Lifetime's The Gabby Petito Story gets slammed as internet curious if creators got "permission" from the family

Lifetime's The Gabby Petito Story is making the rounds on the internet and has stirred up a lot of controversy.

Taken from the real-life disappearance and murder of Gabby Petito, the movie is co-written by Richard Blaney and Gregory Small. Thora Birch is the director of the film based on the life of the vlogger who had quit her job and was on a cross-country road trip with her fiance.

Set to premiere exclusively on Lifetime on Saturday, October 1, 2022, the dramatization of the true-crime incident is not sitting well with fans. Many are wondering whether the creators took permission from Petito's family to recreate the murder.

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What is the controversy around The Gabby Petito Story?

Gabby Petito was reported missing by her family on September 11, 2021, and a week or so later, her remains were found. An autopsy suggested that she had suffered from blunt force trauma to her head and was strangled to death. Her fiancé Brian Laundrie admitted to killing her in his journal where he wrote that he had ended her life. He added:

“I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but I see now all the mistakes I made. I panicked. I was in shock,"

Petito and Laundrie were on a cross-country road trip when they got into a violent altercation which supposedly resulted in the murder of Gabby Petito.

Just over a year after Petito’s death, Lifetime has decided to turn the incident into a feature film that will be released this week. The movie follows Petito’s relationship with Laundrie, their trip and what led to the violent incident.

Comments from fans (Image via Sportskeeda, taken from Facebook)

However, the movie is being slammed and criticized by people across the world. Everyone is unanimous in their criticism that it is too soon to make a movie out of the gruesome incident.

As mentioned earlier, fans are curious to know whether the network took permission from the victim's family before making the movie. However, no statement from Lifetime was made until the time of writing this article.

Fans are also not happy with the cast chosen to play the characters. They feel that the actors are too old to be playing their characters and claim it feels like a mockery out of a truly heartwrenching incident.

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All about The Gabby Petito Story

The Gabby Petito Story follows the real-life incident involving the brutal murder of 22-year-old Gabby Petito. After her body was found, her fiance, Brian Laundrie, took responsibility for her death and shot and killed himself a month after the incident.

The synopsis released by Lifetime reads:

"The Gabby Petito Story explores Gabby and her fiancé Brian Laundrie’s complicated relationship and what may have gone wrong during their cross-country trip that resulted in Gabby’s tragic murder."

The movie stars Skyler Samuels as Gabby Petito, Evan Hall as Brian Laundrie and Thora Birch as Gabby's mother Nichole Schmidt, among others.

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To see how the controversy pans out, catch the movie coming up on Lifetime on October 1, 2022.