Lifetime Partners Again With Elizabeth Smart On ‘The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story’

EXCLUSIVE: Lifetime is partnering again with kidnapping survivor and advocate Elizabeth Smart on The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story.

Starring Katie Douglas (Ginny & Georgia), Cara Buono (Stranger Things) and Kristian Bruun (Orphan Black), the film depicts the true story of Kara Robinson, who survived a brutal abduction and ultimately brought down a serial killer. Smart is an executive producer on the movie, which premieres February 11 at 8 p.m. ET.

Douglas plays the 15-year-old Kara, who was watering plants in her best friend’s front yard in South Carolina when she was approached by a man who put a gun to her neck, forced her into a plastic storage bin and drove off. He took Kara to his apartment where he held her captive and sexually assaulted her for 18 hours. With her survival instincts kicking in, Kara memorized as many details as possible throughout her ordeal and when her captor finally fell asleep, she escaped the restraints and fled his apartment. She was able to lead the police back to the apartment’s exact location and identify her captor as Richard Evonitz (Bruun), a serial killer who was also responsible for the unsolved murders of at least three other young girls.

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Buono portrays Kara’s mother Debra.

Following the movie, Lifetime will air the two-hour special Escaping Captivity: The Kara Robinson Story. Kara Robinson Chamberlain recounts in detail the story of her abduction, restraint and subsequent escape. The special also features interviews with Kara’s parents and the high school boyfriend who supported Kara after her experience.

Smart returns to Lifetime after narrating and executive producing the network’s 2018 film I Am Elizabeth Smart, and hosting the doc specials Elizabeth Smart: Finding Justice and Smart Justice: The Jayme Closs Case, which featured Smart leading a roundtable discussion with other well-known victims of abduction including Kara Robinson.

The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story is executive produced by Joseph Freed and Allison Berkley of Marwar Junction Productions, along with Howard Braunstein and Smart. The film is produced by Juliette Hagopian. Simone Stock directs from a script written by Haley Harris.

Escaping Captivity: The Kara Robinson Story is produced by Marwar and Entertainment One with Smart, Robinson Chamberlain, Berkley, Joseph Freed, Tara Long, Geno McDermott and Carolyn Blackstone Day serving as executive producers.

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