When I first saw this title on Rogerebert.com, I knew I had to watch. And when I read the actual story, I clicked on “play” immediately. Don’t read if you don’t know the story and you want to watch. It starts off with a typical “boy meets girl”. Ian and Michele meet, and it’s love. Michele mentions wanting that “happily ever after” with the white picket fence, and within months, they’ve moved in together.
Flash forward: Ian and Angela have met. Soon after, she’s receiving death threats from someone who goes by “Lillith.” Someone is making ads on Craigslist in her name, telling potential suitors that she wants to undergo a rape fantasy (i.e., someone breaks into her house and rapes her).
Michele’s accused of sending the emails and creating the ads; she’s then arrested and spends three months in jail before law enforcement finds out it’s all a sham.
So, what is the source of the sham? The couple! Angela’s been creating those messages all along, and she’s sentenced to five years in prison for her “fun.” It turns out she’s also a pathological liar, but we don’t have time to psychoanalyze her reasons.
But we’re just in the middle of the film! We later found out Ian’s been orchestrating it. According to Michele, he’s very controlling, and while it’s not said, we can infer he likely manipulated Angela into it. And, as a US Marshal, he was quite capable of it. He’s doing ten years in prison as I write this.
At the film’s end, Michele is solo parenting a one-year-old. “I’m not a princess,” she said, “But this is my happily ever after.” Good for you, Michele! Keep at it!