Not to be confused with the iconic 80's film *Lost Boys*, this 2020 released on Netflix is based on real event and that makes it more interesting that just any other police-oriented drama mystery film.  

</center> **There are spoilers in this write-up because the story itself is based on a very well-known event in real life** </center> 

I regret to say that despite fantastic acting and a story that is based on real life, the film still kind of falls flat due to what I believe to be a lack of story necessary to fill up 1.5 hours. 

<center> 
![lost-girls-1-z.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZQ6P7T7acazmfJ1LzqY7Bh7GEtFkMYFnaLU5zta544Ue/lost-girls-1-z.jpg) </center>

Other than Gabriel Byrne, who plays a relatively minor role, the cast is filled with actors and actresses I am largely unfamiliar with, and this is a strong point in my perspective.  The story follows the true events surrounding Mari Gilbert and how she had to relentlessly pursue the New York police force to find her missing daughter.  These events are tied to the Long Island Serial Killer, who to this day remains an unknown person.  

</center> 
![screen-shot-2020-03-13-at-122543-1024x522.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZgjrotvHpvWBm6ccvq6rm5h69ncsYooWhbEGRBJQgVsv/screen-shot-2020-03-13-at-122543-1024x522.png) </center>


Amy Ryan plays Mari Gilbert, a single mother with modest means who works as a waitress while simultaneously raising several daughters.  One of her daughters no longer lives with her and after not turning up for a planned family dinner at mom's place, ends up completely disappearing.  What unfolds is a vast conspiracy of the police not being overly concerned about her daughter's disappearance due to the fact that the daughter is a known sex worker.  

Whether or not Mari was aware of her daughter's profession is not clearly spelled out in the film, but her crusade to force the police to do their jobs is actually a very true occurrence, and it is very conceivable that if not for Mari's intervention, the discovery of the bodies (which included her daughter) might not have happened.  

<center> https://www.thehits.co.nz/media/7644597/lostgirls4.jpg?mode=crop&width=620&height=349&quality=60&scale=both </center>

The emotion shown on screen, particular on the part of Amy Ryan, is very nicely done and I ended up looking her up as a consequence.  Turns out she has been nominated for an Academy Award in the past but I am not sure in what capacity.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJzGE00wncU

Despite containing fantastic acting and an excellent cast, *Lost Girls* falls a little bit flat because I feel as though this is one of those films that they probably had to work a bit in order to stretch it out over 90 minutes.  Whenever a film is almost **exactly 90 minutes** long, I tend to suspect that they were working towards this pre-defined length, rather than actually having that much material.  

It kind of shows as the scenes drag on and on to the point where if you are like me, your phone gets involved as you try to kill the boredom with other things while it is on.  Therefore, it is understandable why this film went directly to Netflix, which given the current state of lock-down the world is in, was probably a wonderful mistake.  

I can't really recommend watching this film as the ending is probably already known to people familiar with the Long Island Serial Killer, and the long stretches of nothing happening.