Is The Lovely Bones Based On A True Story?

Warning: This article contains multiple discussions of sexual assault.

I'll be honest: "The Lovely Bones," which gradually rolled out into theaters starting in late 2009 and had "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson at the helm, is a very tough watch — because it centers around the brutal sexual assault and murder of a young girl. So, is it based on a true story, like so many true crime projects these days?

It's not — "The Lovely Bones" is based on the first novel from writer Alice Sebold, which came out in 2002 and became an instant classic. With that in mind, it's unsurprising that a film adaptation eventually hit the big screen, but its path was far from straightforward. Initially, director Lynne Ramsay was attached to the project (with Sebold serving as an adviser for the movie), but things eventually changed and DreamWorks stepped in to back the project, at which point Ramsay dropped out and Jackson took up the reins as director. (Jackson's creative partners Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh, who had helped him finalize his vision for the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, also co-wrote and produced the film.) In the end, Jackson assembled an all-star cast for the movie, including Saoirse Ronan (already an Oscar nominee for the 2007 film "Atonement"), Mark Wahlberg (who replaced Ryan Gosling), Stanley Tucci, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, and Michael Imperioli.

In a larger sense, "The Lovely Bones" envisions what it might be like to lose your life but gain the chance to watch over your loved ones from the afterlife. As for its plot and how it connects to a tragic event in Sebold's own life (which also served as the basis for a memoir she wrote in 1999)? Again, don't say I didn't warn you: Everything that follows will be disturbing as I cover both fictional and real-life cases of sexual assault, so please, proceed with caution!

When we first meet Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) in "The Lovely Bones," she's a regular 14-year-old girl who wants to become a photographer when she grows up. After her high school crush Ray Singh (Reece Ritchie) finally asks her out, Susie is over the moon and takes a scenic route home from school through a cornfield — where she meets George Harvey (Stanley Tucci), a neighbor of the Salmon family who lives alone and tells Susie that he has an expansive playroom for kids in his basement. Though Susie tries to escape what is clearly a pretty sinister bunker, George subdues her, and when Susie walks through her hometown and realizes nobody can see her, she finally realizes what happened: George killed her, and she never actually made it back above ground.

After Susie is transported to an afterlife only known as the "In-Between," she's given the opportunity to watch her friends and family grapple with her death back on Earth. She's not alone, either; in that liminal space, she meets and befriends Denise "Holly" Le Ang (Nikki SooHoo), another girl killed by George. Back in the world of the living, both Susie's father Jack (Mark Wahlberg) and sister Lindsay (Rose McIver) grow suspicious of George, who manages to evade suspicion when it comes to the authorities despite the efforts of local detective Len Fenerman (Michael Imperioli). As Jack and Lindsay try to uncover George's crimes, Susie's mother Abigail (Rachel Weisz) grows despondent, particularly when Susie's troubled grandmother Lynn (Susan Sarandon) comes to stay.

At first, it seems like Susie can't, for lack of a better phrase, "do anything" from her place in the "In-Between," but ultimately, she's able to briefly "possess" the body of her friend Ruth Connors (Carolyn Dando) and kiss Ray, fulfilling her final wish. Then, years after Susie's death, George attempts to abduct a young woman but is unable to prevent her from escaping his car; while he's stranded on the side of a snowy and steep road, he's hit by an icicle that dislocates his shoulder and when he trips, he falls to his death, all of which is presented as an act by Susie and his other victims.

After watching her family begin to heal from their trauma, Susie finally feels ready to leave the "In-Between" and ascend to heaven, closing the film with an introduction and a goodbye. "My name is Salmon, like the fish; first name Susie," she tells the audience. "I was 14 years old when I was murdered on December 6, 1973. I was here for a moment and then I was gone. I wish you all a long and happy life."

Like I said, "The Lovely Bones" isn't strictly based on a true story — but Alice Sebold brought some of her harrowing personal experience to the novel. Her 1999 memoir, titled "Lucky," focused on her own sexual assault, which occurred in 1981 when Sebold was a student at Syracuse University. As Sebold tells it, she was walking through a tunnel on campus when the assault occurred, but in the aftermath, authorities couldn't pinpoint any suspects.

Sebold later accused a man named Anthony Broadwater of the crime, and he spent 16 years in prison before he was released; as of 2021, Broadwater is a free man. In a post Sebold wrote on Medium, she apologized to Broadwater for identifying him — incorrectly, according to her — as her attacker. "I am sorry most of all for the fact that the life you could have led was unjustly robbed from you, and I know that no apology can change what happened to you and never will," Sebold wrote. "I am grateful that Mr. Broadwater has finally been vindicated, but the fact remains that 40 years ago, he became another young Black man brutalized by our flawed legal system."

As for "The Lovely Bones," Sebold said that her assault — which was, as of this writing, committed by an unknown man — did inspire the narrative. In a now-archived post on Publisher's Weekly, Sebold stated, "I was motivated to write about violence because I believe it's not unusual. I see it as just a part of life, and I think we get in trouble when we separate people who've experienced it from those who haven't. Though it's a horrible experience, it's not as if violence hasn't affected many of us."

Sebold also expanded on her vision of heaven, saying that a benignly comforting place held no appeal — so she gave her main character Susie an opportunity to oversee the ramifications of her death. "As opposed to a place that is just blinding comfort, I gave Susie a place to investigate, a place where she could come to understand the world and the people in her life," Sebold concluded.

"The Lovely Bones" is streaming on Paramount+ now.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).