Date At Your Own Risk: Is Will Based on a Real Serial Killer?

Lifetime’s ‘Date At Your Own Risk’ revolves around a city lawyer named Eva, who faces a massive dilemma after realizing that her ex-boyfriend, Will, may be hiding a terrible secret. After discovering an online post accusing Will of coercive and stalking behavior, Eva begins to wonder if she knows anything about him. When two local girls wind up dead, the protagonist suspects that Will is behind the crimes, forcing her into a difficult situation as she tries to get to the bottom of the truth. As the mystery deepens, Eva eventually realizes that her lover may be more heinous than he seems on the surface, putting her life in danger as well. To that end, Will plays a pivotal role throughout the thriller movie, seeding doubt and paranoia within the lawyer as she tries to ensure that the victim numbers don’t keep ramping up.

Will is a Fictional Killer With Vague Roots in Reality

Will in ‘Date At Your Own Risk’ is a fictional character conceived by Courtney Cilman. He is Eva’s ex-boyfriend and also the movie’s primary antagonist. The character has two sides to him, one that he presents in public and the other where he acts out his depraved fantasies. As the narrative progresses, it becomes evident that Will is a stalker, harasser, and manipulator of women. Although he may be fictional in origin, there have been real-life cases of stalkers and killers who act in a similar manner to Will. For instance, in 2016, British teenager Shana Grice was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Michael Lane, who had been stalking her for several months before the tragic incident. Lane was alleged to have repeatedly been harassing Grice for a long period. However, no meaningful police action was taken, which eventually led to her death.

While the specific events in ‘Date At Your Own Risk’ may differ from Shana Grice’s true-life case, the context of the scenario and the people involved in the crime vaguely resemble each other. To that end, the character of Will is a stark reminder of the predators who lurk within society and impinge on the lives of innocents for their personal quest. Women’s safety is a significant theme within the Lifetime movie, and it tries to present these concerns by showcasing the worst-case scenario of a killer like Will spreading terror in society. Eva’s battle to take him down exemplifies the challenges of identifying such predatory individuals and bringing them to justice before any potential victims turn up. To that end, he is a fictional representation of the real predators who lurk within society.

In the movie’s early parts, Eva learns about Will’s hidden nature when she finds an online post on the forum ‘Does He Belong to Anyone.’ The report describes Will as an aggressive and possessive man. Subsequently, Eva is concerned that he may be a real threat to her and to others like her. However, he constantly manipulates her into thinking that he is on the good side. His shifting characteristics lend him a disturbing aura and a threatening presence the more the story nears its conclusion. As such, he plays a prominent role in a narrative context, providing a sense of palpable tension and suspense in every scene. Still, he remains a fictional character devoid of any real-life connections.