WFG RATING: B+

Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment and Relativity Media presents a Legion M/Garrison Film Company/Skeels Film production in association with XYZ Films. Directed by Warren Skeels. Produced by Anne Marie Gillen, Terri Lubaroff, Michael Nole, Paul Scanlon, and Warren Skeels. Written by Warren Skeels and Sharon Y. Cobb. Cinematography by Gareth Paul Cox. Edited by Billy Gaggins.

Stars Madison Wolfe, Brec Bassinger, Skai Jackson, Gavin Warren, Sean Astin, Ali Larter, Noah Lomax, and Deborah Ann Woll.

Based on true events that happened five decades ago, a young woman is believed to “cry wolf” until the horrifying truth is revealed.

Annie Williams is a teenager who lives in the small city of Brooksville, Florida in 1975. She tends to have an overactive imagination, which tends to draw the ire of both her mother and older sister. Her father is always going on business trips and the only one who likes hearing her stories is her younger brother.

One day, Annie sees a mysterious white van that looks to be following her. Raising suspicions, she tells her family, but they don’t believe her due to her overexaggerations in the past. However, when her sister leaves one night to go to her boyfriend’s house instead of babysitting, the white van shows up again but is bested by Annie and her brother, who now believes the story. What will happen if the man in the white van finally gets his prey?

Warren Skeels crafted quite a tale that seems to have inspiration in both the moral story of “crying wolf” and the story of Billy Mansfield, a notorious serial killer in 1970s Florida who is currently serving four consecutive life sentences for the kidnapping and murders of five women from 1975 to 1980. What Skeels does here is quite ingenious where he juxtaposes the 1975 story involving Annie and flashbacks going back to 1970 to where the man in the white van kidnapped more random females.

Considering her performance in the underrated I Kill Giants film adaptation, it was fitting that Madison Wolfe takes the role of Annie, another girl with an overactive imagination. However, unlike the other film where she imagines herself in a world going against the giants as a metaphor for the challenges of her life, she thrives on her imagination to get attention. It is when she sees the man in the white van that almost everyone believes she is crying wolf. Despite the fact that she has two people to rely on to know the truth first, both her best friend Patty and little brother Daniel.

Sean Astin and Ali Larter pull off terrific performances as Annie’s parents. Larter’s Helen is the type of parent who seems to have some sort of reputation and sees Annie’s imagination as a hindrance and wants her to live up to traditional standards. As for Sean Astin’s Daniel, he is focused on his business but slowly understands her and seems to want her to be herself. Brec Bassinger’s older sister Margaret seems to be that type of character who sometimes acts like a brat yet is a brown noser when it comes to her parents.

The Man in the White Van is a tense thrilling film that is highlighted by an excellent performance by Madison Wolfe and the finale is definitely a highlight along with the great juxtaposing of present and past. True crime nuts may end up enjoying this one once they know one of its sources although this is mostly fictional.

The film is now available on DVD, Blu-Ray, and Digital in the UK from Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment.