Whenever a movie starts by saying, ‘It is based on true incidents,”. I feel like people are already invested in it. Lonely Crime Fanatic feels like a soft version of the series YOU. It is a timely watch. The movie is about an obsessed girl with true crime documentaries until she meets the creator of the podcast. She discovers the horrible truth about his sick mind and how he uses her for an episode of the podcast. She is the only victim who manages to escape, and she later creates a place where she helps such victims.
Spoilers Ahead
Who Is Ashley, And How Is She Related To Paul?
Ashley is a young and beautiful woman who is roaming around in the kitchen. She is a little suspicious and scared of the sudden noises in her house. Suddenly, the lights are off, and she is grabbed by a man from behind. She screams and wakes up to reality, only to realize it was a bad dream. She goes out for a run and listens to a true crime podcast on her way. She is trying to avoid her husband, Paul. She packs all of his things in a box and decides to throw them away. Her friend, Lily, comes over to her house, and they talk about their lives. She suggests Ashley stop listening to those podcasts. Ashley’s divorce is also getting delayed unintentionally. But somehow, Lily convinces her to prioritize her divorce. Suddenly, there is a banging on the door where Paul is trying to talk to Ashley. But Ashley is firm that she wants him out of her life and is not interested in talking. She goes back to listening to her podcasts. It looks like she is way too obsessed with them. She somehow starts picturing her and Paul in those scenarios described by the speaker of the podcast. She recites the story through the words of the podcast. It sounds like Paul has caused her a lot of pain. She wants to dig deeper into the case because she feels related to it. She is excited to meet the host of the podcast, David Bryant. She buys his book and goes through it. David Bryant looks like a guy who is hard to understand.
Will Ashley And David Connect Well With Each Other?
Lily cannot make it to the show, but she encourages Ashley to go. Paul only knows how to create problems for Ashley. He makes her call so she can give him a call. The Uber is running late, so she decides to walk all the way. She stands there in the crowd and starts speaking about how David has given recognition to the victims and how he has immense empathy for them. David looks quite impressed by her. Very subtly, David asks her to join him for dinner. Ashley could never say no to that. They both head to the restaurant. She starts to share her personal life story, and David kind of validates her. They are talking about how Ashley should take the next steps to stay away from Paul. Ashley is so happy to be there with David. And it looks like they are already making plans to meet more often. She kisses him on the cheek and bids him goodbye.
David is at her house, watching her like she is the only thing he wants right now. He starts to look at Ashley as his next episode of the podcast. He names it the story of revenge. He starts following and looking at Ashley and Paul. He is creating a situation where he gets to be near Ashely. He made her dream come true; he allowed her to record a podcast clip. He is also trying to open up so he can win her trust and get closer. He is talking about his past with her and how he has a trauma of one-sided love. The woman he loved was abused, but even after this, she chose the other guy instead of him. She was murdered a few days later. It feels like he is emotionally manipulating her with his past stories. She suddenly feels close to him, and he is trying to put things in her mind so she will follow his leads. And he will get a solid story out of it. Ashley is innocent; she feels like he is a genuine person, but in reality, he is just playing with her mind. David has built a romantic relationship with Ashley. She allows him to make love to her. She is obsessed with him because she has idealized him in her head.
What Is David Up To?
David decides to stay back. At midnight, he sniffs around her house and gets an imprint of her main door key. He also fixes some audio recorders in her house. Ashley wakes up and finds it a little suspicious, but she thinks maybe this is all in her head. They both confess that they had a great night, and the thing between them is amazing. He goes back to his place and decides to record the podcast. He also exaggerates the things in his podcast where he portrays Ashley as a complete victim. When Paul is not home, he goes to his place and looks for the things he can put in the podcast. He goes to eat lunch with her friend, Lily. She talks about how great David is, but she has no idea where this is going. Lily warns her to be a little careful.
Paul is back with a new girl. David just stands there and watches them. Ashley calls him and asks if she can cook him dinner tonight. He is going to be okay with anything, as long as Ashley gives him an episode. Once he is done with Paul’s apartment, he decides to go to Ashley’s. He tries to make her feel that Paul was in her apartment, and he is trying to get back at her. He even leaves Paul’s sunglasses as a piece of evidence. He listens to all of their arguments carefully. She files a restraining order against him, and she asks for David’s help. David manipulates her and shapes her mind to think in the way that he wants her to think. She does not want to go back to her house, so she decides to stay over at David’s. She gets her drugged and asks her to fall asleep.
Is Ashley In Trouble?
Meanwhile, he records his podcast. He makes sure she falls asleep and then goes into her house. He records Paul’s side of the story in a way where she is portrayed as a toxic female. He says that Paul is going to punish Ashley in some ways. He asks her to stay over for another day. But she denies it and decides to go back. He puts a thought in her head that she is unsafe in that house. She enters the house, and she feels like somebody is inside. She calls out Paul’s name, but she figures out it was just a window. She turns away and gasps as she sees a knife on her bed. Ashely files a police complaint. Lily comes over to take care of Ashley, and they talk about how this is completely insane. The investigation has begun against Paul. But it turns out that Paul was in a different place with a different woman. He has nothing to do with what has happened to Ashley or even the knife. She has had a terrible breakdown.
Will Ashley Find Out About David?
Out of anger, Ashley throws a glass on the floor. And Lily asks her to calm down while she can clean up the mess. Lily finds the audio recorders under the kitchen. Lily and Ashley start searching the house together. Lily starts to question David and his history. They start going over all the incidents. Ashley starts to think that this has to be David because Paul is not smart enough. David calls her and tells her that she needs to report Paul and come to his house. He can keep her safe. Ashley has some plans to find out if David is behind all of this. David forces her to open up about Paul and her relationship. He tells her how he has found a new episode, which makes her uncomfortable. She keeps guessing what could be a new surprise. When he refuses to tell her, she decides to go through his laptop and find it herself.
How Is Ashley Going To Expose David?
She listens to the audio and realizes that David is behind all of this. She is devastated that she has been used romantically, emotionally, and mentally for an episode of the podcast. Her life story has been portrayed in the worst manner possible without her consent. David barges in to check on Ashley, and he can tell by her tone that she knows the truth. There is a lot of tension between them now. She tells David she wants to go home now. She begins her investigation against David. She tracks down the murder of his lover. She calls up the detective who was working on the case to get a sense of clarity. The detective tells her that David is a murderer and she should stay away from him.
Will Ashley Make It Alive?
David decides to kidnap Paul. Meanwhile, Lily and Ashley are together, waiting for Mr. Detective, aka Patrick, to meet them at her house. Three of them are discussing David, and suddenly he comes through the door. He knocks down Patrick and puts Lily to sleep. David is threatening her to complete the story for him. He has already tied up Paul in her house. He is recording the podcast. To get over his past trauma, he wants Ashley to kill Paul because he wants to get over his dead love and wants to give it a different ending. He is a madman.
Will Ashley Kill Paul To Save Herself?
David is forcing Ashley to kill Paul so they can be together. But Ashley goes ahead and stabs David in the stomach. Dabid grabs Ashley by her neck and tries to suffocate her, but she hits him in the head, and he falls into the swimming pool. Ashley speaks on a podcast episode where she shares the real truth about David Byrant. She speaks about how she cannot enjoy these things anymore. She says that David was sick, but she does not have hatred for him. She has immense empathy for the victims, and she helps people now.
Lonely Crime Fanatic is a great movie for people who take these things lightly. We should always be alert and on our toes. There can be a sequel too, if David has not died yet.
