetime starring Lea Thompson as a distraught mother, who discovers her daughter is missing or worse. Cari Farver, is the subject of the movie but the character is only in about the first 20 minutes of the movie. She suddenly disappears after dating a car mechanic and finding out about a very jealous ex-gf. But where did she disappear to since she's been texting everyone involved in the movie that she just wants to be left alone. Admittedly, the movie operates from a weird premise that she wants to be cut off from her family and close friends and it starts to become apparent to those watching the movie that the whole thing seems off. It was a bit predictable but quite enjoyable considering it was based on a true account. Highly recommended!

Early in the film, there is a significant detail when one of the characters uses the expression "the walk of shame" to signify the humiliating experience of walking into a strange kitchen the morning after spending a night of intimacy at the home of a stranger. Around the same time, another character uses the phrase "I'm into casual" to convey the willingness to participate in the licentious nature of serial relationships. Those details may pertain to a hedonism that hovers over the characters in this film and ultimately leads to a gruesome tragedy.

Dave Kroupa was a Nebraska grease monkey who wanted to play the field after the break-up with his wife and the end of his twelve-year marriage. But there may be liabilities to his swinging lifestyle when Dave starts to juggle dating and sleeping with both Shanna "Liz" Golyar and Cari Farver. Suddenly, Cari goes missing and Dave and others close to him begin to receive strange and threatening text messages from Cari. The major question emerges: who really is Cari Farver?

The film was superbly crafted not only with suspense and dramatic tension, but with a searing intensity in the search to understand the story behind the missing Cari Farver. The movie was based on the book "A Tangled Web" by Leslie Rule, and this may be an instance where the film is better than the book. Rule's narrative covers an expanse of three years and 12,000 e-mails and text messages. The compressed and taut structure of the film made for a highly-charged and dynamic intrigue. The performances were first-rate, and the set-ups and camera angles frequently evoked a sinister style. The film also demonstrated the chilling impact of cybercrime, even in such a seemingly mundane function as text messaging.

Cari Farver was depicted as a kind, genuine soul caught up in circumstances she likely never understood. The film viewer is similarly drawn like a moth to a light bulb, fascinated by the psychological depths to which one disturbed soul may go to avoid the dreaded experience of the walk of shame.