Out of options, Michael teams up with Christian Baker, the journalist assigned to Monique's story. I would have really vivid dreams. But another Redditor reacting to Moniques post, a librarian, found an actual lead. I was blown away by the whole community. Martin said she should be brought back to the area within seven to 10 days, and he does not expect to file any more charges against her. I will definitely recommend this movie to a friend. Not to mention, the timing of the films release relates to the current affairs in the United States today. Please check Fandango and Atom Tickets to see if the film is playing in your area. And a description of the kidnappers car: a dark blue, 1995 Honda Civic. Even if we knocked on the door being hungry, it was, Were busy right now. function resize77260563fffe99d7859(wrapper){ I'm a white lady and old. It looks like the filmmakers of Still Here have mostly gotten their stereotypical ideas from what theyve seen in movies and TV shows. So I'm sure she might remember a lot more than I do. The next time that Still Here director Feier makes a movie, lets hope he makes an attempt to tell the story in a more authentic way. Robot). resize77260563fffe99d7859(wrapper); The reason we don't talk anymore, it's not because I hate her or I don't love her. Click a location below to find Latasha more easily. The lies, the avoidance -- it was all necessary for survival. Vlad Feier understands hundreds of thousands of children are missing in the United States. Monique Watson is an actress, known for Becky G: Bella Ciao (2021) and The Oscars (2022). Susquehanna Twp. All rights reserved (About Us). Ben: In the span of a lunch break, Pseudo-Nymph found what Monique had been searching for for years. It was a. So, why not try asking for help there? All my friends were my mom's friends, too. It wasn't until Dec. 15, 2008, when a McMullen family friend walked into the Knight's Inn in Martinsburg, W.Va., and spotted a familiar face working behind the counter. Limitless, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. id: "captainform_js_global_vars", As a Limited release, Still Here will only be shown in select movie theaters across major markets. And just hung up and hasn't spoke to my god-sisteror even tried to reach out to me since then. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. I couldn't take them and it was hard to overlook. One thing that I'm learning to understand is that when you're a kid, you're gonna make mistakes, you're gonna get in trouble, you're gonna get grounded. And most who run get caught sooner than this. "Let's not portray [her son] as a child whose life has fallen apart because his mother disappeared," her father, Michael McMullen, said. Monique: Thanks to the advice that Reddit gave me, they were telling me to go to the local police station, Ventura County, and ask for my records. Lisa and Paul Watson on the back section of their Pakowhai home. Her memories are incomplete, she was only five when she was kidnapped. It was not like work," Topka said. I would call them and they would pick up the phone and talk to me during the times when I was allowed to have the phone. But there are a few things worth noting. I have a lot of plans, I have a lot of dreams. And my family felt like it was all their fault, too. if (document.getElementById('captainform_js_global_vars') == null) { That's not fair at all. You can find more of his work at hiswebsiteand onInstagram. A New York journalist who gets assigned the story of a missing African-American young girl, risks his career and takes the matter into his own hands trying to find her. She actually tried to kill herself when she was younger. There were just certain triggers that would remind me of my kidnapping. The movies basic plot is that a working-class African American family is reeling from the mysterious disappearance of a 10-year-old girl in the family. Michelle took a job at a McDonald's to try to keep up with her bills and talked to her parents about sending her son back to live with them. "Still Here" begins with distraught father Michael Watson (played by Maurice McRae) putting up missing-person flyers about his 10-year-old daughter Monique (played by Zariah Singletary) in the New York City neighborhood where they live. Gene Watson has an interesting . Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. else if ('' == 'right') Broken promise after broken promise. Monique: My mom, she was abused by my grandma. Then get the fuck out of here!. Only her family seems to care. I got kidnapped because I was dumb enough to go in the car." Amory: What happened next is another blurry part of Moniques memory about the abduction. She refused to comment on how her grandson was taking the news. Patel wanted to help her. Tiffany doesnt do much in this movie, except cry near a candle-lit, living-room shrine thats dedicated to Monique and plead with Michael not to lose his temper when he gets angry over how the investigation is being handled by authorities. But she didnt really know how to go about getting it. was a college student, a single mom, a beloved daughter whose disappearance worried her family for more than two years. Im desperate for any help/guidance/advice.. And I'm just tired of being disappointed. Virtual Crunchyroll Expo Wrapped Up This Weekend with Huge Announcements and More! With public interest waning and time running out, Michael and Christian race to uncover the truth - and find Monique, before its too late. The movie was poorly written and the acting was sub par with the exception of the players of the missing girls parents. She was maybe two years older than me. Michelle was a 27-year-old student at Grambling State University in Louisiana who had just moved south with her son to finish a few courses after taking the majority of her classes online from Harrisburg. With the exception of a 30 second scene with the fantastic actress Zazie Beetz, and the actors that play the parents, the acting was hideous. Filled with guilt, Christian helps Michael in search for his daughter, while facing resistance from the community, the police, and his publication. Ben: And now that we know the name of Moniques abductor, we can find out that hes a registered sex offender in California. Afton Williamson, Baboucarr Camara, Danny Johnson, drama, Jared Kemp, Jeremy Holm, Johnny Whitworth, Justiin Davis, Larry Pine, Maurice McRae, movies, reviews, Steven Hauck, Still Here, Vlad Feier, Zariah Singletary, Zazie Beetz. But she thinks she and the other girl crossed the street from the park and started looking for help. And he just got off with child endangerment, a misdemeanor. I was in awe during the whole movie. She endured and suffered and had to contend with difficulties in life that any penalty and incarceration would not near have matched.". So I ended up in the mental hospital. For 15 years, all Monique has had are the fragments. They'll give you the case number. But cocaine is expensive. She is a family to me. elementType: "script", The chain of telephone calls lasted minutes -- 10, 15 tops, said Thornton, the detective. Source: LRM Online Exclusive, Blue Fox Entertainment. Ben: Moniques more positive outlook in recent months is definitely because of her friends. But police were developing a different theory. Another case where a missing person was found alive is that of Denise Bolser. An amber alert that had gone out, was lifted. "Not a penny. I just did . Its just an incredibly lazy and culturally tone-deaf film that offers nothing thats impressively creative. Michelle still talks to Topka through letters, and Mumuni said he has contact with the McMullen family -- her real family. He developed and directed several short films in the past, including The Intruder and Lamentables. Then, one day, her grandmother died. . var append_element = append_element || function(e){if(void 0==e)return!1;if(! Ben: Kats ingenuity got the ball rolling for Monique. She has 3 different addresses, her most recent of which is in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ben: But getting the full story has been impossible. This brings down a series of pains. She left her child with a friend and made the woman promise to say nothing until Tuesday morning. And since the memories are traumatic, digging into them has also been really scary. clearInterval(captainForm772605PreloadInterval63fffe99d7859); He abruptly gets up in the middle of the meeting and announces, This aint right, before storming out. Aint no shame in the game, Anthony tells Greg, in one of the movies many cringeworthy lines. captainformThemeStyle['772605'] = ''; And he was glad to hear it. You know how it is: Poor black family in a poor black neighborhood Cops arent interested. Inspired by a true story, this social drama offers a mystery, but also a serious look at the missing children epidemic in the world today. "I cried for her, and that's why I really opened up my heart to her," Tokpa said. ", In Oakland, hairdresser Leemu Topka still thinks of her as a daughter. Her father said the family is fielding interest from national media and for book deals. So it was kind of normal. This screen capture from a screening of of "Disappeared" shows Michelle McMullen, center, along with an unidentified woman. I think I left my car in Maryland. "I heard a guy asking her: 'Tell me the truth. It contains a police report with her name on it. Stay up and watch it with me. And I ended up just falling asleep because I was so tired and just so exhausted and just really confused. Danielle built up a client base. I called her my daughter. And, honestly, all of my friends have that attitude. I enjoyed the story and the beautiful acting. She's truly a good person who made a mistake.". The scene shows what can happen when someone is brought in for questioning by police and that person doesnt know enough about their rights to ask for a lawyer, which (by American law) would put a stop to the questioning. It was never brought up unless I brought it up. Ben: Monique says that before she was born, her mom was using cocaine on the weekends. So I knew that it was something that was supposed to be kept a secret. WTF??!? LRM Online exclusively spoke with director Vlad Feier last month about this project. It doesn't even have my mom's name because of privacy reasons. Maurice McRae on Emotional Drama of Still Here [Exclusive Interview], Johnny Whitworth on Playing An Investigative Journalist in Still Here [Exclusive Interview], Jeremy Holm on Playing a Conflicted Cop in Still Here [Exclusive Interview], The Mandalorian S3 Episode 1 Review: ROUGH START!!! resize77260663fffe99d76c9(wrapper); if(typeof cfJsHost != 'undefined'){ i would rate this an 8 but they brought it down. I believed that I deserved absolutely everything bad that's ever happened to me. Monique Watson is on Facebook. if ('' == 'left') Michelle caught a train to Washington, D.C., the night she was spotted in Martinsburg, but it wasn't long before she came back to the Maryland-West Virginia line area to stay with a guy she had met. Even the initial storyline changed from Romania to New York and with a black family. She has taxed the efforts of law enforcement in not just our state, but now across the country.. Ben: And eventually, not talking about what happened to her caught up in a way that considering family history felt all too familiar. Because she's considered a flight risk, Michelle has spent four months behind bars, waiting for a trial that hasn't been scheduled. Michelle McMullen of Harrisburg is charged with theft by deception, accused of stealing $20,000 from a Susquehanna Township church where she worked and using the money to pay for school, authorities said. Michael answers the door. As for the corrupt and racist NYPD cops, theres a scene where the cases chief investigator Captain Hardwick (played by Steven Hauck) tells a white subordinate cop what he thinks about the media attention over the case: Im not losing my job because some black little bitch got lost on the way home. Captain Hardwick essentially tells his underlings to find and arrest a suspect, even if theres no real evidence against that person. Monique's personal mission is to inspire people to take strategic actions to advance their lives and careers and become their own best advocate. Monique: I don't have good communication with my family. The assignment lands in the hands of journalist Christian Baker (Whitworth), who at first pursues a false lead, turning the entire case upside down. Hard movie to watch. February 22, 2023 . The V.O. I don't know why I got kidnapped. Hes an African immigrant whos scared out of his mind, and he vehemently proclaims that hes innocent. Ben: Some of this story, Monique has always known. Amory: This story, awful as it is, is incomplete. 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