Cancel all your plans, we’ve found your next bone-chilling true crime series to binge. Starring Patricia Arquette (Escape at Dannemora) and Joey King (The Kissing Booth), mini-series The Act hits Kiwi screens April 4, streaming exclusively on Lightbox.
But wait for the background. Gypsy believes she was born with the mental capability of a seven-year-old and has dealt with multiple illnesses like muscular dystrophy, seizures, leukaemia, and asthma. In reality, these illnesses are fake—a psychological and physical abuse inflicted by her mother Dee Dee, who has a case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
Gypsy was confined to a wheelchair even though she could walk, forced to endure unnecessary surgery, fed through a tube and constantly plied with prescription drugs at her mother's direction. Gypsy was convinced that she was truly sick, and her mother played-up her illness to the media and public for sympathy, receiving everything from celebrity donations to a brand new house built by Habitat for Humanity.
As Gypsy grows up, her desires for normality begin to take over and she plots to rebel against her controlling mother. The turning point is when Gypsy secretly meets her boyfriend, Nick Godejohn (Calum Worthy), online, and a naive yet twisted romance flourishes. Nick’s motivation to avenge his trapped lover comes to fruition when he plots Dee Dee’s murder in cold blood. Gypsy Rose is currently serving a 10-year sentence in prison as an accomplice to the murder.
If you’ve already got goosebumps, waste no time—catch The Act on Lightbox dropping April 4 for your true crime viewing pleasure.
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Image Credit: Lightbox NZ