Fact check: Is Don't Move based on a true story? Everything you need to know

Modified Oct 28, 2024 13:34 GMT

A still from the 2024 film Don't Move (Image via Tudum by Netflix)

Don't Move is a thriller film directed by Adam Schindler and Brian Netto from a screenplay by TJ Cimfel and David White. It stars Kelsey Asbille and Finn Wittrock in lead roles. The movie is produced by Sam Raimi, Alex Lebovici, Zainab Azizi, Sarah Sarandos and Christian Mercuri. Don't Move was released on Netflix on October 25, 2024.

The film's synopsis, as per Netflix, reads:

"A grieving woman in a secluded forest encounters a killer who injects her with a paralytic drug. As her body shuts down, her fight for survival begins."

The film's plot of a psychotic killer trapping a woman in her own body by injecting her with a paralytic drug is not based on a true story.

The chilling story of Don't Move is fictional

An image of Iris and Richard from the film Don't Move (Image via Tudum by Netflix)

The fictional story of Don't Move was written by the Chicago-based screenwriters, TJ Cimfel and David White, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The duo revealed to Reel Chicago in October 2024 that they were approached by the film's directors with the idea for "a movie centered around someone slowly losing their ability to move."

During an interview with Screen Rant in October 2024, the film's director Adam Schindler confirmed that the script was developed during the pandemic when everyone was homebound. Inspired by the experience, he wanted to explore the "universal aspect of feeling trapped" and build a script around it.

His co-director Brian Netto added that the film's appeal lies in the fact that its simple concept is "very universal and would speak to any culture, to any language, to any belief system that you adhere to."

Plot summary

Don't Move tells the story of a grief-stricken mother, Iris, who lost her will to live after the death of her young son. She encounters a stranger named Richard in the woods and ends up getting kidnapped.

As he drives her back to his remote cabin, Iris fights back. But he injects her with a paralytic agent that immobilizes her to the point of complete paralysis in the next 20 minutes.

She tries to run away into the woods but finds it increasingly hard to run or even walk. With Richard trailing behind her, Iris jumps into a river and floats downstream. She ends up on dry land and somehow drags herself near Bill's house, who calls 911. But Richard arrives just in time and kills him.

He abducts her again, this time on a boat jetty to dispose her for good. Iris soon realizes that the effects of the drug are fading, given that her mobility was back. She attacks Richard with a knife before killing him with his own gun. As he dies at her feet, Iris thanks him for awakening her survival instinct that would enable her to carry on with her life.