Dear Child is a mini-series based on Roman Hausman’s novel of the same title that follows a woman who lived in isolation with two children and how she came to be there. The series is streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary:
Lena, Hannah, and Jonathan live in an apartment all day, following strict rules and a routine. Whenever their “Papa” comes in, they line up in front of him with their hands laid out in front to show that they aren’t hiding anything.
Hannah and Jonathan are good children, but Lena doesn’t seem to be too happy to be there and she is punished for her insubordination. One day, Lena manages to escape and roams through the forest before reaching the highway where she is hit by a car.
She’s taken to the hospital with Hannah by her side in the ambulance. Officer Gerd Bühling of the state police comes across the accident report and calls up Matthias and Karin Beck, an older couple who have been looking for Lena for 13 years.
Detective Aida Kurt of the Aachen Police is the lead investigator in the case and she heads to the hospital to question Hannah, who is with Nurse Ruth.
Back at the apartment, Jonathan cleans off a blood stain from the rug as Papa lay unconscious beside him. Ruth makes conversation with Hannah and hears some very strange things.
Lena is stable after surgery but when Matthias and Karin take a look at her, they say that she isn’t their daughter, but someone else. Gerd meets up with Aida and says that Lena Beck went missing 13 years ago and this woman bore a striking resemblance to her.
When the couple sees Hannah, they are filled with emotion because she looks exactly like Lena did when she was younger. The police search the forest near where Lena was found and come across an abandoned military complex.
Lena eventually gains consciousness but a voice in her head keeps telling her that she isn’t allowed to say anything to anyone or answer any questions.
Hannah is taken to a medical facility under the care of child services as the police search the military facility and find the apartment with Jonathan hiding inside. Lena finally speaks up, revealing that her real name is Jasmin and that she was a captive for 5 months.
The face of the man in the apartment is heavily disfigured and it takes a while for the authorities to figure out who he is. They come to the conclusion that the person who kidnapped Lena all those years ago must have kidnapped Jasmin.
The two children belong to Lena but they still believe that Jasmin is their mother. A flashback shows that Jasmin was kidnapped in a parking garage after a job interview and made to look like Lena.
Hannah still believes that her Papa is coming to rescue her and they will be a family again in their new house. Gerd and Aida aim to find out the identity of the man from the apartment and how many people were involved since Hannah and Jonathan had different fathers.
They find evidence to suggest that there were other women who were kidnapped before Jasmin and they begin searching the woods around the facility to find different remains of missing women over the years.
Matthias never recovered from the loss of his daughter and he now is focused on taking care of Hannah even though Karin says she isn’t ready for it.
Jasmin is discharged from the hospital but she isn’t able to escape the trauma she faced and soon realizes that Papa is still watching over her. She once again starts following the rules as Gerd realizes something might be up and keeps an eye on her.
Dear Child ending explained in detail:
How did Jasmine escape?
During on Christmas, Papa gifts Jonathan a snow globe. Jonathan shows the globe to Jasmin whenever she is sad and she becomes enamored by it.
One day, when Papa has his back turned on them, Jasmin snaps and she takes the globe before smacking him in the head. She then drops it on the floor and runs out the door, calling for the children to follow her.
Hannah tells Jonathan to stay behind and clean up until Papa wakes up while she goes to get Jasmin. When Jasmin is hit by the car, the driver tries to help but Hannah hits him in the head with a branch.
She asks Papa if they can keep Jasmin because she tells stories just like their first Mama. Papa listens to her and sets up everything so that he can get them later.
Who is Papa?
Aida and Gerd question all of the employees of the security company that was guarding the facility, but they never question the company’s owner, Lars Rogner.
Gerd has doubts about him and asks Aida to look into him. She goes to their office and asks the assistant to check if there are any contracts with the Beck family.
She finds a picture of him as a child with his mother, as well as a picture of his grandfather who raised him. Lars’ mother was a young woman who looked a lot like Lena and he never knew his father.
His grandparents were the ones who raised him. He went to the Beck’s residence for a security complaint while Lena was dog-sitting once and he became obsessed with her.
What happens to Jasmin and Hannah?
Hannah moves in with Matthias but Karin says she needs some space. She goes to visit Jonathan who is by himself at the facility. Lars visits Hannah and she sneaks out to his camper in the middle of the night.
Aida confirms that Lars is the kidnapper after showing his old pictures to Jonathan. Gerd is keeping watch outside Jasmin’s apartment and he sees her sneaking out.
He notices Lars getting into the camper and he follows them. They are driving to their new house and Hannah asks if she can see the lighthouse that Jasmin described in her stories.
At noon, Jasmin says that she has to relieve herself so Lars stops at a beach. She had hidden a knife in her sleeve but Lars caught it and pulled it out beforehand.
She still has a shard of glass with her and when he is distracted, she stabs in the neck and puts an end to her captivity. Gerd arrives soon after and asks Lars where he buried Lena. He gets a location just before Lars dies.
The Becks finally have closure regarding their daughter, Jasmin can move on with their life, while Hannah and Jonathan can live normal childhoods as everyone can travel the long road to recovery
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