The film features Elizabeth Smart as the narrator and stars Alana Boden, Skeet Ulrich, Deirdre Lovejoy, George Newbern, and Anne Openshaw.

[1] Smart's wraparound narration in the film was used to interrupt the events she endured, preventing the viewers from distancing themselves from the action.

[2] On January 14, 2018, a "Special Edition" of the TV movie was released, featuring interviews with Elizabeth Smart, Skeet Ulrich, and Deirdre Lovejoy.

It starts on June 5, 2002, with the kidnapping of 14-year old Elizabeth Smart (Alana Boden) in the middle of the night by a religious fanatic named Brian David Mitchell (Skeet Ulrich), who unknowingly wakes her sister Mary Katherine (Cassidy Nugent).

In his hilly encampment, Mitchell and his wife Wanda Ileen Barzee (Deirdre Lovejoy) subjected her to bizarre religious rituals.

To research potential places to relocate, Mitchell and Barzee visit the Salt Lake City Public Library with Elizabeth, instructing her not to talk to anyone.

There, they are noticed by a library patron because of their unusual dress, each wearing full-length robes with veils concealing most of their faces.

During one instance in Lakeside, California when Mitchell is absent, Elizabeth and Barzee are left in their desert camp without water for a week, before a freak rain storm occurs and saves their lives.

In Elizabeth's final narration, she states that she told her story to speak for kidnapping victims, including those who have not been found yet.

In one case, Smart mentioned a time where she first saw Skeet Ulrich in costume for Mitchell, stating she was a bit taken aback by how much he resembled her abuser.

[5] There was a need to find balance in accurately depicting what happened to her in the film without alienating the audience, as Mitchell raped her daily, and Smart felt a need to tell the story without sugar-coating the kidnapping.