I’m not sure why someone would name a film Buried Alive & Survived, which pretty much gives away the whole plot, but since it’s Lifetime Network, you kinda have to let it slide. However, there’s no such twist in this one, and the title turns out to be very literal. That’s understandable, given this film falls under the network’s “based on a true story” category, where they just pick up headlines from the newspapers and make movies out of them, I suppose. Anyway, let us see what goes on in Buried Alive & Survived.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens in the Movie?
Getting right to the point, the first scene of the movie finds our lead, Alicia, trapped inside a coffin and crying for help. The coffin is most definitely buried underground. This is exactly how the Ryan Reynolds movie Buried also started, but the difference here is, we already know Alicia is going to survive this. But first, let’s get into how she got there in the first place. So we go back two days and find out Alicia is a single mother with a teenage son, Malcolm. Her former husband, Victor, is a real piece of work who’s in prison. Alicia had to change cities (and her surname) in order to escape from the trauma the dude infected on her. Unbeknownst to her, Victor is already out of prison, and the first thing he does is visit one of his former homies, Stevie (who’s now settled down), and forcefully take his brand new car. Next up, he steals Alicia’s sister Kam’s cellphone to find out where she lives now.
Meanwhile Malcolm is throwing typical teenage tantrums, like not picking up his anxious mother’s call (she has her reasons, obviously) and getting mad at her when she’s slipping in a tracking device in his shoes. The latter is a bit extreme but plays an important part in the narrative, as you’ll come to know. Anyway, Victor soon returns to Alicia’s life by using the most generic narrative tool—giving a visit to Malcolm at school. Malcolm is understandably excited to see his cool dad, but his mother obviously isn’t too thrilled to see the abuser back. Victor, however, claims that he has turned over a new leaf and all he wishes for is the family to be reunited.
Has Victor Really Changed?
The name of the movie would have been something else if Victor had. From his first appearance, it’s quite evident that this guy is bad news, and any sane person should want to stay away from him. He’s the kind of entitled man who blames everyone but himself for all his misfortunes. Naturally, he believes he has the right to claim his family back; it doesn’t matter that his presence is not going to do Alicia and Malcolm any good; in fact, it’s the opposite. The only thing Victor has going for himself is Malcolm’s approval. That allows him to impose himself on the family, taking Alicia and Malcolm to dinner. Victor tries to work his charm on Alicia, but she’s not a teenager anymore who would happily ruin her life by falling for the bad boy. Alicia has put a lot of effort into getting away from Victor, and there is no way she wants to change that, especially considering Victor is still the same douchebag as he was before.
But saying no to Victor’s face is not going to work, so Alicia pretends. After dinner, Victor drops Alicia and Malcolm off home. When he shows interest in staying for the night, Alicia requests that he take things slow if he really wants to make it work. Victor agrees (thankfully), and this provides Alicia the perfect opportunity to pack her bag and leave right away. Malcolm doesn’t understand why his mother is doing all this, but Alicia is in no mood to listen. Sadly, Alicia has bigger problems awaiting her doorsteps. Victor hasn’t really gone away. He suspects Alicia is going to flee, so he’s here to prevent that in order to “save his family.” How does he do that? By pretty much kidnapping Alicia and taking her to the motel he’s staying at. Since this is a Lifetime movie, Victor doesn’t need to explain his actions to his son and can get away just by telling them they’re doing some adult things. At the motel, Victor tries to prove again that he has really changed for good by intimidating Alicia but not raping her (which, in his own words, he would have done before). Alicia screams and begs, but that only makes things worse. And when she finally calls him out for being an absolute piece of crap, the changed man finally snaps and puts her inside a wooden coffin. Again, I’m not going into what exactly the coffin was doing outside the motel, as the director clearly doesn’t seem to care about that. At least he doesn’t bury Alicia there. Instead, he drives away to a place that seems like nowhere and then buries her under the ground. However, it turns out to be someone’s land, and when that man finds Victor there and demands an explanation for the invasion, Victor ends up murdering him too. This death might seem pointless, but it does have an importance that you realize during the climax.
Does Alicia Survive In The End?
Once Alicia is gone for good, Victor takes Malcolm and embarks on a road trip. Alicia’s sister Kam tries to intervene, but Victor knocks her out in front of Malcolm. By now Malcolm has also realized that his mother was right and his dad is a rotten apple. He has done one smart thing by wearing the pair of shoes with the tracker. Alicia, meanwhile, gets out of the coffin after a lot of struggle. Not much to say about this part, as it was bound to happen. Remember the man Victor murdered? Well, thanks to that, Alicia gets to take the dead man’s car and quickly rushes to her colleague Jo’s house. Unrelated to the narrative, Jo was earlier trying to set up Alicia with a man who knows. Funnily enough, Victor sees the name Jo on Alicia’s phone and makes Malcolm send creepy texts, thinking it’s a man. At Jo’s house, Alicia tracks down where the father and son are going thanks to the tracking device. The logical thing here is to call the police for help, but that’s not ideal for a dramatic climax where Alicia must confront her fear alone. So that’s exactly how it goes.
In Buried Alive & Survived’s ending, Alicia and Victor come face to face, that too in a church, where Victor gets to say things like they got married in a place like that, once upon a time. It ends with police appearing at the right moment (thanks to Jo) and saving the day by shooting Victor to death. While I expected Buried Alive and Survived to end there like most lifetime thrillers, we get an epilogue where Alicia is finally going on a date (with the man Jo suggested). I really hope this man turns out the opposite of Victor.
