Now showing on Amazon Prime is the eye-opening drama, Girl Lost: A Hollywood Story.
The film stars Moxie Owens (Hope), Psalms Salazar (Baby Girl), Cody Renee Cameron (Paige), Serena Maffucci (Destiny), and Leah Schaefer (Angel).
Hope is a young, teenage girl. Her home life is not the greatest. She has a pregnancy step-mother that she doesn’t get along with, and a father who doesn’t seem to care about her. The only one who does seem to care is her older, ex-babysitter Paige.
Paige has been video chatting and texting Hope, trying to help her become a model and actress, if she comes to Hollywood. The appeal is just too strong, so Hope tells Paige she’s ready to leave home and to try and make it in Hollywood.
At the same time this is going on, viewers are introduced to “Baby Girl”. Baby Girl is a young, single mother to an adorable little girl name Angel. She just lost her job as a stripper, and doesn’t know how she is going to make ends meet, let alone pay her rent which is past due. Her only saving grace is an elderly neighbor who baby sits her daughter.
When Hope arrives in Hollywood, she is conned into believing that she is so beautiful that she can make it as a model and actress. Paige and her room mate, Destiny, tell her that they can help her, but she does need to take some pictures to make a portfolio to help her “make it” in Hollywood. In addition, they trick her into believing that “all” actresses and models have done topless and nude photos.
It’s clear from the start that Paige and Destiny are “grooming” Hope to partake in their business (selling sex). Hope is too naïve to truly grasp the situation.
Baby Girl also gets tricked by Paige and Destiny. She does understand what is expected of her (more so than Hope), but she doesn’t realize the extremes she has to go.
Will Hope or Baby Girl be able to break away from the “sex business” and be able to make it on their own, or are they forever lost? To find out, you need to check out Girl Lost: A Hollywood Story. It’s included on Amazon Prime.
I’m not sure what the rating is on this film, but on Amazon it shows it as 18+. It is definitely an R rated film due to it’s content, nudity and strong sexual situations.
Sadly, these are the types of real life stories that are playing out right now in places like Hollywood. So many runaway teens are seduced into believing they will become the next greatest actress or model. What they don’t realize is that there are horrible people who are lurking around to lure them into the sex scene, whether it’s porn, prostitution, or worse. The character of Hope represents the hundreds (thousands?) of teens who end up in Hollywood. Most don’t make it and end up being sex trafficked, used or abused.
The character of “Baby Girl” is like so many single women across the country (not just in Hollywood). She tries hard to make ends meet to support her daughter. She wants a better life for the both of them, and she doesn’t want to have to resort to using her body to make money, but unfortunately, she has no money and no family to help her out, so she sees no other choice. Being a beautiful woman and a desperate mom makes her the prime target for horrible people like Paige and Destiny who prey on people like Baby Girl and Hope as a way for THEM to make money.
This film was hard to watch at times, but unfortunately, it is what really goes on in Hollywood and other big cities.
This film should serve as a warning for ANY young person (female, and even male) who think they can show up in Hollywood and suddenly become successful and rich. If it was so easy, why wouldn’t EVERY ONE do that? I don’t have any statics, but if I had to guess, I’d say maybe .05% of runaways who make their way to Hollywood actually become rich and famous.
It’s scary to think that the stories depicted in this film are happening RIGHT NOW. I wish there were more services available to help people like Hope and Baby Girl to keep them away from having to sell their bodies. There should also be strict laws against ANYONE who is caught using and abusing people like Hope and Baby Girl.
Below is the film’s trailer for your entertainment. WARNING: This trailer might not be safe for work, due to the content. There is no nudity in the trailer, but there are sexual situations, especially with the young teen, Hope.
Kimberly
*I received a free screener in order to do this review (I also have Amazon Prime). The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
