The Gabby Petito Story

source: The Gabby Petito Story

As this better-than-expected movie portrays it, Brian hung back from the start, never asking Gabby out till she pretty much forced him to. The popular paperback "He's Just Not that Into You" advises women to take such signals seriously; wild horses couldn't stop a man with genuine interest from pursuing his woman of choice. So this ill-fated couple starts off on the wrong foot, and, from the beginning, we wonder what it is in homely, diffident Brian that captures the interest and devotion of pretty, spirited Gabby. The movie portrays Brian as possessing that green-eyed character flaw, jealousy, paired with equally hamstringing low self-esteem. "You're not understanding how these guys are looking at you," he tells Gabby, urging her against a better job because "guys will come in and hit on you." Effusive, idealistic Gabby pooh-poohs his concerns, believing everything will improve once they're married. Still, she's not entirely oblivious to the problems (i.e., "You say the wrong word, and he loses it"). Eager for respite from COVID restraints, or maybe just wanting Gabby all to himself, Brian proposes a trip across the country, which Gabby romanticizes into "van life," complete with a blog, which she hopes will make her a monetizing influencer. Only she doesn't tell Brian about her project till they're well into their journey. Predictably, he's contemptuous of her efforts, and their squabbles turn violent. "What is wrong with you? You always have to have something to fight about!" Gabby says, as we observe that her goodwill is finally fading. Yet she ignores the advice of her best friend, who tells her to simply come home. That this everyday couple from Long Island become victims of a Shakespearean tragedy is just plain sad. Clearly, Gabby's friend and family had hinted at their concerns, but politely respected her autonomy. Women, pay attention to the warning signs, and act! Let's not give Lifetime more plotlines for movies like this!

The Gabby Petito Story_720(480P)

source: The Gabby Petito Story

I immediately felt off even from the beginning of this film. The actors portraying Gabby, and Brian were clearly much older than Gabby and Brian were in real life. I feel like they tried really hard. But this was just uncomfortable to watch, because I did not feel this film did Gabby Justice. There are so many unknowns in this story. I feel like this wound is still very fresh, and Lifetime should have gotten permission from the Petito's to make this movie, and if they approved. Had them work closely with them to really capture who Gabby truly truly was. The fact is, they created a narrative that we just don't know enough details about, to truly speak on, and the reality is, as much as we all are trying to piece the puzzle together. Theirs no indication that Gabby was planning to leave Brian. The letter Brian wrote stated that they were in the rain, Gabby had gotten hurt, and that is when he killed her. The fact is, we just really don't know. I think it's film was made prematurely. Rest in piece Gabby.

The acting is painful to watch, even for a lifetime movie. Thora Birch playing Gabby's mom? Absolutely, ridiculously unbelievable. The actress playing Gabby is 28 years old and overacting to the point where she sounds like a whiny 10 year old. This entire thing just seems like a quick cash grab to capitalize on this poor young girls story. Her story deserves better than this. Her family deserve better than this. Gabby deserves better than this. Of all the cheap ways to make a buck... I'd watch it a million times, if Gabby's family were receiving any money for this atrocity, but they aren't. So I won't even bother.

It's definitely worth watching. A stark warning for young women caught up with controlling men. You can't love it away. She was a lovely young woman way over her head with this guy. The movie indicated she figured this out too late. I don't know what the controversy is over it ( besides her family doesn't approve). I haven't heard of inaccuracies although most most movies of this type have them. She was like so many young women; just wanting someone to love them. I was trying to figure out if her " friend" was real or a composite, but "she" had Brian pegged. Very sad Gabby didn't see the danger sooner. Watch it for yourself and decide. Well made.

The movie started off pretty fast and gets straight to the point, then takes an hour+ dragging out the rest of the details, which i've noticed with other lifetime movies. Anyway, the acting was good and i think it did a good job on showing what domestic violence is really like, but then again i've never seen any other movies or shows that portray that so there may be better ways to execute it. Besides that, it doesn't mean that lifetime should have continued making this movie. The petito family specifically said not to have this movie made, and the first thing lifetime does is make it. It honestly looks like they did this out of pettiness, rushed through the movie, and made it mediocre just so they could have a movie made to taunt them. Maybe if this were a documentary instead (with the family's permission of course) it would have been way better, because watching a movie about this case just looks like a mockery of the situation. Anyway, close to the middle/end, gabby goes missing and is eventually pronounced as dead. At that part it definitely left an impression on me, and it felt very haunting. I felt sick for seeing just what happened to the actress, that i can't even imagine how even more sickening it is for people who knew gabby petito themselves. In summary the acting was good in my opinion and the script for the most part was well made (except for cringey attempts to try and keep up with modern slang), but it was executed poorly.

I live in Florida, and I followed the story very closely, sorry, but this movie is an abomination. The girl playing Gabby looks like she's in her 30s, and Gabby was barely in her 20s. I don't know where they got their information from, or their actors, but this is terrible!!! The Petito family deserves better than this ridiculous, rushed, half thought out storyline that does not tell the true story of what happened to this poor girl. Please don't waste your time watching this movie, it needs to be removed immediately, never to surface again. I'm sure one day this subject matter will be relevant in some manner, but this is just not the time or the movie.

I found this movie very 1 sided. I'm not saying Brian wasn't very jealous, controlling and in need of therapy. But this movie shows basically none of Gabbies issues, anxiety, ocd, despression. Things we know she had because there's footage of her saying it. She had a dependence of him. She said she didn't feel comfortable away from him. So portraying her as a confident free spirit that he was constantly trying to corral isn't realistic. Her videos very much showed a timid, meek but adventurous girl. Brian obviously manipulated Gabbie, put her excitement of becoming an Influencer down because he wanted her to always need him but I don't believe he was a psychopath like Jeffrey Dahmer. I hate when movies that are about a real life event are so one sided in telling the story. All they had to do was portray her as she really was and with all the footage of her that should of been easy. No one knows what caused Brian to strangle Gabbie to death. But it's not so hard to hypothesize that they were arguing something they were known to do and he got so angry he stangled her. The real lesson in all of this the lesson I'd want to the world to learn if I was Gabbie. Is not to ignore all the red flags. Listen to your gut. You might love a person but together you're toxic for each other. Sometimes when you've become dependent on someone for comfort or for whatever reason it's hard to break yourself away. I'd like to think Gabbies story with no help from this movie has helped many get out of a situation that may have ended the same way hers did. I know her parents hated the idea of this movie and asked it not be made to begin with. Which is very understandable. Hopefully they can take comfort in knowing her actual story saved many.