User Reviews

Obviously this was an extremely traumatic event in Frida's life. I know she says she's not a victim but a survivor, which she definitely is. However, it would be ñhard for me to believe that she doesn't have PTSD and anxiety at the very least, especially since none of the perpetrators were ever caught. I just find it extremely odd that she would want to play herself in the movie. I can't imagine putting myself back into demoralizing and exploitive scenes. She must have had one hell of a support team. I know I wouldn't have been able to reenact my own rape, especially in such a brutal way. Nevertheless, I'm glad she's still here to tell her harrowing story m.

You will think the story have been told over and over, but this story is really a wake-up of what the real thing is. It really showed with the information given at the end. With the impact given at the beginning, you will think it is another of those kinds of story and movie.

It is not, I can tell you. So much more depth, only the beginning is a bit overused.

The camera, the scenery is lack in quality made but the acting and some moments are done really great. It was not stretched much to make it to a length of a movie, it holds you in a grip all the time. The dialogs are done really great (I suppose they are the real thing).

It gives a glimb of the situation what these girls are getting in. The terrible thing is when the end of the movie the information is given.

Some of the performances were decent and it obviously sheds light on an important issue, but.... she went to the apartment.... ALONE?... TWICE?? Did she actually do that in real life?? If she did, doesn't that make her seem either unbelievably naive or dumb or both??

TW: Rape, Sex Trafficking

This is a hard watch. Frida Farrell lived a traumatic experience, and I can't imagine how she ACTED through her experience all over again. In this film based on personal true events, Frida plays Isobel. Isobel is a single mother who gets approached by a charismatic man in a coffee shop, and offered $7,000 for a short photoshoot. After getting his card and speaking with her boyfriend, she decides to take the chance.

The photographer and situation is sus and awkward, but I could see how somebody could get swayed by the situation. She seems like a smart cookie with a pretty good head on her shoulders and has reservations, is blinded by the dollar amount, and it shows that something like this could happen to anybody.

Second photo session is where things went wrong. Really wrong. And this is where you feel deep empathy for the fact that this woman LIVED this, and then re-lived it through this experience.

She's drugged, raped, sold, and tortured for three days. Based on Frida's interviews, much of her experienced was embellished in the movie due to her being so heavily drugged. That doesn't make this situation any less real.

Many women have experienced this, and this is another sex trafficking movie that brings it into the light.

This woman is not stupid. She was brought into an unbelievable experience, and you never know how you could possibly act if this ever happened to you. This movie provides an important message. As hard as it is to watch, I think it's important to be aware that this could happen to anyone. The message in this movie is the most important aspect of it, apart from the entertainment value.

This movie was shot primarily in one room, with a small number of actors. The acting was mostly good and believable. I'm highly impressed with Gabriel Old's appearance as Peter. He was fantastically evil. I hate that I even liked him at moments? I'm uncomfortable with the lead actress being the victim of the true story, and it makes it hard to understand why she would do this. To get her story out, perhaps. To cope with her trauma, maybe. It's just odd.

It's hard to judge the actions of the main character, as it is a "real person". But I do wish she fought back more, that she showed more drive to escape. That she stabbed the dude directly in the neck. Who am I to judge? Someone that has never experienced anything like this?

Rating: Victim playing herself: Yikes/10 Acting: 7/10 Story: 6/10 Milk chugging: 2/10 Low budget, high impact: 7/10 Overall rating: 6/10.

Why is this movie different from any of the other 20,000 movies exactly like it? The acting and boring characters and predictable story put me to sleep. Turned it off half way into it. Horrible what happened to that poor lady but why make this movie? I don't get it.

It was unbelievable and unbelievably-not very good. Amateur hour.

I can say that, you can hate me for this, but this is one of those films (Alongside Requiem for a Dream) that they should play at least teens in school. This is a very important message, do not TRUST STRANGERS.

Our main villain who reminds me of Ted Bundy, is a manipulative monster, that who knows how many ladies had gotten this way. Crazy how realistic this movie really is. This is how it works; They seem polite, normal, humane, and then they turn into the worst monster you can think of on the planet earth. Also this movie reminds me a lot, a lot of A Serbian film, just this movie seems more mature with the subject matter.

I can tell you that for the most part i was not bored during the movie, infact i was just thinking for the most part why? And then it's all tied up in a bow, our villain is actually someone elses puppet, which is why he does what he does. There's always someone on top of that someone.

I can safely put this movie in the same boat as Sweet Whip and Thriller A Cruel Picture, a pretty good movie.

I'm amazed at how they were able to make such a heavy and important subject so boring. Creating exploiting BS to chase fame, yet couldn't even make it engaging or entertaining.

Google the lead actress / "story by" and it is apparent - as claimed by her in the opening monologue - that this is a true story. The media stories about this case, done prior to the film being made, have a different set of facts, however. That's not a complete deal-breaker, except that those 'facts' don't make much sense. So much so that I am not convinced this is a true story at all.

But at least this film serves as a very important warning to any female to be extremely cautious in isolating themselves with a stranger offering modelling or other work. It is a fact that numerous women and girls are lured into danger with false promises, and end up trafficked for sex around the World. I'm sure boys as well. So, the message is to do everything possible to remain safe (don't go alone, for one thing).

The alleged victim in this case also portrayed herself in the movie. Who would do that? One more question mark about the veracity of this particular story.

Hope the lead actress got some therapeutic effect from it, because beside that, this film is empty. Let's see: the sex slave trade is bad, the traders are bad guys, the clients are bad guys with bad maners, and any gullible borderline stupid girls and woman can potentially fall victim of these bad guys because these bad guys are amazingly good at seducing and catching gullible borderline stupid girls. Uh.. you did not know? Well, here you go then. But that's it. Nothing else. Absolutely nada. No character development, no logic in the script, no social and/or political perspective, nothing. Too bad. Could have been much better.

I was a little reluctant to watch this film. From the premise, it seemed I might be subjected to a dispiriting and overly grim tale. It is a tough view, but I was very glad I saw it. The story, based on true events, of a young woman who is kidnapped and forced to be a sex slave is beautifully told, impressively performed and totally engrossing. Now get this: Isobel, played by actor Frida Farrell was the actual real-life victim of the events this film is based on. And she is sensationally good. There's also a terrific performance from Gabriel Olds – this is virtually a two-hander. It reminded me of the film Room which has a similar theme, but I found this to be better and more involving in that I got completely lost in it in that rare way that makes for a special viewing experience. (The person sitting next to me in the cinema had a beer. It wasn't until the end of the film that he realised he hadn't taken even a sip!) The film is low budget and made in a very short time. Don't worry about that – this is high octane, pure cinema. I loved it.

I hadn't heard about this 2016 movie titled "Selling Isobel" (aka "Apartment 407") before now in 2021, when I was presented with the chance to sit down to watch it.

Now, it should be said that "Selling Isobel" deals with the issue of sex trafficking, which may be a topic that is not just readily suitable for everyone in the audience. With that being said, I think that movies such as "Selling Isobel", and countless other movies like it, exist to help shedding light upon the atrocious acts of sex trafficking.

And that was exactly the problem with this 2016 movie, that there are countless of other movies like it. Which made "Selling Isobel" feel like a run-of-the-mill experience. Now, I am not saying that "Selling Isobel" is a bad movie, because it isn't. It most certainly is watchable and nicely acted by the actors and actresses in the movie, but the problem is that there is just nothing within the storyline here to set it apart from the many other similar movies. So it felt like a dime a dozen here.

As I just mentioned, then the acting performances in the movie were good. Especially Gabriel Olds - playing Peter - because he really portrayed that character in a very believable manner, despite him being the villain of the story. But Gabriel Olds really put on a very good and memorable performance here. It should also be said that Lew Temple really put on a good performance as well, despite having such a minor part in the movie. It was nice to see Matthew Marsden in the movie, just a shame that his on-screen time was so limited.

"Selling Isobel" makes for adequate entertainment, while dealing with a rather horrible topic. But the movie just didn't make itself outstanding enough to set it apart from other similar movies. This reflects on my mediocre five out of ten stars rating for director Rudolf Buitendach's 2016 movie.

Even though this is a sad story, it was ultimately boring for the. Most part. Also everything seemed to take place in the DARK even when my screen set to lightest.

If you enjoy having your time utterly wasted you might enjoy this. However who enjoys a movie about such filth to begin with unless something is very wrong with you. Story is unbelievable and stupid. The girl got exactly what she asked for. If you going to be stupid and follow a dodgy guy about a modeling job all the way to an empty apartment well ... A person with an IQ of 20 can see it's danger. Not to talk about the most common way to recruit girls is like about modeling. Infact the modeling thing is a very over used scam so how anyone can fall for it who knows. Truly of you this stupid you deserve what you get. She had plenty chances to escaped by clearly was enjoying herself far too much.

The trafficers are morons and don't run a business well they had her for only a few days. Imagine being a trafficer that can't keep hold of the girl for longer than 3 days. Not a great business.

The movie is actually insulting and disrespectful to actual victims. This is an utter mokery of what people go through. None of it is real it makes no sense and is offensive.

This doesn't happen in real life it's a movie. If you have this anything higher than 1 you need help because you get off on sick stuff.

Ask yourself why the hell you watched this and why you liked it. You clearly have serious issues seek help.

Anyone who believes any of this is endlessly stupid.

Stay away unless you enjoy suffering and have a sub par iq.

I just watched the movie in the Landmark yesterday and I'm still dealing with the feelings this movie gave me; it stirred my soul big time and oh boy do we need to awaken ourselves that this is happening everywhere in the world and under our noses here in the USA. The performance was scary, thrilling and inspiring at the same time. And then to imagine that the lead actress is the same woman... she gave a life-changing performance! Gabriel Olds was so scary and likable at the same time... which is just so confusing for me to feel that. This is a MUST watch!

This is one of those kidnap torture movies that has a somewhat interesting payoff but there are things that make it seem very very fake. The main thing that makes it fake is that in the course of the movie there is absolutely no nudity at all. The woman who has been kidnapped and is being sold off as a prostitute manages to in every scene either have clothing, or a towel, or a blanket.

I hate that.

That makes liking the movie really hard when it doesn't seem real. The ending tho had an unexpected detail which made that 'okay', but still not great.

It's a shame that sex trafficking such as this really goes on. This is not the best movie to address it but it is not the worst either. 4/10.

OH, I just noticed that this movie has had a title change as well. That makes it lose another star. Pick a title, and keep it. 3/10.

I feel like this is a movie that all women should watch. It is a real thing, getting tricked into a business deal and then getting kidnapped. It doesn't necessarily have to be photography or anything sexual, it could happen to anyone. I am very impressed with Frida for deciding to tell her story, and to act in a movie based on it. You can tell in most of her scenes that she isn't acting, she is reliving the stress and fear. She doesn't try to look pretty while crying. This is a movie, so the story is different than what actually happened to her. Her personal story, she said she doesn't remember a lot of it, because of being so drugged up all the time. This is where all the embellishments in the movie come in. It wouldn't be a movie if it only showed what she could remember. They created a new character with a different life. This isn't a bad thing, but viewers need to be aware that, of course, things were added in and changed. It doesn't make the story any less real. She made this movie to bring awareness about sex trafficking, not to be about her. If you brush it off as something that could never happen, you are part of the problem.

The reality of it, it's right here in our own backyards and downright disgusting.

Never heard the expression "just another sex trafficking story". Thats what someone elses review said. Callous. Scary as it was so simple and i am surethere will be victim blaming. This happened to an ordinary woman just trying to get on with her life. Utterly chilling. As for the customers. Totally believable.