PLOT SUMMARY: When Julie meets cop David, sparks fly. However, Julie soon realizes David may be dangerous when he begins to obsessively stalk her.
There is nothing more frightening than having someone invading your private space, or someone trying to control every aspect of your life. Relationships aren't supposed to be cages, are they? They are supposed to be small houses you build together with your partner based on trust, love and happiness. Supposed to.
But not everyone sees relationships as sunshine and rainbows. They may see it as a form of possession. Their partner is not a person anymore but an object that must exclusively belong to them. Anyone who dares to come near them, they must pay.
There have been several movies over the years on the subject of obsession and stalking. Here's one based on a true story.
In the early nineties, Laura Kucera was in a relationship with an ex-con Brian Anderson. He grew dangerously obsessive to the point that Laura had to get a restraining order against him. Brian was obviously enraged at not being able to get close to the person he thought he loved. On October 1st 1994, he kidnapped Laura. She may have tried to escape because apparently, Brian did say, "If I can't have you, no one can." And that is when he shot her. In the head. Twice. And then once in the shoulder.
Laura was a strong woman who survived laying all alone in the ditch, in freezing temperatures, in barely any clothing. Brian seemed to have a change of heart and led the police to the woods, four days later. Laura was rescued, Brian was imprisoned, having been given a sentence for 125 years.
Laura recovered from her injuries and managed to learn to walk again. But tragedy struck when a year later, Laura was on her way to see her grandmother when her car ran off the road and rolled into a ditch.
She was a brave woman who faced an ordeal because of her abusive boyfriend. She will always be remembered for her courage to pull herself through.
Only Mine is based on this story although it doesn't do justice to Laura's tragic story.
The movie could have built up the tense moments, spend more time on the actual moment Laura was betrayed by her boyfriend to focus on her bravery. But no. Sadly, the movie tried to make it look more like a documentary and a movie at the same time. The interviews did nothing to support the story. They did not bring the story together, nor portray the protagonist in a sympathetic manner.
ONLY MINE Movie Plot
The movie begins with Julie running through the woods only to be shot. She falls down and is assumed dead.
The interviews begin with people talking about how amazing Julie was and how everyone loved her. She lived in a small town where everyone knew everyone's name and everyone's business.
Julie is seen hurrying to meet her friend one morning and talking on the phone while driving. Of course, the police pull her over. Instead of the sheriff who usually lets her off with a warning, it is a new cop, David. He is all smiles and twinkling eyes and Julie is smitten. He knows her name, claiming he was briefed about her speeding habits and routes beforehand.
That's small towns for you. Break as many traffic laws as possible, chances are you will be let go because someone or other in the law enforcement knows a family member of yours.
Julie invites him to have pie at the diner she works in. David gives his toothy smile again and walks away.
At work, it is clear that the only other employee, who is also a cook, Tommy, has a crush on Julie.
He invites her to go play games with him and his friends but Julie politely declines. That is when David walks in and Julie's jaw drops. She goes over to him, blatantly flirts with him and then offers him a lemon meringue pie.
Soon enough, Julie and David are dating to the point that Tommy gets a bit affected, and David notices it. He invites Julie to his cabin, shows him some family pics and then one of his ex-girlfriends, Alicia. He tells her that she was hung up on someone else while they were dating which is why they broke up. Julie accepts this explanation and everything seems fine for a while. David even gifts her a tacky music box that Julie simply loves.
There are more interviews in the middle of all this but they are pointless.
One night, Julie is babysitting her friend Suzanne's daughter, Kinsey, when David shows up, desperate and mad. He had been calling Julie and when she didn't pick up, got her mom involved who too was wracked with concern for her daughter. Julie casually states that her ringer was off and that she was allowed to just have a day off and away from him. David gets agitated but Julie practically throws him out of the house.
Sometime later, Julie is having second thoughts about David, especially when he creeps into her room, leaves a note on the music box and asks to meet in the backyard. Once there, David talks to Julie, holding a rake in his hand asking when they were going to talk about their relationship. Julie goes and complains to her mother who in turn complains to the sheriff. The sheriff questions David who shrug off the accusations and states there is something off about Julie. At the station, he strikes up a friendship with Gail who doesn't like Julie for some reason.
Julie's life becomes considerably miserable as rumours are spread of her being a drunk to the point that the old lady who sits at the diner and needs help with easy crosswords, doesn't want her help anymore. Julie seems deeply offended that her crossword solving skills are not needed anymore. David shows up at her work too and attempts to harass her. He even goes to great lengths to take Kinsey away when Julie gets late picking her up. The sheriff warns David to stay away from Julie but David wants what he wants.
He is having an affair with Gail but how dare Julie rejects him!
Eventually, things go out of hand and one day, Julie is ran out of the road and hits a tree. David dunks a bottle of alcohol all over her car so people who found it would assume she was drunk when she hit the tree. Julie tries to distract David by proclaiming her love for him and assuring him she would say yes to his marriage proposal. David gets distracted by his wedding plans and doesn't notice Julie backing away.
She makes a run for it and somehow enters the woods. David follows her with a gun, claiming she "blew it." He shoots at her but misses a couple of times before he finally gets a shot at her hip. Julie still tries to make a run despite the injury. But that is when David shoots her back. He goes over to check on her body, doesn't check for a pulse, and kicks her to see if she wakes up. Satisfied, he walks away.
When Sergeant Miller gets involved in the case, the sheriff feels the pressure to find Julie. Julie's mother can feel her daughter and knows she is alive out there.
ONLY MINE Ending Explained with Spoilers!
Soon enough, Julie does wake up and the first thing she does is remember the story her mother told her, the Changing Woman. That gives her the inspiration to get up and not go directly to the police or her mother, but straight to David's cabin. He has apparently been hiding out there ever since people have been suspecting of being behind Julie's disappearance.
That is when he hears the music box. Julie somehow managed to get it from her home. Did she inform her mother she was alive? No idea. She just went home to get the music box to creep David out. Oh, and she gets the rake too. As David goes to inspect, he is hit by the rake. He goes outside and finds the sheriff come over to tell him to hand himself over to the police regarding Julie's disappearance. David's reply is a gunshot to the sheriff's arm. He falls and calls for backup.
David goes back in and finds Julie there, alive and well with a jacket around her wounded hip. What about her back? Did the bullet miss her?
She threatens him with a shotgun but David tells her smugly that it is empty. Julie awakens her inner rage and stabs him with the gun. The gun is seen sticking out of David. Is it really possible to do this?
Anyway, more interviews...and more. People laud Julie for her bravery and how she is special.
In the end, Julie too stands up and smiles, proud of herself for surviving the ordeal.
Before the credits, there is a note about Laura Kucera and applauds her bravery.
It is the story that should have happened, Laura getting her revenge. But it doesn't. Unfortunately, Laura passed away.
The scenes where Julie takes her revenge are executed ineptly and looks clunky. Yes, it is what we want to see and what we hope for every person who abuses another. But only if the scene seemed logical. Julie wakes up after a day or so, with gunshot wounds, and is still able to stand up straight and walk over to the cabin...no wait, she went to her home to get the music box and rake first.
The movie and especially the climax needed a lot more polishing.
Scare Scale: 2/5
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