girl taken movie review

Girl, Taken

Celeste Nurse (Self) Morné Nurse (Self) Zephany Nurse (Self)

Francois Verster, Simon Wood

A baby girl stolen from a mother's hospital bedside three days after her birth, is reunited 17 years later with her family, when a second daughter enrols in a new school and befriends her. DNA samples confirm the two girls are sisters.

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Girl, Taken

• A baby girl stolen from a mother's hospital bedside three days after her birth, is reunited 17 years later with her family, when a second daughter enrols in a new school and befriends her. DNA samples confirm the two girls are sisters.
• Girl, Taken follows the story of Celeste and Morne Nurse, whose baby daughter Zephany was stolen from hospital three days after her birth in Cape Town, April 1997. For 17 years, the devastated couple searched for Zephany, regularly making media appeals, hiring private detectives and following false leads. Then in 2015, their second daughter, Cassidy, enrolled in a new school, where other pupils pointed out an older pupil, Miche Solomon, who looked much like her. DNA samples confirmed that Miche was Zephany, and, incredibly, she had grown up only a few miles from the Nurse's home. The Nurses were overjoyed, and the story saw them becoming media darlings around the world. However, the arrest and trial of the seamstress whom Miche knew as her loving mother devastated her and ultimately, she chose to remain with the kidnapper's family. The Nurses, against all expectations, lost their daughter a second time. This film follows the process of two broken families climbing the difficult path towards forgiveness and wholeness. — Abacus Media Rights

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Girl, Taken

With more twists and turns than a fictional thriller, this true story keeps us on the edge of our seats as its focus shifts from the theft of three-day-old Zephany from a Cape Town hospital to the chance discovery of a schoolgirl many years later. The emotions experienced by the girl’s two families are explored with sensitivity and insight, from loss and grief, to fraught re-connection, and, ultimately, forgiveness and acceptance. But it’s the girl’s reaction that is the heart of this story. Can the teenager embrace a new reality? Authentic, engrossing, and humbling in its exploration of love, Girl, Taken is deeply human and not to be missed.

François Verster, Simon Wood

Screenwriter

Neasa Ní Chianáin, Francois Verster, Simon Wood

David Rane, Francois Verster

Celeste Nurse, Morné Nurse, Zephany Nurse

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Girl, Taken

Directed by François Verster , Simon Wood

On April 28, 1997, Morné and Celeste Nurse's firstborn was born - a baby girl they named Zephany. Three days later, that baby disappeared from her crib. They continued to search for her for 17 years after her second daughter, Cassidy, went to a new school in 2015 and met someone who looked like her. DNA tests have shown that she is their lost daughter. Zephany, who grew up as Miché Solomon, was taken to a place of safe custody and the woman she had known as her all her life was arrested and eventually sent to prison. However, Miché chose to stay with her abductor and not by her biological parents. This documentary tells a moving story of hope and loss

Directors Directors

François Verster Simon Wood

Alternative Title

Documentary

Releases by Date

30 jun 2022, releases by country.

100 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Graham ★★★ 2

Girl, Taken is an interesting documentary retelling of a South African true story of the Nurse family, whose daughter Zepheny was stolen from a hospital at 3 days old, and then located by chance some 17 years later.

What could have been a straightforward ending contained some remarkable twists and turns, and while I struggled to find many of the people involved particularly likeable, it's clear that everyone involved went through a huge amount of trauma both during and after the event.

Now with the only mother she'd ever known taken away to prison for a series of crimes including kidnap and fraud, Miché as she is now known struggles to come to terms with what has happened or bond with her birth parents. With time though, a flicker of light shines at the end of the tunnel.

Review by simone ★★★★

the guy who edited this kept pausing the film to talk about his stupid opinions.

Review by The L1P ★★½

I haven't watched a documentary in quite some time that's confounded and infuriated me quite like this one.

Here's a recounting of an unarguably upsetting and traumatising incident of child abduction that is so muddied that, at various parts along the way, it seems to ask us to empathise and pity the child abductor whilst almost villainising the victims of her crime...

... and then putting us in the company of the abducted child as an adult, revealing her to be a thoroughly wrongheaded and actually quite unlikable individual.

To say that this thing is messy doesn't cover it.

Review by Matthew Rice ★★★★ 1

Watching this with no prior knowledge of the case kept me in utter suspense and I felt more than a few emotional gut punches.

If this was a Hollywood film, the credits would roll once the lost child was reunited with her biological family; but that was just the end of a chapter and new story of tragedy, anger and reconciliation began at that moment (in some ways, the more intriguing aspect of the doco).

Made a big impact - highly recommended.

Review by Patrick ★★★½

Shoutout to the editor Bob😘

Review by Alina ❁ ★★★

Wild true crime story! It was fascinating to see how Zephany/Miche is coping with what happened to her and her family. I think the documentary is a bit too emphatic about the kidnapper but I can understand why.

Review by Caryn Welby-Solomon ★★★★

As someone who watched this story closely in the media, this documentary still took me off guard at how emotionally invested I felt in it. It was incredibly well-made and made an effort to show all aspects of the story.

Review by drowsyy ★★

Review by Rosie Lighters ★★★★

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GIRL, TAKEN

A documentary feature film co-directed, co- filmed and co-produced by the CHR documentary film course convenor Francois Verster with fellow filmmaker Simon Wood, has just garnered the Best South African Documentary Award at the 2022 Durban International Film Festival.

This is the third time that this prize, which makes the film eligible for the 2023 Academy Awards, has been awarded to Verster: his films THE MOTHERS’ HOUSE and THE DREAM OF SHAHRAZAD won in 2006 and 2015 respectively, and his film SEA POINT DAYS garnered a Special Jury nod in 2009.

Co-produced with Soilsiu Films in Ireland, GIRL, TAKEN tells the incredible story of two parents whose baby was stolen at birth, who miraculously found her 17 years later, and who then lost her again.  In April 1997 the baby daughter of Celeste and Morne Nurse, whom they named Zephany, was stolen from hospital three days after her birth in Cape Town, April 1997. For 17 years, the devastated couple searched for Zephany – until in 2015 their second daughter, Cassidy, enrolled in a new school, where other pupils pointed out her likeness to an older pupil, Miche Solomon, whom DNA samples confirmed was the missing Zephany, and whom incredibly had grown up only a few miles from the Nurse’s home. While the Nurses were overjoyed and became media darlings around the world, the arrest and trial of the seamstress whom Miche knew as her loving mother however devastated her – and ultimately she chose to remain with the kidnapper’s family rather than her biological parents. The film follows the process of two broken families climbing the difficult path towards forgiveness and wholeness.

GIRL, TAKEN was funded by Abacus Media, M-Net, Screen Ireland, the MEDIA Creative Europe programme and the Irish Section 481 Tax Incentive Scheme.  It is being streamed on Paramount Plus in the UK and Germany, and has garnered wide attention in the popular UK and US press, including outlets such as Newsweek, USA Today, The Sun, Heat Magazine, The Daily Mirror and Metro.  It will be released in cinemas in Cape Town and Johannesburg at the end of September and will screen on M-Net from early 2023.

Released concurrently with GIRL, TAKEN is AFRICAN MOOT, directed by Shameela Seedat, and produced, co-filmed and co-edited by Verster.  This feature documentary follows four law student teams from across Africa as they travel to Botswana to compete at the prestigious African Human Rights Moot Competition, the largest mock court competition in Africa. At the competition, these young aspirant lawyers act as both prosecution and defense in a cutting-edge human rights fictional court case, each hoping to win the case and bring back the trophy to their home country. This year’s case focuses on the rights of refugees, providing a keen insight into how brilliant young future lawmakers negotiate issues of pan-Africanism and migration across the continent.

The film was funded by the National Film and Video Foundation, the Heinrich Boell Foundation, the Deutsche Welle Akademie, the University of Pretoria Centre for Human RIghts, the Finnish Film Foundation, AVEK and YLE.  It premiered at the prestigious Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival, the largest of its kind in North America, in April this year, and screenings since have included other prestigious festivals such as the Sydney International Film Festival, Munich Dok Fest and Durban International Film Festival.  A US premiere at a top US documentary festival is scheduled for later in the year.

Both films had their South African premiere at the recent Encounters South African International Documentary FIlm Festival.

Reviews for Girl, Taken:

• https://thecaperobyn.co.za/film-review-girl-taken-theres-no-accounting-for-human-behaviour-in-riveting-documentary
• https://robynsassenmyview.com/2022/07/28/review-of-girl-taken/

Reviews for African Moot

• https://africasacountry.com/2022/07/we-are-all-potential-advocates
• https://3brothersfilm.com/blog/2022/5/2/hot-docs-2022-african-moot
• https://screenfish.net/hotdocs-22-african-moot/
• https://letterboxd.com/bc555/film/african-moot/
• https://www.africanmoot.com/

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Girl, Taken (2022)

Named Best South African Documentary Film at the 2022 Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), Girl, Taken is the incredible story of two parents whose baby was stolen at birth, who miraculously found her 17 years later, and who then lost her again…

Girl, Taken was co-directed by multi-award-winners Francois Verster and Simon Wood, whose previous collaboration, Scenes From a Dry City, was nominated for a News and Documentary Emmy, earned a Special Mention at AFI Docs, and was named World Press Photo Online Video of the Year.

The 92-minute documentary follows Celeste and Morne Nurse, whose baby daughter Zephany was stolen from hospital three days after her birth in Cape Town, April 1997. For 17 years, the devastated couple searched for Zephany, regularly making media appeals, hiring private detectives and following false leads.

Then in 2015, their second daughter, Cassidy, enrolled in a new school, where other pupils pointed out an older pupil, Miche Solomon, who looked much like her. DNA samples confirmed that Miche was Zephany, and, incredibly, she had grown up only a few miles from the Nurse’s home. The Nurses were overjoyed, and the story saw them becoming media darlings around the world. However, the arrest and trial of the seamstress whom Miche knew as her loving mother devastated her and ultimately, she chose to remain with the kidnapper’s family. The Nurses, against all expectations, lost their daughter a second time. This film follows the process of two broken families climbing the difficult path towards forgiveness and wholeness.

“It could have been sensationalist, but it wasn’t,” said the DIFF jury, praising the “twists and turns” and “many complexities and different layers” of the “real human story about family.” Similarly, alongside its international release on Paramount+, Heat (UK) gave Girl, Taken four stars, calling it “compelling and heartbreaking stuff.”

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Girl, Taken

A baby girl is stolen from a mother's hospital bedside three days after her birth. 17 years later, she is discovered when her family enroll a second daughter in a new school. But that is just the start of the story. This incredible true crime documentary unravels the extraordinary tale of crime and coincidence and follows two broken families trying to reunite and forgive.

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Winner Best South African Documentary at the 2022 Durban International Film Festival. Made with Paramount+ UK /M-Net Movies.

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Girl, Taken

A baby girl is stolen from a mother’s hospital bedside three days after her birth. 17 years later, she is discovered when her family enrolls a second daughter in a new school. But that is just the start of the story. This incredible true crime documentary unravels the extraordinary tale of crime and coincidence and follows two broken families trying to reunite and forgive.

Watch Girl, Taken and more acclaimed documentaries on BBC Select today. Restrictions apply*.

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Girl, Taken

On April 28, 1997, Morné and Celeste Nurse's firstborn was born - a baby girl they named Zephany. Three days later, that baby disappeared from her crib. They continued to search for her for 17 years after her second daughter, Cassidy, went to a new school in 2015 and met someone who looked like her. DNA tests have shown that she is their lost daughter. Zephany, who grew up as Miché Solomon, was taken to a place of safe custody and the woman she had known as her all her life was arrested and eventually sent to prison. However, Miché chose to stay with her abductor and not by her biological parents. This documentary tells a moving story of hope and loss

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June 30, 2022,

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Girl, Taken

A baby girl stolen from a mother's hospital bedside after her birth is reunited 17 years later with her family when a second daughter enrols in a new school and befriends her.

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Movie Review | 'Taken'

‘Taken’ Review: Vigilante Daddy Avenges Kidnapping

By Manohla Dargis

• Jan. 29, 2009

“Taken” stars a dour Liam Neeson as a big bad papa bear on the rampaging hunt for his baby cub, a virginal Los Angeles teenager — the first of many dubious plot points — who has been snatched while vacationing in Paris by hairy and scary Albanians who put her on the auction block. The movie was produced by the international hitmaker Luc Besson, who is best known for bankrolling action fare like the “Transporter” series and who shares writing credit on this exploitative throwaway with Robert Mark Kamen.

Mr. Besson, who made his reputation in the 1980s directing entertainments like “Subway,” was a central figure in a French movement called the cinéma du look, work that emphasized slick visuals, avoided ideology and politics, and paid closer heed to spectacle than to narrative. Although Mr. Besson now casts a wider net as a producer — he went somewhat upscale with the recent art house thriller “Tell No One” — the genre movies that carry his brand tend to be predictably homogeneous, with more or less the same look (glossy), sound (blaring) and pace (relentless). That more or less describes “Taken,” as well as innumerable action flicks from Hollywood to Hong Kong, of course, though this digitally dreary-looking movie also gleefully trades on the specter of American vigilante justice.

Directed by Pierre Morel, who kept bodies and scenes jumping in the superior “District B13,” another Besson factory production, “Taken” starts in low gear and almost immediately stalls out. Mr. Neeson’s character, Bryan Mills, a former operative for the Central Intelligence Agency (he calls himself a “preventer”), has hung up his black bag to repair his relationship with his long-neglected daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace). It’s a tough road for Bryan, particularly since he has to compete with Kim’s bitter mother (Famke Janssen, in a thankless role) and wealthy stepfather (Xander Berkeley). Happily for Bryan, nothing brings an estranged daughter back into the patriarchal fold faster than the threat of being served up like a bonbon to a salivating, knife-wielding sheik from the Republic of Cinematic Stereotypes.

The story, which opens in Los Angeles, perks up once it moves to the more dangerous environs of Paris, where legions of predators prowl for salable young things. By chance, or rather because of the shamelessly lazy filmmaking, Kim is on the phone with Bryan when the wolves break down her door, which allows him to tell off her kidnappers: “I will find you. And I will kill you.” He makes good on both promises and, in a repellent scene, he also tortures and electrocutes one of the bad guys, employing techniques he mastered while in the C.I.A. Swarthy Europeans and Arabs may still be the villains du jour at the movies, but the Americans, including those with inexplicable Irish accents, are, alas, catching up.

“Taken” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). A veritable tasting menu of death, courtesy of knives, fists, electricity and guns of various calibers.

Opens on Friday nationwide.

Directed by Pierre Morel; written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen; director of photography, Michel Abramowicz; edited by Frederic Thoraval; music by Nathaniel Mechaly; production designer, Hugues Tissandier; produced by Mr. Besson; released by 20th Century Fox. Running time: 1 hour 34 minutes.

WITH: Liam Neeson (Bryan), Maggie Grace (Kim), Leland Orser (Sam), Jon Gries (Casey), David Warshofsky (Bernie), Katie Cassidy (Amanda), Holly Valance (Sheerah), Xander Berkeley (Stuart) and Famke Janssen (Lenore).

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Common sense media reviewers.

Violent, disturbing rescue/revenge thriller isn't for kids.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

A father becomes a vigilante to save his endangere

Brian's only redeeming quality is his absolute lov

Although there's little blood, the violence is rel

Young women are depicted as pawns in a sex traffic

Language includes words like "a--hole," "s--t," "d

Featured brands include Audi, Nissan, Sony, Merced

Adults drink at a cocktail party; some characters

Parents need to know that this "hard PG-13" thriller seems just a drop of blood or two away from an R rating. Not only is there a great deal of violence, but a disturbing subplot centers on young women being kidnapped into the seedy world of sex slavery. The themes of revenge, vigilantism, sex and drug trafficking,…

Positive Messages

A father becomes a vigilante to save his endangered daughter. A young woman and her friend disregard common sense in search of a good time abroad. Vigilantism and revenge seem justified.

Positive Role Models

Brian's only redeeming quality is his absolute love for his daughter. This positive aspect of his character is ultimately diluted by the violent means he takes to save her.

Violence & Scariness

Although there's little blood, the violence is relentless for the majority of the movie, and there's a high body count overall. People are tortured, killed, and attacked with guns, knives, explosives, cars, and other weapons (belts, fire extinguishers, you name it). A character is willing to shoot innocent people if it will extract valuable information.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Young women are depicted as pawns in a sex trafficking ring. Most are forced to be prostitutes, and some are sold to the highest bidders like slaves. Many women are half dressed but not nude. Shirtless men are shown going into rooms where drugged women are on the bed.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language includes words like "a--hole," "s--t," "dick," "goddamn," "hell," and "ass."

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Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adults drink at a cocktail party; some characters smoke; young women are high so that they won't resist being sex slaves/prostitutes.

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Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this "hard PG-13" thriller seems just a drop of blood or two away from an R rating. Not only is there a great deal of violence, but a disturbing subplot centers on young women being kidnapped into the seedy world of sex slavery. The themes of revenge, vigilantism, sex and drug trafficking, and international political corruption are too intense for young audiences. Language is moderate ("s--t," "a--hole"), but drug use is widespread (though not a lot of actual use is shown on camera), and characters also drink and smoke. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (53)
• Kids say (121)

Based on 53 parent reviews

If you want to put your teenage daughter off travelling - let her watch this

Great film, what's the story.

In TAKEN, Liam Neeson plays Bryan Mills, a former CIA operative who's retired early to Los Angeles to be closer to his 17-year-old daughter Kim ( Maggie Grace ). Bryan reluctantly agrees to let Kim travel to Europe with her impetuous friend Amanda ( Katie Cassidy ), but only if she takes an international cell phone with her and promises to call every day. His concerns seem quite justified: Within half an hour of landing in Paris, Kim and Amanda are kidnapped into a disturbing world of sex trafficking. Luckily for Kim, she was checking in with her dad when the kidnapping took place, so Bryan is immediately able to use his counterintelligence skills to track down the European thugs responsible for her capture.

Is It Any Good?

Neeson is an actor of considerable gravitas, and it's downright puzzling why this is his first meaty role in a mainstream film since Batman Begins . While he's well cast as an unstoppable father who could -- and would -- do serious damage to anyone in order to save his daughter, he's just too good for this revenge flick. And Grace, who's actually 25, plays Kim as way too immature (she even affects the awkward run of an uncoordinated 8-year-old girl). No wonder she was such an easy mark.

Still, this thriller could be used as a cautionary tale for trusting high school girls traveling abroad. Kim and Amanda disclose so much information to a complete stranger -- even sharing a cab with him -- that it's eye-rollingly infuriating. Perhaps French director Pierre Morel thinks wealthy L.A. teens would act this way, but it's hard to swallow. But even harder to believe is that a CIA-trained specialist would kill seemingly everyone (and that's no exaggeration) he meets without saving anyone other than his daughter. Morel shows dozens of women enslaved for their bodies, but in the end audiences are supposed to just forget about them and cheer for Kim? That's quite disturbing.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about what makes this PG-13-rated movie different from R-rated films.

Is the violence less graphic or upsetting? Why or why not? What impact does seeing this kind of violence have on teens ?

Families can also discuss the ethical and moral lines that characters cross in the movie. Are Bryan's actions justified because he finds his daughter?

Kim and her friend partially to blame for their perilous dilemma? What mistakes did they make?

How are Americans portrayed in the film (versus Europeans)?

Movie Details

• In theaters : January 30, 2009
• On DVD or streaming : May 12, 2009
• Cast : Famke Janssen , Liam Neeson , Maggie Grace
• Director : Pierre Morel
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Twentieth Century Fox
• Genre : Thriller
• Run time : 94 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : intense sequences of violence, disturbing thematic material, sexual content, some drug references and language
• Last updated : January 1, 2024

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Girl, Taken (An Ella Dark FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 2) Kindle Edition

• Book 2 of 21 An Ella Dark FBI Suspense Thriller
• Print length 203 pages
• Language English
• Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
• Publication date June 8, 2021
• File size 1352 KB
• Page Flip Enabled
• Word Wise Enabled
• Enhanced typesetting Enabled
• See all details
• Next 3 for you in this series $16.77
• Next 5 for you in this series $29.95
• All 19 available for you in this series $140.22

• In This Series
• By Blake Pierce
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• Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08NM5XTZ6
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ (June 8, 2021)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 8, 2021
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 1352 KB
• Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 203 pages
• #586 in Women Sleuths (Books)
• #633 in Women Sleuths (Kindle Store)
• #1,343 in Suspense (Kindle Store)

About the author

Blake pierce.

Blake Pierce is the USA Today bestselling author of the RILEY PAGE mystery series, which includes seventeen books. Blake Pierce is also the author of the MACKENZIE WHITE mystery series, comprising fourteen books; of the AVERY BLACK mystery series, comprising six books; of the KERI LOCKE mystery series, comprising five books; of the MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE mystery series, comprising six books; of the KATE WISE mystery series, comprising seven books; of the CHLOE FINE psychological suspense mystery, comprising six books; of the JESSIE HUNT psychological suspense thriller series, comprising twenty-eight books; of the AU PAIR psychological suspense thriller series, comprising three books; of the ZOE PRIME mystery series, comprising six books; of the ADELE SHARP mystery series, comprising sixteen books, of the EUROPEAN VOYAGE cozy mystery series, comprising six books; of the LAURA FROST FBI suspense thriller, comprising eleven books; of the ELLA DARK FBI suspense thriller, comprising sixteen books (and counting); of the A YEAR IN EUROPE cozy mystery series, comprising nine books, of the AVA GOLD mystery series, comprising six books; of the RACHEL GIFT mystery series, comprising ten books (and counting); of the VALERIE LAW mystery series, comprising nine books (and counting); of the PAIGE KING mystery series, comprising eight books (and counting); of the MAY MOORE mystery series, comprising eleven books; of the CORA SHIELDS mystery series, comprising eight books (and counting); of the NICKY LYONS mystery series, comprising eight books (and counting), of the CAMI LARK mystery series, comprising eight books (and counting), of the AMBER YOUNG mystery series, comprising five books (and counting), of the DAISY FORTUNE mystery series, comprising five books (and counting), of the FIONA RED mystery series, comprising eight books (and counting), of the FAITH BOLD mystery series, comprising eight books (and counting), of the JULIETTE HART mystery series, comprising five books (and counting), of the MORGAN CROSS mystery series, comprising five books (and counting), and of the new FINN WRIGHT mystery series, comprising five books (and counting).

ONCE GONE (a Riley Paige Mystery--Book #1), BEFORE HE KILLS (A Mackenzie White Mystery—Book 1), CAUSE TO KILL (An Avery Black Mystery—Book 1), A TRACE OF DEATH (A Keri Locke Mystery—Book 1), WATCHING (The Making of Riley Paige—Book 1), NEXT DOOR (A Chloe Fine Psychological Suspense Mystery—Book 1), THE PERFECT WIFE (A Jessie Hunt Psychological Suspense Thriller—Book One), IF SHE KNEW (A Kate Wise Mystery—Book 1), MURDER (AND BAKLAVA) (A European Voyage Cozy Mystery—Book 1), LEFT TO DIE (An Adele Sharp Mystery—Book One), A MURDER IN PARIS (A Year in Europe—Book 1), CITY OF PREY (An Ava Gold Mystery—Book One), and HER LAST WISH (A Rachel Gift FBI Suspense Thriller—Book One) are each available as a free download on Amazon!

An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Blake loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.blakepierceauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.

BOOKS BY BLAKE PIERCE

MORGAN CROSS MYSTERY SERIES

FOR YOU (Book #1)

FOR RAGE (Book #2)

FOR LUST (Book #3)

FOR WRATH (Book #4)

FOREVER (Book #5)

JULIETTE HART MYSTERY SERIES

NOTHING TO FEAR (Book #1)

NOTHING THERE (Book #2)

NOTHING WATCHING (Book #3)

NOTHING HIDING (Book #4)

NOTHING LEFT (Book #5)

FAITH BOLD MYSTERY SERIES

SO LONG (Book #1)

SO COLD (Book #2)

SO SCARED (Book #3)

SO NORMAL (Book #4)

SO FAR GONE (Book #5)

FIONA RED MYSTERY SERIES

LET HER GO (Book #1)

LET HER BE (Book #2)

LET HER HOPE (Book #3)

LET HER WISH (Book #4)

LET HER LIVE (Book #5)

DAISY FORTUNE MYSTERY SERIES

NEED YOU (Book #1)

CLAIM YOU (Book #2)

CRAVE YOU (Book #3)

CHOOSE YOU (Book #4)

CHASE YOU (Book #5)

AMBER YOUNG MYSTERY SERIES

ABSENT PITY (Book #1)

ABSENT REMORSE (Book #2)

ABSENT FEELING (Book #3)

ABSENT MERCY (Book #4)

ABSENT REASON (Book #5)

CAMI LARK MYSTERY SERIES

JUST ME (Book #1)

JUST OUTSIDE (Book #2)

JUST RIGHT (Book #3)

JUST FORGET (Book #4)

JUST ONCE (Book #5)

JUST HIDE (Book #6)

JUST NOW (Book #7)

JUST HOPE (Book #8)

NICKY LYONS MYSTERY SERIES

ALL MINE (Book #1)

ALL HIS (Book #2)

ALL HE SEES (Book #3)

ALL ALONE (Book #4)

ALL FOR ONE (Book #5)

ALL HE TAKES (Book #6)

ALL FOR ME (Book #7)

ALL IN (Book #8)

CORA SHIELDS MYSTERY SERIES

UNDONE (Book #1)

UNWANTED (Book #2)

UNHINGED (Book #3)

UNSAID (Book #4)

UNGLUED (Book #5)

UNSTABLE (Book #6)

UNKNOWN (Book #7)

UNAWARE (Book #8)

MAY MOORE SUSPENSE THRILLER

NEVER RUN (Book #1)

NEVER TELL (Book #2)

NEVER LIVE (Book #3)

NEVER HIDE (Book #4)

NEVER FORGIVE (Book #5)

NEVER AGAIN (Book #6)

NEVER LOOK BACK (Book #7)

NEVER FORGET (Book #8)

NEVER LET GO (Book #9)

NEVER PRETEND (Book #10)

NEVER HESITATE (Book #11)

PAIGE KING MYSTERY SERIES

THE GIRL HE PINED (Book #1)

THE GIRL HE CHOSE (Book #2)

THE GIRL HE TOOK (Book #3)

THE GIRL HE WISHED (Book #4)

THE GIRL HE CROWNED (Book #5)

THE GIRL HE WATCHED (Book #6)

THE GIRL HE WANTED (Book #7)

THE GIRL HE CLAIMED (Book #8)

VALERIE LAW MYSTERY SERIES

NO MERCY (Book #1)

NO PITY (Book #2)

NO FEAR (Book #3)

NO SLEEP (Book #4)

NO QUARTER (Book #5)

NO CHANCE (Book #6)

NO REFUGE (Book #7)

NO GRACE (Book #8)

NO ESCAPE (Book #9)

RACHEL GIFT MYSTERY SERIES

HER LAST WISH (Book #1)

HER LAST CHANCE (Book #2)

HER LAST HOPE (Book #3)

HER LAST FEAR (Book #4)

HER LAST CHOICE (Book #5)

HER LAST BREATH (Book #6)

HER LAST MISTAKE (Book #7)

HER LAST DESIRE (Book #8)

HER LAST REGRET (Book #9)

HER LAST HOUR (Book #10)

AVA GOLD MYSTERY SERIES

CITY OF PREY (Book #1)

CITY OF FEAR (Book #2)

CITY OF BONES (Book #3)

CITY OF GHOSTS (Book #4)

CITY OF DEATH (Book #5)

CITY OF VICE (Book #6)

A YEAR IN EUROPE

A MURDER IN PARIS (Book #1)

DEATH IN FLORENCE (Book #2)

VENGEANCE IN VIENNA (Book #3)

A FATALITY IN SPAIN (Book #4)

ELLA DARK FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

GIRL, ALONE (Book #1)

GIRL, TAKEN (Book #2)

GIRL, HUNTED (Book #3)

GIRL, SILENCED (Book #4)

GIRL, VANISHED (Book 5)

GIRL ERASED (Book #6)

GIRL, FORSAKEN (Book #7)

GIRL, TRAPPED (Book #8)

GIRL, EXPENDABLE (Book #9)

GIRL, ESCAPED (Book #10)

GIRL, HIS (Book #11)

GIRL, LURED (Book #12)

GIRL, MISSING (Book #13)

GIRL, UNKNOWN (Book #14)

LAURA FROST FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

ALREADY GONE (Book #1)

ALREADY SEEN (Book #2)

ALREADY TRAPPED (Book #3)

ALREADY MISSING (Book #4)

ALREADY DEAD (Book #5)

ALREADY TAKEN (Book #6)

ALREADY CHOSEN (Book #7)

ALREADY LOST (Book #8)

ALREADY HIS (Book #9)

ALREADY LURED (Book #10)

ALREADY COLD (Book #11)

EUROPEAN VOYAGE COZY MYSTERY SERIES

MURDER (AND BAKLAVA) (Book #1)

DEATH (AND APPLE STRUDEL) (Book #2)

CRIME (AND LAGER) (Book #3)

MISFORTUNE (AND GOUDA) (Book #4)

CALAMITY (AND A DANISH) (Book #5)

MAYHEM (AND HERRING) (Book #6)

ADELE SHARP MYSTERY SERIES

LEFT TO DIE (Book #1)

LEFT TO RUN (Book #2)

LEFT TO HIDE (Book #3)

LEFT TO KILL (Book #4)

LEFT TO MURDER (Book #5)

LEFT TO ENVY (Book #6)

LEFT TO LAPSE (Book #7)

LEFT TO VANISH (Book #8)

LEFT TO HUNT (Book #9)

LEFT TO FEAR (Book #10)

LEFT TO PREY (Book #11)

LEFT TO LURE (Book #12)

LEFT TO CRAVE (Book #13)

LEFT TO LOATHE (Book #14)

LEFT TO HARM (Book #15)

LEFT TO RUIN (Book #16)

THE AU PAIR SERIES

ALMOST GONE (Book#1)

ALMOST LOST (Book #2)

ALMOST DEAD (Book #3)

ZOE PRIME MYSTERY SERIES

FACE OF DEATH (Book#1)

FACE OF MURDER (Book #2)

FACE OF FEAR (Book #3)

FACE OF MADNESS (Book #4)

FACE OF FURY (Book #5)

FACE OF DARKNESS (Book #6)

A JESSIE HUNT PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE SERIES

THE PERFECT WIFE (Book #1)

THE PERFECT BLOCK (Book #2)

THE PERFECT HOUSE (Book #3)

THE PERFECT SMILE (Book #4)

THE PERFECT LIE (Book #5)

THE PERFECT LOOK (Book #6)

THE PERFECT AFFAIR (Book #7)

THE PERFECT ALIBI (Book #8)

THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR (Book #9)

THE PERFECT DISGUISE (Book #10)

THE PERFECT SECRET (Book #11)

THE PERFECT FAÇADE (Book #12)

THE PERFECT IMPRESSION (Book #13)

THE PERFECT DECEIT (Book #14)

THE PERFECT MISTRESS (Book #15)

THE PERFECT IMAGE (Book #16)

THE PERFECT VEIL (Book #17)

THE PERFECT INDISCRETION (Book #18)

THE PERFECT RUMOR (Book #19)

THE PERFECT COUPLE (Book #20)

THE PERFECT MURDER (Book #21)

THE PERFECT HUSBAND (Book #22)

THE PERFECT SCANDAL (Book #23)

THE PERFECT MASK (Book #24)

THE PERFECT RUSE (Book #25)

THE PERFECT VENEER (Book #26)

THE PERFECT PEOPLE (Book #27)

THE PERFECT WITNESS (Book #28)

CHLOE FINE PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE SERIES

NEXT DOOR (Book #1)

A NEIGHBOR’S LIE (Book #2)

CUL DE SAC (Book #3)

SILENT NEIGHBOR (Book #4)

HOMECOMING (Book #5)

TINTED WINDOWS (Book #6)

KATE WISE MYSTERY SERIES

IF SHE KNEW (Book #1)

IF SHE SAW (Book #2)

IF SHE RAN (Book #3)

IF SHE HID (Book #4)

IF SHE FLED (Book #5)

IF SHE FEARED (Book #6)

IF SHE HEARD (Book #7)

THE MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE SERIES

WATCHING (Book #1)

WAITING (Book #2)

LURING (Book #3)

TAKING (Book #4)

STALKING (Book #5)

KILLING (Book #6)

RILEY PAIGE MYSTERY SERIES

ONCE GONE (Book #1)

ONCE TAKEN (Book #2)

ONCE CRAVED (Book #3)

ONCE LURED (Book #4)

ONCE HUNTED (Book #5)

ONCE PINED (Book #6)

ONCE FORSAKEN (Book #7)

ONCE COLD (Book #8)

ONCE STALKED (Book #9)

ONCE LOST (Book #10)

ONCE BURIED (Book #11)

ONCE BOUND (Book #12)

ONCE TRAPPED (Book #13)

ONCE DORMANT (Book #14)

ONCE SHUNNED (Book #15)

ONCE MISSED (Book #16)

ONCE CHOSEN (Book #17)

MACKENZIE WHITE MYSTERY SERIES

BEFORE HE KILLS (Book #1)

BEFORE HE SEES (Book #2)

BEFORE HE COVETS (Book #3)

BEFORE HE TAKES (Book #4)

BEFORE HE NEEDS (Book #5)

BEFORE HE FEELS (Book #6)

BEFORE HE SINS (Book #7)

BEFORE HE HUNTS (Book #8)

BEFORE HE PREYS (Book #9)

BEFORE HE LONGS (Book #10)

BEFORE HE LAPSES (Book #11)

BEFORE HE ENVIES (Book #12)

BEFORE HE STALKS (Book #13)

BEFORE HE HARMS (Book #14)

AVERY BLACK MYSTERY SERIES

CAUSE TO KILL (Book #1)

CAUSE TO RUN (Book #2)

CAUSE TO HIDE (Book #3)

CAUSE TO FEAR (Book #4)

CAUSE TO SAVE (Book #5)

CAUSE TO DREAD (Book #6)

KERI LOCKE MYSTERY SERIES

A TRACE OF DEATH (Book #1)

A TRACE OF MURDER (Book #2)

A TRACE OF VICE (Book #3)

A TRACE OF CRIME (Book #4)

A TRACE OF HOPE (Book #5)

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Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, the girl on the train.

Now streaming on:

The allure of “ The Girl on the Train ” was never the whodunit element of Paula Hawkins ’ hugely popular page-turner. It was the way in which Hawkins bounced around with time and narration between a trio of toxic women, all of whom were struggling with the increasing difficulty of maintaining the finely tuned facades they’d presented to the world.

There’s Rachel, who gives the book its title. Once a happily married publicist, she now looks longingly out the window as she commutes to and from the city twice a day, fantasizing about the seemingly perfect suburban lives she passes while sneaking sips of vodka to fend off the shakes.

There’s Megan, the pretty blonde who lives in one of those comfortable houses. Working at an art gallery is one of the many ways this frequent liar and runaway has reinvented herself; she has a handsome husband and a cushy existence but she’s restless and ready for another escape.

Then there’s Anna, who’s now married to Rachel’s ex-husband and the mother of his infant daughter. Coincidentally, she also happens to live in Rachel’s old house. But while she wallows smugly in maternal bliss, she’s also bored and longs for the exciting, old days of being The Other Woman.

With each chapter, Hawkins peeled away the layers of these characters, revealing their flaws and fears and providing varying (and often unreliable) perspectives as the novel’s torrid events unfolded. Not unlike “ Gone Girl ”—to which it invariably will draw comparisons as a juicy exploration of violence and mystery in genteel suburbia—“The Girl on the Train” is good trash. At least as a novel, it is.

As a film, however, it’s not even that. It’s just a flat and suspense-free tale of pretty people in peril. And not only is the whodunit part of the film not all that intriguing (or surprising), neither are the characters swirling around each other until that big revelation comes to light. Tate Taylor blandly directs Erin Cressida Wilson ’s adapted screenplay, which condenses these three women into a handful of traits rather than allowing them to be difficult and interesting.

Taylor, who previously played it just as safe with his breakthrough film “ The Help ,” doesn’t alternate between these characters with the necessary fluidity or tension. (His underrated “Get on Up,” featuring an electrifying performance from Chadwick Boseman as James Brown , had far more verve.) The story comes together in pieces rather than jelling as a dynamic whole. And because these women have been so oversimplified, there’s more of an emphasis on the fact that they’ve all been defined by and/or reliant on men. That wasn’t necessarily true on the page, which seems especially unfortunate given that the novel “The Girl on the Train” ultimately is about women standing up for themselves, fighting together and finding their own identities.

And yet, there is Emily Blunt , fighting as best she can to make Rachel complicated and compellingly damaged. The story has been moved from the outskirts of London to the leafy hamlets along the Hudson River in Westchester County, New York, but Blunt maintains her British accent. It makes Rachel an outsider from the start, and her near-constant, bleary-eyed inebriation exacerbates her loneliness and isolation. In the book, Rachel is puffy and frumpy; Blunt is anything but. She’s game for the showiness of the role, though, with its raging nights and remorseful days.

Rachel once had it all. Now she obsesses over the lives of others as she spies them from the train. Megan ( Haley Bennett ) is her main target, kissing and canoodling with her hunky husband, Scott ( Luke Evans ). Rachel projects all her dreams onto them; meanwhile, a couple of houses away, Anna ( Rebecca Ferguson ) also seems to be living a dream life with Rachel’s ex-husband, Tom ( Justin Theroux ).

Conveniently, Megan happens to have been their nanny. But then suddenly, she goes missing—and Rachel believes a glimpse of something she saw from the train might provide a crucial piece of information about her fate. Rachel also wonders whether she might have played a role herself, since she was blackout-drunk the night it happened. So she inserts herself into their lives and into the police investigation ( Allison Janney is the much-needed voice of reason as the annoyed lead detective). Her stalking tendencies extend to Megan’s therapist ( Edgar Ramirez ), who’s trotted out as one of many possible suspects in her disappearance.

Rachel’s behavior seemed sad in its clingy desperation in the book, and the fact that she was grasping at wisps of her own alcohol-addled memory for clues made her a sympathetic figure. But in the movie, everything happens so quickly that her actions merely come off as bizarre and unintentionally funny. A couple instances of her running through the woods prompted giggles during the screening I attended, when Taylor probably was going for thrills and suspense.

Also oddly, the men in the equation are afforded even less characterization, even though they’re the ones who dictate how the women feel about themselves. And so when “The Girl on the Train” finally answers the question of whodunit—reliably, for once—the result is more of a shrug than a shock.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film credits.

The Girl on the Train (2016)

Rated R for violence, sexual content, language and nudity.

112 minutes

Emily Blunt as Rachel Watson

Haley Bennett as Megan Hipwell

Rebecca Ferguson as Anna Watson

Justin Theroux as Tom Watson

Luke Evans as Scott Hipwell

Edgar Ramírez as Dr. Kamal Abdic

Laura Prepon as Cathy

Allison Janey as Detective Riley

Lisa Kudrow as Monica

• Tate Taylor

Writer (based on the novel by)

• Paula Hawkins
• Erin Cressida Wilson

Cinematographer

• Charlotte Bruus Christensen
• Andrew Buckland
• Michael McCusker
• Danny Elfman

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AMC conducting review after 4 girls randomly stabbed inside Massachusetts movie theater

B RAINTREE – Movie theater chain AMC said it is conducting a "thorough review" after four girls were stabbed during an apparently random attack inside a Braintree theater.

Jared Ravizza , 26, is charged with the Saturday night attack at AMC Braintree 10. Police said Ravizza entered without paying and stabbed four young girls who were at the theater for a screening of "IF."

Ravizza also allegedly stabbed two people at a McDonald's in Plymouth about an hour later. He was arrested following a crash in Sandwich.

Mother says AMC employees did not react initially

Lisa Dembowski, the mother of three of the AMC stabbing victims, said employees initially did not take action after the girls reported the stabbing.

"They said they all went out, they told the people at AMC, the AMC didn't believe them, didn't do anything, actually, and they had to call the police themselves," Dembowski said.

AMC conducting "thorough review"

In a statement to WBZ-TV, AMC said it is reaching out to the involved families privately.

"At all of our locations, AMC has multiple security features and procedures in place, the specifics of which we do not disclose or discuss publicly," a spokesperson said. "We have already begun to conduct a thorough review of this incident. Based on theatre associate accounts and video footage, the theatre team jumped into action immediately, calling emergency services and administering aid to the victims."

According to AMC, there will be a visible security presence at the Braintree location "for the immediate future."

Man in custody after stabbings at a Massachusetts theater and a McDonald's

Police in Massachusetts say a man was taken into custody after six people, including four girls at a movie theater, were stabbed in separate attacks that may be connected

BRAINTREE, Mass. — A man was taken into custody after six people, including four girls at a movie theater, were stabbed in separate attacks that may be connected, police in Massachusetts said.

Police said a man came into the AMC Braintree 10 south of Boston at about 6 p.m. Saturday and entered one of the theaters without paying.

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Man in custody after stabbings at a Massachusetts theater and a McDonald’s

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BRAINTREE, Mass. (AP) — A man was taken into custody after six people, including four girls at a movie theater, were stabbed in separate attacks that may be connected, police in Massachusetts said.

Police said a man came into the AMC Braintree 10 south of Boston at about 6 p.m. Saturday and entered one of the theaters without paying.

The girls, ages 9 to 17, were inside the theater. The man, unprovoked, suddenly attacked them “without saying anything and without any warning” before running out, the Braintree Police Department said in a news release. The four suffered injuries that were not life-threatening and were taken to hospitals.

Video footage showed the man’s vehicle and a license plate, and the information was broadcast to law enforcement, police said.

A vehicle matching that description was later seen in Plymouth, about 27 miles (43 kilometers) south of Braintree. Police said it had left a McDonald’s restaurant, where a 21-year-old woman and a 29-year-old man were found stabbed. Both were taken to hospitals with injuries.

State police found the vehicle another 20 miles south, in Sandwich, and attempted to pull it over, but it didn’t stop and later crashed.

The driver was taken into custody shortly afterward and was being treated at a hospital. His name was not released.

Police are still investigating.

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Four girls stabbed inside massachusetts movie theater, police say.

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Four girls were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries after being stabbed inside a New England movie theater, police said.

The Braintree, Massachusetts Police Department said around 6 p.m. on Saturday, a male went into the AMC Braintree 10, passed the ticket counter, entered a theater without paying, encountered four young girls and without saying anything, attacked and stabbed the four girls.

The girls, ages 9 to 17 years old, were taken to hospitals for treatment, police said. The attack appeared to be unprovoked, police said.

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The man ran out of the theater and left in a vehicle after the attack, police said. A vehicle matching the description was reportedly involved in a similar assault in Plymouth, police said.

WMUR's sister station, WCVB, reported that Massachusetts State Police said they received 911 calls about a stabbing inside the McDonald's inside the Plymouth Park and Ride just after 7 p.m. A 21-year-old woman and 29-year-old man were found with apparent stab wounds and police said were taken to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.

Braintree police said the vehicle was pursued by Massachusetts State Police and it crashed in Sandwich. The driver was arrested and police said it appears the crimes are related.

Watch CBS News

4 girls hurt during unprovoked stabbing attack in AMC movie theater near Boston; suspect arrested

By Riley Rourke , Laura Haefeli

Updated on: May 26, 2024 / 3:38 PM EDT / CBS Boston

BRAINTREE - A male suspect has been arrested in connection with a stabbing that wounded four girls in an AMC movie theater south of Boston Saturday, authorities said. CBS Boston has learned that the same suspect may be responsible for a similar incident which may have occurred at a McDonald's restaurant in Plymouth. 

A man stabbed four girls inside a theater at an AMC multiplex in Braintree at around 6 p.m. local time, the Braintree Police Department reported. Braintree is located about 12 miles south of Boston. 

Police said the man entered the multiplex without a ticket, went into a theater, and then attacked the four girls, ages 9 to 17, unprovoked. The girls were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. 

"It's so heartbreaking that's what I'll be thinking about the rest of the night is seeing those kids coming down the steps and just crying. They looked really stunned like they just saw a horror movie, not a kid's movie," said Matteo Rojas, who was at the theater at the time of the stabbing.

An AMC employee who was working the snack counter at the time of the attack described the suspect as wearing "an oversized trench coat, sunglasses, and a long blonde wig."

According to @BraintreePolice four girls under the age of 17 were stabbed inside of a theater at @AMCTheatres in Braintree, MA around 6:00pm. All four are expected to be ok. We’re told the suspect was involved in a “similar assault” in Plymouth a short time after… @wbz pic.twitter.com/2DQk5Fx4Tx — Laura Haefeli (@LauraHaefeli) May 26, 2024

The suspect fled the scene in a black SUV, but police were able to obtain his license plate number using video footage and located him in Plymouth after he was reportedly involved in a "similar assault" there, police said. CBS Boston learned that the second possible attack may have occurred around 7 p.m. at a McDonald's restaurant, where a 21-year-old woman and a 29-year-old male were allegedly stabbed. Both victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries and are being treated at a nearby hospital. Police said it appears the "crimes are related."

"Preliminary investigation suggests a likely connection to an earlier incident at a movie theatre in Braintree resulting in non-life threatening injuries to four juveniles," Massachusetts State Police said.  

The suspect led Massachusetts State Police on a car chase before crashing in the town of Sandwich, which is located south of Plymouth. He was taken into custody and is being treated at a nearby hospital.

Sources told the WBZ-TV I-Team that the suspect is also believed to be linked to a murder investigation in Deep River, Connecticut. Connecticut police had put out a alert for him earlier Saturday, describing him as armed and dangerous and possibly armed with a 10-inch knife, sources said. 

The suspect's name and the charges he faces were not immediately released. 

• Braintree News
• Plymouth News

Riley Rourke is digital producer for CBS Boston. She graduated cum laude from Emerson College with a degree in Journalism in 2023. She has previously worked for Emerson student organizations like WEBN and the Emerson Channel.

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Shane Gillis Netflix Sitcom ‘Tires’ Is a Self-Funded Showcase That Spins Its Wheels: TV Review

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At this month’s Cannes Film Festival, Francis Ford Coppola and Kevin Costner each unveiled passion projects they opted to finance themselves after institutional backers initially passed. This week, three auteurs make a trend — except instead of putting his own funds toward a deeply personal, sweeping epic, comedian Shane Gillis has made a lewd, bro-y workplace comedy set at a Pennsylvania tire shop.

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The “Tires” setup recalls a version of “The Bear” stripped of racial diversity and any shred of romanticism. Two cousins, hapless manager Will (co-creator Steven Gerben) and gleeful shit-stirrer Shane (Gillis), struggle to keep the family blue-collar business afloat. Entrusted by his father, a looming offscreen presence, with a location of his local chain of Valley Forge auto shops, Will runs through a succession of harebrained schemes designed to boost sales. Like Gillis’ stage act, “Tires” indulges the fratty, puerile humor of bored young men while also making it the butt of the joke. The season starts with Will launching a cringey initiative aimed at empowering female customers — “You’ll go, girl!” — and ends with Shane strong-arming him into hosting a bikini carwash.

“Tires” keeps Gillis’ longtime crew of collaborators intact. “Gilly and Keeves” partner John McKeever, credited only by his surname, directs all six episodes and serves as Gerben and Gillis’ third co-creator. The cast remains unchanged from the original pilot, casting fellow veterans of the Philadelphia comedy scene Chris O’Connor and Kilah Fox as Will and Shane’s coworkers. Besides Gillis, the best-known series regular is likely stand-up Stavros Halkias, who plays district manager Dave and rose to prominence on the now-defunct podcast Cum Town. The origins of “Tires” may recall “Horace and Pete,” the grim drama Louis CK bankrolled himself prior to his own exile from the spotlight, but it lacks that show’s highbrow cachet of having an Edie Falco or a Jessica Lange in its cast.

In both locations and length — or rather, lack of either — “Tires” shows its bootstrapped roots. Gillis’ pockets may be deep, but it’s still clear less than two hours of total material taking place in a handful of rooms didn’t arise from a Netflix level of resources, even if that’s where viewers can find the finished product. The style isn’t full mockumentary, but McKeever favors hand-held camerawork and close-up shots that (accurately) invoke the wince factor of early episodes of “The Office.” The stakes are microscopic: Will’s big, potentially business-saving idea is offering a discount on tires to upsell customers on other services after they’ve agreed to the lower price. The wistful piano theme music hints at a sentimentality that largely isn’t there, and indeed falls flat when it arrives. We’re here to watch these people dunk on each other, not because we care about how many brake pads they need to move until Will’s dad approves of him.

But when refracted through an ensemble and a fictional narrative, Gillis can’t be as precise in toying with the line between offensive and insightful as he is onstage. The classic Gillis joke deploys his meathead energy — his favorite filler word is “dude” — to toy with audience expectations about his beliefs. (He opens “Beautiful Dogs” by turning an applause line about American exceptionalism into a bit about mass shootings.) “Tires” is less adroit and more straightforward. If anything, the blink-and-it’s-over season is an audition for a second, Netflix-funded round of episodes — and, sure enough, the company announced a renewal before the first had even aired. Perhaps an extended run could develop the rhythms of a long-running sitcom, be more artful in its risk-taking and more fully differentiate the characters beyond Shane and Will. For now, “Tires” is a step forward, but not a full one.

All six episodes of “Tires” are now streaming on Netflix.

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