Is “Taken in Plain Sight” a cinematic masterpiece? Not by any critical standard, but that’s hardly the point. Audiences are drawn to its mix of cheesy melodrama and satisfying, albeit improbable, comeuppance for the antagonists. This film delivers exactly that, and fortunately, it’s not the sole offering on Netflix catering to such tastes. Below, you’ll find five films that deliver similar thrills, with some embracing their silliness and others offering genuine quality for those seeking a more balanced viewing experience.

If you’re guided by Netflix’s algorithm, you might have come across “Vanished into the Night.” This film is frequently suggested following “Taken in Plain Sight,” and it’s easy to see why. It shares a similar theme, focusing on parents grappling with the abduction of their children. Although it exudes the melodrama typical of Lifetime movies, “Vanished” is actually a Netflix original.

This isn’t a situation where the characters simply call the police to resolve the issue, unlike the typical “Law & Order” episode. Instead, Pietro and Elena take matters into their own hands, leading to a series of delightfully outrageous events that deliver exactly the kind of entertainment viewers crave.

While going through divorce and custody proceedings, Pietro (Riccardo Scamarcio) and Elena (Annabelle Wallis) have to put aside their differences and come together when their two children are kidnapped. The fact that Pietro owes a lot of money to a loan shark, with a tense confrontation with said loan shark occurring the day the kids disappeared, makes it pretty obvious who took them and why a hefty ransom is being requested. 

This isn’t the kind of money where people call the police and let them handle it, unlike any given episode of “Law & Order.” Pietro and Elena decide to take matters into their own hands, and that’s when things get delightfully ridiculous in all the ways you want them to. 

Chris (Greyston Holt) was trying to be a nice guy and pick up groceries for his friend, Hannah (Jurnee Smollett), and her daughter, Vee (Ridley Asha Bateman), so they didn’t have to go out in the storm. His generous nature also leads him to pick up a hitchhiker (Logan Marshall-Green) while he is running said errand, only for the hitchhiker to not only kill Chris but also go back to Hannah’s house and kidnap her daughter. Unfortunately, this hitchhiker isn’t a stranger — it is, in fact, Vee’s estranged father, Philip, who Hannah thought was dead. Unfortunately, he’s a former Green Beret, so it won’t be easy going up against him to get Vee back.

Thankfully, Hannah is renting the house from a woman named Lou (Alison Janney), who happens to possess a particular set of skills that will come in handy in taking down Philip. Thus begins a tale of violent revenge, one in which Janney got ripped to play Lou, revealing that she could have a career as an action star if she wanted it. It’s all by the numbers stuff, with a twist involving Philip and his past that you’ll probably see coming a mile away, but Janney’s performance — and her action chops — elevates it. If you want to zero in on the “Taken” part of “Taken in Plain Sight,” “Lou” will be right up your alley. 

Now we come to “The Book Club Murders,” yet another Lifetime movie from 2024 that came to Netflix recently. Is this the start of a trend of streamers snatching up a bunch of fun Lifetime originals? One can hope. Especially if it means more so-awful-they’re-awesome movies like “Taken in Plain Sight” and “The Book Club Murders.” The difference here is that we see a mother trying to protect her daughter before any harm happens to her, rather than trying to get her back after it’s already too late.

A group of women in a book club start receiving what are usually known as poison pen letters — that is, anonymous letters that contain deep, dark secrets about the recipient. When Natalie (Brittany Underwood) receives hers, the letter talks about her teenage daughter (Eva Igo) and the horrible crime her daughter supposedly committed. This puts both her and her daughter in a precarious position, facing not only threats from the other women but also the mysterious person sending the letters. Natalie must figure out who is sending the letters, and why, before it’s too late. 

“Lou” isn’t the only movie on this list that opts for a more action movie method of vengeance when protecting a child, with an A-lister doing the revenging. In “The Mother,” Jennifer Lopez plays an unnamed military operative — literally only ever referred to as the Mother — who realizes that her newborn baby will never have a safe or normal life with her. So she gives up her daughter for adoption, requesting a photo of the child every time she has a birthday, but otherwise not wanting any contact with her. She knows it would only put the girl in danger. 

Of course, her plan doesn’t work. The bad guys find out that the 12-year-old Zoe (Lucy Paez) is the Mother’s secret daughter, and kidnap her in order to lure the government assassin out of hiding. The Mother takes the bait — what mother wouldn’t, with her skills? — but her resulting rampage to find and protect her daughter is a lot more than the bad guys bargained for. Despite the cheesy premise — and it being suggested to fans of “Taken in Plain Sight” — “The Mother” is actually a pretty decent movie. Lopez goes all on in her performance in terms of both dramatic acting and pure physicality. Lopez didn’t use a stunt double for the entire final fight, either, which will impress you once you see what that scene entails. 

Lifetime movies are sometimes based on true stories, but “Taken in Plain Sight” is not. With that in mind, if you’re looking for a similar story that is based on real people and events, your best bet would be “Lost Girls” — easily the best film on this list. Amy Ryan plays Mari Gilbert in this fictional adaptation of Robert Kolker’s book of the same name. Mari is a mother who devoted her life to becoming an activist after she was unwilling to accept the initial police ruling that the drowning death of her daughter, Shannan, was accidental.

Mari had an independent autopsy done, which suggested that Shannan had in fact been strangled, proving Mari’s hunch correct. In the process of her own investigation, Mari ended up helping police to solve several previously unsolved murders of sex workers — victims of the 20 year long spree of a serial killer on Long Island, also known as the Gilgo Beach killings. This is heavy material, and is a lot more real and more raw than the rest of the movies on this list. But for those who watch “Taken in Plain Sight” and would rather see how these kinds of stories can impact our lives, “Lost Girls” should be next on your list.