Little Girl Lost (1988 TV Movie) User Reviews

I'm not emotionally involved with this child. I love this child as if she were my own.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 15 July 2022]

A heart wrenching drama about the issues of child social services and the legal ramifications of what happens when a child is removed from the other loving foster parents (Tess Harper and Frederic Forrest) who have come to love her as if she was their own child. They have a daughter in their late teens who urges them to fight, even though Harper fears they've neglected her. It turns out that little girl has been sexually abused by her father which results in her not even wanting to leave the house to go to school. A legal system obviously in much need of revamping comes to take her away because of how attached Harper and Forrest have gotten, as if foster parents are not allowed to have feelings for their charges simply because they are only temporary custodians.

"Foster parents and nothing more" is the infuriating ruling of the judge, forcing Harper and Forrest to stay away from their foster child for three months, during which time they know anything can happen. The social service workers are said to the only doing their job, but the way that they treat Harper and Forrest is frustrating to watch. Not sure how accurate this is, but within the context of the film, you can't help but root for Harper and Forrest. They are excellent, with Harper in particular a standout. A tough TV movie about a subject that needs to be dealt with, even though many moments are very uncomfortable to watch.

A Made-For-Telvision Gem

[twodogsofmercy · 9/10 · 7 March 2015]

This is probably one of the best movies about child abuse that I have ever seen. I found it in the cheap movie rack at a department store, which is usually where mediocre movies go to die. I was surprised to find a plot that went beyond the formulaic and dealt with the real struggles that accompany child abuse. The main protagonists in this story are foster parents who struggle to keep their foster daughter from being returned to her formerly abusive father. Marie Martin does a superb job as Tella, and when she cries out in terror at having to be returned to her abuser, it seems real. The dynamics between the characters show the real struggles that people undergo when a family is split apart. There is no clear good guy/bad guy dynamic between the legal system/CPS and the foster family, and even the adoptive father muses "they're just people doing their jobs the best they know how." The other heroes in the movie are not whom one would at first expect, but are simply down-to-earth people with which most of us can easily identify. Best of all, this movie doesn't go for the syrupy sweet ending. It does not gloss over the fact that Tella's abuse has forever changed her.

a good film

[laurajaykay · 4 November 2005]

This story illustrates what was and is wrong with the child welfare system even today. I thought the acting was very realistic. I especially liked the scene is which Clara Brady, played by Tess Harper, openly declares her love for the little girl she has raised since infancy. She stands up to the social worker.

The story is about a foster child who is forced to return to her father whom she claims is abusing her. It is a based on a true story. It is similar to what has been happening to many children in this country who are caught up in the system that is supposed to protect them.

The actors are convincing in their roles. Marie Martin as the little girl does a fine job with a very difficult role.

There must be more boring films than this, but..

[anxietyresister · 1/10 · 30 May 2005]

At the moment it is very hard to think of any. A little girl gets wrenched away from her loving foster parents into the arms of her abusive biological father (don't ask why). Cue over an hour of enough waterworks to flood the Thames, more courtroom scenes than you'd see in an entire season of Magnum P.I, and one of the most annoying, cutesy moppets in the history of cinema who is so sickly sweet your teeth will rot just by looking at her. Will she end up staying with Mr Violent at the end, or will she go back into the warm bosom of her adopted family, who have kept a 24 hour vigil on her cheap music box with the ballerina (great metaphor there, guys!!) while she's been gone? What do you think? I'm sure you already know, so instead of telling you I will now go clay pigeon shooting.. with a DVD!! Wish me luck!! 0/10