Lost Girls is a Netflix film directed by Liz Garbus and inspired by Robert Kolker’s book Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery. The story revolves around Mari Gilbert (Amy Ryan), a mother who searches for her missing daughter and discovers that she was one of the victims of a series of unsolved murders. The story is based on the real-life case of a Long Island serial killer who is believed to have murdered ten to sixteen sex workers over a 20-year period, and was never caught.
Lost Girls begins with the disappearance of Shannan Gilbert (Sarah Wisser), a 24 year-old girl and the eldest of Mari Gilbert’s three daughters. Shannan grew up in and out of foster homes since she was 12, but always kept in touch with her family and even helped them with money. Mari knew her daughter was living a troubled life, but needed the money and accepted it without question. After Shannan's disappearance, Mari begins her search after learning that the police were not interested in looking for a missing sex worker, and discovers that Shannan is not the only girl who has gone missing.
Based on the real-life disappearance of Shannan Gilbert and her mother's search for her, Lost Girls honors those girls who lost their lives and never got justice. The film ends up with Shannan's body discovery one year later after her disappearance. As with the real case, however, there are many lingering questions left unanswered by Lost Girls' ending.
Lost Girls Ending: Was Dr. Hackett The Real (& Only) Killer?
Dr. Peter Hackett (Reed Birney) must have been working with someone in order to commit those murders, and the only other suspect is his wife. At the beginning of the series, when the recording of Shannan's 911 call is heard, she says, "They are trying to kill me," indicating that more than one person is after her. Moreover, since Dr. Hackett has a fake leg and can’t run, there’s no way he’s the one who chased Shannan through the swamp.
The key to finding Hackett was testimony from Joe Scalise (Kevin Corrigan), Hackett’s neighbor from Oak Beach. Joe claims that Hackett hid the bodies in a piece of land but later had to move them, and that’s when the neighbors saw him. He also shows Mari a barn where Hackett supposedly killed the victims and had all the tools he needed for cleaning up the mess. Scalise’s testimony is quickly dismissed by the police because he is said to have a longtime grudge against Hackett.
Mari was convinced that Hackett was her daughter’s killer from the moment Joe talked to her. In fact, she is so relentless in pursuing Hackett, she manages to convince commissioner Dormer at the end of the film to check a swamp behind Hackett’s house because her daughter’s corpse has to be there. Dormer finally agrees to Mari’s request and that's when they finally found the body.
Why The Police Didn’t Question Dr. Hackett
The police department’s incompetence can be seen from the very beginning of Lost Girls, when it takes them an hour to arrive after Shannan’s call to 911. Their lack of interest seems to come down to one thing: the victims are sex workers, with no families and no one who cares about them. This idea is highlighted in multiple scenes, where the news is played and the victims are reduced to their work as prostitutes, almost implying that it was their own fault that they were killed.
Dr. Hackett wasn’t only a highly respected neighbor of the Oak Beach community; he also had a very good relationship with the police department. When Mari visits him at the Oak Island Beach Association, she sees pictures on the walls - one showing Hackett at Oak Island Police Parade and one with the Benevolent Society. Another clearly suspicious thing is that the police lose the only evidence in the case: Shannan's jacket.
Everything seems to lead to the fact that Hackett has contacts within the police department. It’s possible that his contacts, alongside the police department’s general incompetence and lack of interest in a hooker’s disappearance, were the real reason he was never found guilty. There are no clear signals that indicate that Hackett was actually helped by the police, but Lost Girls does suggest that they were reluctant to investigate him.
Did The Residents Know Dr. Hackett Was The Killer?
It’s impossible to know if Oak Beach residents really knew that Dr. Hackett was a serial killer, but it’s clear from the very beginning that this is a very closed community who don’t want anyone else’s intervention, and don’t like to ask questions themselves. This can clearly be seen in the attitude they take when outsiders come poking around.
Most of the community’s neighbors refuse to talk to Mari about the night her daughter disappeared. Only one admits to trying to help her, but according to him, she took off running. When Mari asks a neighbor about Dr. Hackett, he tells her that he’s an excellent neighbor and everyone owes him favors. Joe Scalise is the only one who claims that many are aware of what Dr. Hackett actually does. He says Hackett "helps" sex workers, rehabilitating them and giving them medical support, but it’s all just a cover-up he uses in order to make them disappear.
It’s very possible that some Oak Beach neighbors had suspicions of their own about Hackett, but they preferred to look the other way because of the influence he had within the community.
Lost Girls: The Ending’s Real Meaning
Netflix's Lost Girls is a film that truthfully shows how the murders of sex workers are not taken as seriously as they should be. Sex workers are classified as disposable in society, and in the film they are not really considered to be real people worthy of caring about by anyone but their family. In the film, Mari Gilbert says that girls are remembered only as prostitutes, not as daughters, sisters or mothers.
Lost Girls is not only filled with intrigue and suspense, but also sends a message that should be heard by everyone. In the final scene, after the discovery of Shannan's body, Mari gives a speech about how the police never gave Shannan the importance she deserved, and how society seems to blame the girls for her own death. She concludes by saying that it is time to be held accountable for what happened, and that she will start with herself.