Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart Movie Review (2026)
A solid documentary about the 9-month-long kidnapping of a young teen in 2002, Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart covers the case from different perspectives and provides insights and updates from Elizabeth herself.
Over the last 15-20 years, I have watched almost everything available about the Elizabeth Smart case. If Elizabeth is willing to speak about her case with others, I have seen it. Not only do I find the case fascinating, but it isn’t that often that kidnapped children come back alive. And most of the reason that happened is because of her strength.
Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart reaches back to 2002, when 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped out of the bedroom that she shared with her 9-year-old sister, Mary Katherine. Instructed to be quiet and she wouldn’t be harmed, Mary Katherine heard the kidnapper’s voice and stayed frozen until she was able to go to her parents’ room to tell them that Elizabeth had been taken. With only a few leads, the police went after the wrong subjects while Elizabeth spent each day trying to survive with her captors.
One of the things that keeps bringing me back to the Elizabeth Smart case is her determination. This is a young woman who, despite living through the horrors of rape, starvation, attempted-brainwashing, and many other abuses with her captors, knew who she was at her core. She knew how much her parents and her siblings loved her, and her focus on staying alive and getting back to them is remarkable.
This documentary includes several interviews and additional coverage that have not been in prior documentaries or investigative shows. The biggest addition, and one that raises this doc into different territory than the others, is the inclusion of now-adult Mary Katherine. She is able to articulate what she went through, how she processed the situation, and how she ultimately came up with a name, even though it is clearly still painful for her.
Being the only eyewitness, and really only familiar with his voice, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Mary Katherine. Can you imagine being a child and knowing that all the adults feel that you hold the key to solving your sister’s disappearance? That’s a kind of pressure that almost no one can understand.
This documentary also includes interviews with Elizabeth’s father, her uncle, police and detectives on the case, one witness who met Elizabeth during her captivity, but didn’t know it was her, and lots of news and police interview footage.
Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart is the story of a resilient teenager. And while many of the documentaries out there focus wholly on Elizabeth, this film spends 40 minutes on the other participants’ information and the way they experienced the horror of this missing child before you see Elizabeth interviewed for the first time. Whether you are familiar with her kidnapping or not, this documentary does her (and all of the participants) justice.
Runtime: 90 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: TV-MA
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? Yes
Did I Cry? Nope
My Rating: 3.75/5 Stars
Available: Free on Netflix
