Movie Review: Abducted in Plain Sight

Abducted in Plain Sight *** / *****

Directed by: Skye Borgman.

 

A documentary is the only way you could tell the story in Abducted in Plain Sight – because if you tried to dramatize it, no one would believe it. Even after you see the documentary, you may not quite believe everything you see – because it really is more than a little bit insane. It is the type of story that documentary makers dream of – with the type of access they dream of – because the story being told truly is insane. That is the reason to see Abducted in Plain Sight – to hear this crazy story. The film itself though almost feels like a missed opportunity – to dig a little deeper, to push a little harder. The film basically just sits back and lets everyone tell their story – which leaves questions you (and everyone who sees the film) are probably screaming at your TV as you watch it. The film is insane – but it probably could have been an all-timer.

 

The story is basically this – in the 1970s, two families had a very close friendship, with each member of the family having a corresponding best friend in the other family. The father in one of the two families – Robert Berchtold – because obsessed with the 12-year old daughter – Jan Broberg – of the other family. He spends many nights sleeping in her bed with her. And then one day, when he is supposed to take her to see some horses, the pair of them just drive off to Mexico – and don’t come back for months. The Broberg parents – Bob and Mary Ann – wait days to report this, not wanting to stir up trouble for their good friend Berchtold. And the story simply gets wilder and wilder from there – involving marriage, rape, criminal charges, sexual relationships between Bercthtold and BOTH Broberg parents and a SECOND abduction by Berchtold of Jan. It’s insane.

 

The film was directed by Skye Borgman, and is basically made up of interviews with the Brobergs – Jan, Bob and Mary Ann – all of whom tell their story, with has to be remarkable truthfulness (they cannot possibly be lying, because you lie to make yourself look better, and Bob and Mary Ann could hardly come off any worse than they do here). Borgman seemingly just kind of points the camera at them, and lets them go – telling their story. She also has a lot (frankly overly) stylized recreations of events from that time period that tell you the whole story as well.

 

What is remarkable about the movie is how it gets the Broberg’s to admit to everything, but also how that seems to apply to others as well – Berchtold himself isn’t interviewed (you find out why late in the doc) – but his brother is, and if he has any shame for supporting someone he knows was a child molester, he certainly doesn’t show it.

 

But what I kind of wanted in the film was someone like Errol Morris to probe these people and their stories a little more. It’s not that I don’t believe the story – I do (it’s too crazy to be made up). And you can blame nothing on poor Jan (who, amazingly, seems to have grown up as normal as possible given what happened) – but I really want to know what the Broberg parents were thinking when they do everything they do. The movie pretty much lets them off the hook when they just explain how charming Berchtold was at that time. It’s a non-reason. There has to be something more there.

 

But Abducted in Plain Sight is pretty much okay with just letting them tell the crazy events that happened, without delving into the psychology or thought process involved. Because the story is so crazy, this makes the film worth seeing. And yet, I think the film left the possibly of a great film sitting there in plain sight (see what I did there?) – and needed to push harder to get it.