The gripping German series currently captivating audiences on Netflix, Dear Child (Liebes Kind), narrates a harrowing tale about a mysterious character named Lena Beck.
The series opens with Lena (Jeanne Goursaud), a traumatised woman, making a daring escape from her kidnapper alongside a young girl named Hannah (Naila Schuberth), only to be involved in a hit-and-run accident. However, as the authorities and hospital staff investigate, it becomes evident that a deeper, more sinister secret shrouds Lena’s identity.
As it turns out, she is not the ‘real’ Lena Beck but another missing woman named Jasmin Grass (Kim Reidle). Viewers have been left wondering about the fate of the original Lena in Dear Child, the gripping thriller that has the Netflix community hooked.
What happens to the ‘real’ Lena in Dear Child?
Thirteen years prior to the events we see in Dear Child, Lena Beck was abducted by Lars Rogner, the security company owner introduced in the fifth episode. At that time, Lena was already pregnant and gave birth in captivity. This child, named Hannah, was not Lars’ biological daughter. Lars assaulted Lena multiple times, leading to two more pregnancies. Ultimately, Lena succumbs to an infection, along with her newborn child.
After Lena’s death, Lars embarks on a chilling cycle of kidnapping more women who bore a striking resemblance to Lena, subjecting them to the same horrors repeatedly. Jasmin is just one in a long line of victims Lars assigns the identity of ‘Lena’.
However, Jasmin manages to stab and kill Lars with a shard of glass. After this, the detectives find the location of the real Lena’s burial site.
The role of the real Lena Beck is portrayed by the German-French actress Jeanne Goursaud. Goursaud is known for her work in Netflix’s Barbarians, where she played Thusnelda.
Is Dear Child based on a true story?
Fortunately, Dear Child is not based on a true story but is an adaptation of the 2019 novel of the same name by Romy Hausmann.
Isabel Kleefeld, the director and head writer of the Netflix series, was captivated by the novel. She read it in one night and was immediately inspired to bring the story to the screen. “Dear Child is different in that the story is told from the victim’s perspective, never from the perpetrator’s perspective,” Kleefeld said in an interview with Die Woche. “That was also something special about the novel, which had a great attraction for us.”
