monition : This article contains spoilers for the Lifetime movie Boy in the Walls !

This article note insult and graphic violence .

Sometimes there ’s nothing effective than a Lifetime moving picture likeBoy in the Walls , and it ’s even unspoilt if they ’re based on a true floor . Recent film based ontrue storey likeGirl in the Basementshow how the web handles ripped - from - the - headlines level and makes them grip television , but this mystery is so distorted it seems like a work of Hollywood fable . The movie begins with Alisa ( Ryan Michelle Bathe ) who , while still adjusting to the function of stepmother to her husband Chris ’s minor , move from a busy liveliness in Manhattan to rural Connecticut and begin to feel like someone may be see them from inside the theatre .

Ben Affleck as Christian drumming his hand on the table while talking to Cynthia Addai-Robinson’s Marybeth in The Accountant 2

While her married man is busy with body of work all the time , things around the theatre get move or lose , food gets eaten , and she find more and more grounds pointing to someone else be among her kin . What she finds stupor her - a stranger has been phrogging ( inhabit inside a house without the knowledge or license of the tenants ) right under their nose . While it go impossible that someone could live alongside a family without them ever seeing them for so long , it turn out that not only is it more common than it sounds , but theLifetime movie is based onan exceedingly graphic true - crime report .

Yes, Boy In The Walls Is A True Story

What To Know About Phrogging & Daniel LaPlante

The concept of phrogging is n’t a young one , andBoy in the Wallsis based on the genuine story of Daniel LaPlante , an abused and troubled boy who , at 17 eld old , snuck into Tina Bowen ’s home and found a place in the wall of her home to enshroud . According toA&E ’s unfeigned Crimeblog , LaPlante was able to be , unbeknown to Bowen , for almost an entire year in 1986 , at first just watching her go about her regular routine , and after relishing in the idea that he could terrify her family . When he was name , he took a hatchet and held Bowen , her sister , their Father of the Church , and a friend hostage until he was eventually arrested in 1987 .

While out on bond in December of ' 87 , LaPlante break into the menage of Priscilla Gustafson and killed her as well as her two children , after which he was take in for the last fourth dimension and sentenced to multiple life sentences for their murders . Most phroggers ' are unhoused transient and not crimson , but the screenwriter Katrina Onstad and David Weaver do a just job of capitalizing on what they represent . An unnamed terror lurking in what ’s normally thought to be a safe quad givesBoy in the Wallsits tautness and utilizes a primal fear in most watcher .

How Accurate Is Boy In The Walls?

The Movie Is Harrowingly Attentive To Realism

The screenplay might be fictional , but because it draw on substantial upshot , theBoy in the Wallsis an exact account of phrogging and the terror it inflicts on unsuspecting victim . The movie begins with Alisa and her children know many of the matter that bechance to victims of phroggers ; hear strange noises , noticing object in the house being agitate , intellectual nourishment being eaten , TVs left on , and matter often attributed to a supernatural haunting . The remnant ofBoy in the Wallsmight not be as gruesome as the LaPlante story , but it ’s satisfying for a Lifetime thriller .

movie likeHomeboundand even the Oscar - winning filmParasitehave focused on the unsettling nature of someone else living in secret . As unconvincing as it might seem that phrogging and home invasions of this kindcan bechance , it ’s a plot that has sparked the imaginations of mystery fans for years and has led to one ofLifetime ’s best " establish on a True Story " film . LaPlante ’s history is the most renowned case to inspire storylines like the one inBoy in the Wallsbut it proves that the truth can still be foreign than fiction .

Other Lifetime Movies Based On Disturbing True Stories

The Boy In The Walls Isn’t The Only Disturbing Case Adapated By Lifetime

Many Lifetime viewer were shocked to learn the disturbing events ofBoy in the Wallswere based on a true story . However , Lifetime has accommodate several perfectly agonizing rightful events into equally jarring movies , and2023’sBoy in the Wallsis simply the latest true - crime incident to be involve by the web and turned into a shocking feature - film .

One of the most notorious lifespan picture show based on substantial events is2021’sGirl in the Basement . For many TV audience , Girl in the Basementwas even more of a difficult watch thanBoy in the Walls , as it focused on a father who lock his girl in the basement of their home and submit her to class of intimate abuse . This Lifetime picture show was based on the real lawsuit of Austrian man Josef Fritzl , though the Lifetime movie added in some uplifting moment of hope to make the tale ( slightly ) more palatable .

The same is the case for 2016’sGirl in the Box . LikeGirl in the BasementandBoy in the Walls , Lifetime’sGirl in the Boxturned one of the most harrowing real - life example of kidnap and draw out abusive captivity into a disturbing movie . ForGirl in the Box , the fount of the snatch of Colleen Stan was used .

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All in all , Lifetime has a rich history of turn true - crime cases into compelling , if often breadbasket - churn , lineal - to - TV movies . The internet does n’t just focus on lawful - crime either , with films like 2003’sHomeless to Harvardand 2006’sFor One Nightalso being establish on true chronicle . However , these are n’t nightmare - inducing thrillers but more wholesome , and still incredibly worked up , dramas . Boy in the Wallsmay shock some fans when they learn it ’s ground on existent event , but if they want to discover more motion picture like it with standardized true - to - life origins , thereare many Lifetime moviesthat can cater to their needs .

Source : A&E ’s True Crime

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