Who Is Elisabeth Fritzl: Is “Girl In The Basement” On Lifetime Based On A True Story?

girl in the basement
girl in the basement

Girl in the Basement is a new movie about Elisabeth Fritzl, a young woman who was taken prisoner by her father for almost 25 years. It is part of Lifetime’s “Ripped From the Headlines” marathon.

Like many recent Lifetime movies, Girl in the Basement is based on the true story of Elisabeth Fritzl, but it adds, takes away, and changes parts of her story.

Even though it gets some things wrong, Girl in the Basement is a scary movie, and the real story is even worse. What is the real story behind “The Girl in the Basement”? Where is Elisabeth Fritzl, who was in Girl in the Basement? Here’s all the information you need.

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All About Elisabeth Fritzl, The Girl In The Basement

Elisabeth Fritzl was born to Josef Fritzl and Rosemarie in Austria in 1966. There were 3 brothers and 3 sisters in her family.

In 1977, when she was only 11, her father would beat her. Elisabeth started getting ready to be a waitress when she was 15 years old after she finished school.

Then, in 1983, she ran away from home and went into concealing in Vienna with a friend. In 20 days, the police found her and gave her back to her parents. She went back to her waitressing class and finished it so she could get a job in a nearby city.

How Elisabeth Fritzl Got to the Basement

In 1984, Josef Fritzl asked Elisabeth to help him put a door back together in the basement of their Austrian home. Elisabeth went down the stairs to help her father, but she didn’t know what he was up to or how her life would change after this. When she was about to leave, a small piece of ether-soaked cloth was put over her mouth and nose to stop her.

Elisabeth had no idea that she was helping her own father put her in jail as a s*x slave. Josef Fritzl had been planning to build an underground jail cell for years. In the late 1970s, he also got official permission from the city government.

Girl in the Basement
Girl in the Basement

In those days of the cold war, building nuclear bases in the basement of a house was pretty common, so it wasn’t hard for Josef to get permission.

In fact, the local government gave Josef a grant of 2,000 pounds to help pay for the building. Before he could get to the cellar where he planned to lock Elisabeth up, he had to open a number of doors.

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Girl in the Basement About the Movie

Based on real events, Girl in the Basement tells the horrifying story of Sara (Stefanie Scott), a bright teenage girl who couldn’t wait to leave her controlling father Don when she turned 18. (Judd Nelson).

But before she could blow out the lamps, Don locked her in the basement of their house. This made her world very dark. While Don tries to convince his wife Irene (Joely Fisher) that Sara ran away, he would sneak downstairs to rape and torture her while Irene and her sister Amy (Emily Topper) decided to live upstairs.

Sara has several kids alone in the basement as the years go by. Don eventually keeps bringing up their youngest son and leaves him on the doorstep with a note from Sara and said that he is her son and she can’t take care of him. Irene finally believes what Don says about Sara.

After being held captive for decades, Sara finally gets away, and her family finds out the terrible truth about what had been going on right under their feet for over 20 years.

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Know where Elisabeth Fritzl is at the moment?

The Mirror says that after the trial, Elisabeth Fritzl was assigned a fresh name to protect her privacy. She now lives with her 6 children in “Village X,” which is an unnamed town in Austria.

“The children, who are now between 17 and 31, sleep in rooms with doors that are always open. This is because they went to therapy once a week to get over the traumas they went through in the cellar,” the Mirror reported in 2019. “Their two-story family home is always being watched by CCTV and security guards, and if a stranger is seen lurking nearby, the police will be there in minutes to pick them up.”

Fritzl is also in a relationship with Thomas Wagner, who used to be her bodyguard and now lives with her and her family.

Where is Josef Fritzl?

Josef Fritzl, her father, is in Garsten Abbey prison. He has dementia and is there because he broke the law. Josef Fritzl changed his name to Josef Mayrhoff because he didn’t want anyone to find out who he was in his last days.

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Where Can I Watch Girl In The Basement?

Girl in the Basement premiered on Lifetime on February 27. If you missed it, you can still watch it in a few different ways. You can stream the new Elisabeth Fritzl movie on the Lifetime website or the Lifetime app, but you need a cable login to do so.

Where To Watch The Elisabeth Fritzl Movie: Girl In The Basement Netflix

Girl in the Basement is not a movie that you can stream on Netflix.

Cord-cutters, on the other hand, can watch Lifetime movies if they subscribe to Hulu + Live TV or Philo. Both of these services offer free trials to new customers.

Marietta works as a freelance media consultant. She has a background in television, where she was responsible for developing content distribution methods for children’s intellectual property that aided in the success of businesses such as consumer items, publishing, and gaming.