Monique: I always knew about the kidnapping. At first, he had plans for a documentary about missing and exploited children. Do you know what happened to you?" As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. My goals and my dreams in life are just to be happier, to live life. In the meantime, she got her GED, several months before the rest of her classmates graduated. "She said she wanted me to teach her how to do hair. Because Still Here lazily throws in as many negative African American clichs as possible in the movie, the Watson family lives in public housing. It is you, right?'" Not to mention, the timing of the films release relates to the current affairs in the United States today. She recognized him, too. captainformDomReady(function() { . var append_element = append_element || function(e){if(void 0==e)return!1;if(! resize77260663fffe99d76c9(wrapper); It doesn't even have my mom's name because of privacy reasons. "If she's that kind of person, she had two, three weeks, she could take money, she had checkbooks.". Michelle took a job at a McDonald's to try to keep up with her bills and talked to her parents about sending her son back to live with them. resize77260663fffe99d76c9(wrapper); What did you do at practice? Or the other girl. This happened. It kind of made it more real. Michael answers the door. McMullens mother, the Rev. Basically, he was found at fault for dropping the children off in the park and leaving them alone. By what name was Still Here (2020) officially released in Japan in Japanese? When viewers first see Christian, he tells his editor boss Jerry Hoffman (played by Larry Pine) that he doesnt want to cover a charity event because its not hard news. She got so mad. Let's go look at old periodicals and anything we could find from that time about kidnapped children. For two years, she lived with Tokpa, working in her African hair salon, learning the trade. However, Michaels wife Tiffany is more willing to listen to what Christian has to say. Ben: Was that because your aunt was basically suggesting that you wouldn't necessarily keep staying with her if you, you know, did the wrong thing or something? The assignment lands in the hands of journalist Christian Baker, who at first pursues a false lead, turning the entire case upside down. Amory: Step 1: try to find the address of the house Monique and her mom were living in when she was taken from the front yard. Lived In Rosedale NY, Providence RI, Boston MA, New York NY. It's a hodge-podge of a white deranged liberals view of society. He grounds the reality of his scenes and steps into a vulnerability and humanity anchoring the darker moments of Still Here. Monique: When my mom told me she was selling drugs, I knew that I couldn't tell anyone. And who is the hero of the story who thinks he can solve this missing persons case all by himself? Its also because she knows much more about what happened to her. There are cases of white-collar theft for far more money in which defendants are sentenced to probation as long as they pay back the money. In the real world of New York City newspaper journalism, a dolt like Christian wouldnt last on a crime beat, let alone be given front-page assignments, because hes just so bungling and willfully ignorant of how crime investigations work. We started driving and we drove right past my mom and she was on her bike. Who agreed to take her in up until she turned 18. "She's not some villain that needs to be holed down in her situation because of an error in judgment that she's made.". . captainForm772606PreloadInterval63fffe99d76c9 = setInterval(function(){ Her relationship with Topka matured, too. Because they were black. One complexity shes still trying to figure out, though, a missing piece of the story. Filled with guilt, Christian helps Michael in the search for his daughter, while facing resistance from the community, the police, and his own publication. Ben: This home life, is what led to Monique running away when she was 17. Danielle was handcuffed and taken to the police station for fingerprinting to prove who she was. Its all part of her ending a cycle of pain created by generations of abuse and neglect in her family. Or maybe her mom wanted to get them both away from this guy, who abducted her. This false and limited perspective is damaging and ego driven with the "intention" of supporting Black stories. I felt it was missing something not sure what it was but something was missing.i felt it tried to hard.good attempt though. The movies basic plot is that a working-class African American family is reeling from the mysterious disappearance of a 10-year-old girl in the family. Michelle was young and impulsive, and she felt incredible shame because her mother is a pastor, he said. Moniques abductor got off with a slap on the wrist 15 years ago. Or worse, she could have become a victim -- vulnerable and weary from the treacherous trip. The chain of telephone calls lasted minutes -- 10, 15 tops, said Thornton, the detective. }; I think I looked up Amber Alert, I looked up the city she was in at the time and a date range. And he was glad to hear it. "Let's not portray [her son] as a child whose life has fallen apart because his mother disappeared," her father, Michael McMullen, said. Be the first to contribute. Our site uses cookies. The acting and the photography are both marvelous. Latasha Monique Watson, 36. Zazie Beetz shares top billing in this movie, probably because she has a red-hot career right now, but her headlining status for this movie is misleading. It's as simple-minded and formulaic as it sounds. ("elementType"in e))return!1;var n=null;if(n=e.following?e.following.parentElement:e.inside?e.inside:e.replacing?e.replacing.parentElement:"script"==e.elementType?document.head:document.body,null==n)return!1;var l=document.createElement(e.elementType);delete e.elementType,l=jQuery.extend(l,e),e.replacing?n.replaceChild(l,e.replacing):n.appendChild(l)}; For parts of her abduction, she seems to remember feelings more than specific details. Its as simple-minded and formulaic as it sounds. But this is how black people are treated in this country and it's so sad that the victims are victimized over and over again. I'm a white lady and old. The assignment lands in the hands of journalist Christian Baker (Whitworth), who at first pursues a false lead, turning the entire case upside down. Monique: On the police report I provided, you know, that didn't have the other girl's name. But police were developing a different theory. She gets out at three. I just have a lot of people to prove wrong. The ending which might have saved the film instead was like letting the air out of a tire. She could be trapped in her car out of sight of passing traffic. It wasn't until Dec. 15, 2008, when a McMullen family friend walked into the Knight's Inn in Martinsburg, W.Va., and spotted a familiar face working behind the counter. And my family felt like it was all their fault, too. I got kidnapped because I was dumb enough to go in the car." She abandoned her car, her keys, her ID, her purse, money, wallet -- everything, including a budget that showed she was running out of money for classes. I couldn't take them and it was hard to overlook. The Romanian-born director makes his feature film debut with Still Here. The transcript has been edited from our original script for clarity. Monique: We ended up going to the beach and spending quite a lot of time there. ; 31.08% are married and 44.60% are homeowners Still Here is a brave movie, raw, realistic, specially In the times we are living, the acting was superb!! Get notified about exclusive offers every week! She has 3 different addresses, her most recent of which is in Indianapolis, Indiana. They said she was someone else. "We certainly want people to understand she's not a villifiable person. "She was pretty upset, she was crying and she was pretty scared," he added. Monique: I don't have good communication with my family. This nightclub scenes only purpose is to establish that Christian is sexually interested in women, so that viewers know that Christian is the prototypical good-looking, straight white male who usually gets to be the hero in movies like this one. Doing the odd jobs she needs to do to stay on her own feet because the traditional safety net, family isnt really there. And the fact that it will probably be a fellow African American doesnt seem to bother him in the least. And I'm really grateful because my god-sisteractually moved from Las Vegas to live with me. Christian decides to redeem himself and help the father in the search for his daughter, while facing resistance from the community, police and his own publication. In Still Here, when twelve-year-old Monique Watson disappears from home, her father, Michael Watson (McRae), refuses to give up even as the media and police make little effort in solving the. In Martinsburg, hotel manager Bipin Patel made sure she had clothing and a place to stay. Even the initial storyline changed from Romania to New York and with a black family. And a description of the kidnappers car: a dark blue, 1995 Honda Civic. Christian with guilt decides to finally do his work properly finding himself in a race against time to help the family find the girl. I have to say I'm always more compelled to watch movies based on true events. Her parents said at the time they thought shed been removed from her car. There were 11 other movies released on the same date, including The New Mutants, Rogue and Fatima. The Moore teenager dreamed of being a doctor and having a family of her own. They pulled Danielle into a back room and began to question her. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. With public interest waning and time running out, Michael and Christian race to uncover the truth - and find Monique, before it's too late. Ben: But she says all of her friends love Reddit and send her stories about how people solve all kinds of mysteries on Reddit. "I'm grateful that my parents never gave up on me," she wrote in a statement for police. 17 people named Latasha Watson found in Houston, Aubrey and 19 other cities. It was a good movie though, main characters were great, (Father and Reporter) If you can get past the over acting and try hard detectives (especially Johnny Holm) you'll love it. Many people who run from crimes run from really big ones, such as murder or rape. This movie is about a missing girl. Her mother, Tynesha Brooks, 41,. "I felt sorry for her," he said. However, it soon evolved into a narrative feature for Still Here to relay a better message under his vision. She had friends. But she didnt really know how to go about getting it. So in addition to offering emotional support and advice, she also helped Monique take some immediate next steps. She told him she was hiding from an abusive man in Louisiana. var popupTrigger = jQuery("#captainformForm772606EmbedPopup63fffe99d76c9"); 7,061 followers. Lillie McMullen, said her family remained prayerful during the time her daughter was missing. captainformDomReady(function() { } }); And re-visiting her case. I don't know the dates that it happened. This is a hard film to watch. Reggie then tells Christian something thats pure gossip and speculation: He says that a taxi driver who lives in the same cluster of buildings used to park in a certain area every day at a certain time of day, but the taxi driver wasnt parked there on the day that Monique disappeared and the taxi driver hasnt been seen since. He gets a clue and runs a story claiming the police are not doing their job. In November 2008, the TV show "America's Most Wanted" posted a blurb about her on its website, but no leads came from that, either. She decided to ask her god-mother for more information. }, true); var captainformCustomVars = {}; setTimeout(function () { They told Monique they throw out case files for misdemeanors after 10 years. "I'm so hurt, and I'm crying for her, and I wish she could come back to me. All of them were so supportive. Amory: This story, awful as it is, is incomplete. was a college student, a single mom, a beloved daughter whose disappearance worried her family for more than two years. I can't stop my life for her right now. Susquehanna Twp. Monique Watson she/her. She was running. Monique: My mom, she was abused by my grandma. I do attend community college out here and I do a lot of odd jobs just to provide for myself. ("elementType"in e))return!1;var n=null;if(n=e.following?e.following.parentElement:e.inside?e.inside:e.replacing?e.replacing.parentElement:"script"==e.elementType?document.head:document.body,null==n)return!1;var l=document.createElement(e.elementType);delete e.elementType,l=jQuery.extend(l,e),e.replacing?n.replaceChild(l,e.replacing):n.appendChild(l)}; "I love her.". And it's always just been excuse after excuse. "People do some of the darnedest things," Michael McMullen said. It turned out that the hard work Danielle put in at that salon ended up giving her away. Monique says her mom went from having a life full of possibility, to a life full of illegal drugs. If convicted, Dauphin County District Attorney Edward M. Marsico Jr. said, Michelle likely will be sentenced to the time she's served. "At the time, Hurricane Katrina was still a lot in the news.". I want to make this clear, I'm being really open about this just because, you know, this was my childhood. But, at the same time, I'm really scared to even talk to her about it because what if she doesn't remember at all? A New York journalist who gets assigned the story of a missing African-American young girl, risks his career and takes the matter into his own hands trying to find her. And when I actually searched his name and I saw his picture, my body started shaking. "This really sucks. It contains a police report with her name on it. As a Limited release, Still Here will only be shown in select movie theaters across major markets. "There was a letter that she had written about how she claimed to be a Katrina victim," Thornton said. She didn't have the best life growing up. "She didn't say, 'I'm just going to fall off the face of the earth for three years,'" he said. Patel wanted to help her. "She was really friendly, especially to my customers. We just got back from the beach. Amory: Monique has always known she was abducted. The assignment lands in the hands of journalist Christian Baker, who at first goes with the first lead, turning the entire case up side down. Christian introduces himself and tells Michael that hes from The Chronicle and wants to help with the investigation into Moniques disappearance. All rights reserved (About Us). Ben: Two, its highly unlikely that police could dredge up physical evidence of what happened to Monique 15 years ago. Monique: When I woke up, it was crazy, just so many responses, so many private messages from complete strangers. They liked it. Susquehanna Twp. She dated. McMullens car was found in Hagerstown, Md., with her personal possessions inside a little more than a week after she disappeared. Also, a date: May 13th, 2005. And it is scary. And hes out now. if('' == 'floating') { Friends shes made in recent years who have supported her through tough times. Monique: Yes. (Christian doesnt show any identification, by the way.) I was in awe during the whole movie. I said I can help you with some money, but I can't hire you. "They were checking her, but I had no clue," Topka said. The 2 main detectives were horrible actors. popupTrigger.css('visibility', 'visible'); And after that, I was reunited with my mom. We didn't really care about anything. "And kept to herself and claims not to have known about the TV show, never Googled herself during that time frame. Hollywood has used the white savior trope for a long time as a structure to tell stories of POC. if(typeof cfJsHost != 'undefined'){ Amory: Which begs the question: what exactly was her mom's relationship to this guy? She's always tried to be the best mom she could be for me. Amory: Through all of this, Monique was finding her way. Monique: Then he did take us back to his car but he made us get undressed. At this point in the story, Monique has been missing for eight days, and Michael is getting increasingly stressed-out because the police havent made any progress in the investigation. Watch the exclusive interview below and let us know what you think. Refine Your Search Results All Filters 1 Monique Yvonne Watson, 50 Resides in Downey, CA Lived In Hawthorne CA, Los Angeles CA, Lynwood CA, Gardena CA And he ended up telling us, "Well, we're going to have a fun day. Lillie and Michael McMullen feared their daughter might have fallen asleep behind the wheel during the long drive or suffered a migraine headache and crashed. Monique Daniels was an average Oklahoma 15-year-old. We just had a trade. Monique: Thanks to the advice that Reddit gave me, they were telling me to go to the local police station, Ventura County, and ask for my records. Susquehanna Twp. Broken promise after broken promise. Including a private message from a Redditor who related to parts of Moniques story. The actors in this movie dont do anything particularly outstanding. "She avoided the police," Thornton said. In California, Danielle moved around a bit -- spending time in Piedmont and Hayward before settling in Oakland. Maybe something even worse happened to her that she doesn't remember. She left her child with a friend and made the woman promise to say nothing until Tuesday morning. That whole experience made me realize I really have good friends because all my friends came to visit me when I was in the mental hospital. Up until a few weeks ago, Monique had been looking for that police report for 15 years, even though she might not have realized it. Greg is more reluctant, and he feels guilty about possibly targeting someone who might be innocent. They dont get medals for that., Christian eagerly takes the assignment. "I was not encouraged to leave Pennsylvania, I was not kidnapped or forced to stay somewhere that I didn't want to be. Michael gives this reply before slamming the door in Christians face: You want to help? elementType: "script", Her family believed she'd been abducted. She worked. if('' == 'floating') { Its implied that Anthony is willing to go as far as frame someone for the crime. Superb acting from a largely unknown (by me, anyway) cast. Overall it was a bit disjointed and sometimes off the wall. Monique and her mom went back to California for the funeral. She used them only to pay for school, he said. It was like I was walking on very thin ice all the time. She goes home, maybe a little more school work. Includes Address (11) Phone (1) Email (1) See Results. captainformCustomVars['772606'] = ''; Amory: For now, Moniques focused on her next semester at college. What was this blah blah blah?" Do think he's in California still? Ben: Every day, she wakes up at 6 or 6:30 in the morning. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. He discussed the origins of the script, changing the narrative and the timeliness of current events in America. But for me, it seemed like I wasn't allowed to make mistakes. The actors made me see into their pain. Also known as Shereemo Monique Watson, Monique Sher, Monique Monique Watson. I want to go everywhere! "Not a penny. Its just an incredibly lazy and culturally tone-deaf film that offers nothing thats impressively creative. I'm still gonna prove them wrong. I'm not prejudiced at all but I can see this same thing happens a lot in real life. But I'm hoping by sharing my story, that more people, no matter how long ago it was, will go and seek help. Then she gets up and does it all over again. "I cried for her, and that's why I really opened up my heart to her," Tokpa said. And they told me, we don't have these files about this this case because he got let go on a misdemeanor. This inflammatory and very unethical article, which could ruin an innocent mans reputation, sets off a chain of events, during which Still Here tries to hammer over viewers heads the ideas that all New York City police officers are corrupt and/or racist and that Christian is the only journalist who can find out what happened to Monique. They say and do things that are hard to take back. }); One of the searches led police to West Virginia, where they said she was living and working at a bargain motel using the alias Monique Watson. Martin said he was unaware if she was using a false identification in California. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). Monique has always known she was abducted as a child, but specific details about what happened, and why, have been elusive. Her fans and other viewers should be warned that Beetz only has one scene in Still Here, which has her on screen for about five minutes. id: "captainform_js_global_vars", It makes you feel, and makes you think whether everyone is caring for one another enough. jQuery(wrapper).find('a').removeAttr('href'); She was maybe two years older than me. 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