Lifetime has confirmed that the TV movie “Girl in Room 13”, starring Anne Heche, is scheduled to premiere on the network in September.
Heche died on Sunday of injuries from a fiery car crash. She was 53.
Heche stars in "Girl in Room 13", playing a woman who goes on a relentless search for her daughter (Larissa Dias) after the young woman becomes a human trafficking victim, Lifetime said.
"We all started to make a film that would bring attention to the appalling issue of human sex trafficking. We hope that this film moves you and that you are just as inspired as Anne was to help us with our with our mission to stop violence against women,” said Lifetime exec Amy Winter during a TCA panel last week, Variety reported.
Director Elisabeth Rohm said the film is finished and that Heche gives a “phenomenal” performance in it.
“We’re all so dedicated to the cause, stopping violence against women and I again thank Lifetime’s so much for creating this platform. All of us, especially Larissa [Dias] who played this victim, are committed to that cause,” Rohm said.
She added: “We talked about it — every single one of us — that this was our mission. And although [Anne] is deeply missed, right now, I will say the film is finished and she did a phenomenal performance — a tour de force much like Larissa.”
Following the news that Heche had died over the weekend, Rohm told People: “Every single morning, she would come to set and she said, ‘We will not stand for abuse!’ And she would pump her fist and have this just beautiful, bright smile. She was so committed to making an incredibly deep, profound, important performance. Anne was very open about the abuse she sustained in her childhood. And I believe that she was committed her whole life to making an impact and protecting women and being a voice against abuse.”
The official film synopsis from Lifetime reads:
"Inspired by actual events, Girl in Room 13 examines the story of Grace (Dias), who was addicted to opioids after her doctor prescribed them for a sports injury at a very young age and after three stints in rehab, she is finally ready to turn her life around.
"Under the watchful eye of her mother, Janie (Heche), Grace takes on a job at her family’s restaurant.
"But her past will not let her go and when her friend coerces her into meeting her former love interest and drug dealer, Richie (Montesi), she finds herself imprisoned in a hotel room with no way out
"Held captive, Richie repeatedly violates Grace, forces her to consume drugs and alcohol, and starves her — all to break her down so that she becomes compliant and can be sold into human trafficking.
"Refusing to give up on her daughter even when her husband and the local police believe Grace has returned to a life of using, Janie starts an all-out hunt to find Grace.
"Stopping at nothing, Janie discovers the dark world of human trafficking and the shocking statistics about its widespread victims and its unexpected accomplices."
Heche was “peacefully taken off life support,” spokeswoman Holly Baird said in a statement Sunday night.
Heche had been on life support at a Los Angeles burn center after suffering a “severe anoxic brain injury,” caused by a lack of oxygen, when her car crashed into a home Aug. 5, according to a statement released Thursday by a representative on behalf of her family and friends.
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