Upamanyu Biswas
Lifetime’s ‘Death Saved My Life’ presents a complex tale of domestic abuse within a seemingly perfect relationship. Under the direction of Seth Jarrett, the thriller movie follows Jade Thompson, a successful marketer at a prestigious firm, who has the ideal marriage with her heart surgeon husband, Ed. While their bond is perfect on the surface, the couple have a fraught affair while away from the prying eyes of the public, which mainly stems from Ed’s abusive treatment of Jade. When Jade begins suspecting that Ed has hired a hitman to kill her, the marketer fakes her own death. Subsequently, she has to figure out a way to permanently escape his clutches while also revealing the truth about her manipulative husband to the public. Through compelling performances and a taut script, the film explores a toxic relationship where the boundaries of expectation are ripped to pieces by a jealous partner.
Death Saved My Life is Inspired By a Real-Life Case of Attempted Spouse-Killing
‘Death Saved My Life’ is a harrowing tale of survival rooted in reality. Barbara Kymlicka penned the script based on the story of Noela Rukundo, a Burundian-Australian woman who was the target of an assassination plot orchestrated by her husband, Balenga Kalala. The film chronicles the real-life incident with some deviations from the truth, including changes to character backstories, names, and the manner in which events play out. It is likely a deliberate choice to highlight the central themes of betrayal, controlling behavior, and domestic abuse more clearly and concisely for the audience. However, for the most part, much of the narrative is drawn from the extraordinary saga of Rukundo, following its various encounters from the beginning.
Around 2004, Rukundo arrived in Australia as a refugee from Burundi, which was around the same time she ran into her future husband, Kalala. The two had the same social worker, via whom they were able to cross paths. Eventually, a relationship blossomed between the pair, which was soon followed by marriage and a life together in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. Rukundo and Kalala had three children together. The former already had five children before her relationship with Kalala. Life got particularly strange in January 2015 for Rukundo, however, when she went back to her native home of Burundi to attend her stepmother’s funeral. It was an emotional occasion for the woman, as her stepmother was an important figure in her life. By evening, Rukundo retired to her hotel room in Bujumbura.
While about to fall asleep, Rukundo received a phone call from her husband, Kalala. He allegedly told her to step outside the hotel for a while and enjoy the fresh air outside. She listened to his advice and went out, which put her in the line of danger immediately. She was confronted by a gang of armed men, who forced her into a car and drove her away. She was blindfolded and driven to a secret location. There, they told her that they had been hired by her husband Kalala to kill her. Although she refused to believe them at first, the group of men proved their words by allegedly contacting Kalala on the phone and putting his voice on loudspeaker for Rukundo to hear. The woman fainted upon allegedly hearing Kalala asking them to kill her.
Death Saved My Life Captures the Miraculous Return of a Presumed Dead Wife From the Grave
Although the news was shocking for Noela Rukundo to hear, she eventually came to terms with the fact that her husband wanted her dead. His reasons were allegedly tied to a belief that Rukundo was cheating on him, which was reportedly unsubstantiated. However, the assassination plot did not go as planned, mainly because the gang of hired killers allegedly held a code against killing women and children. They were willing to let her go for that same reason. But first, they decided to extract even more money from Balenga Kalala to complete the task. They also planned to ensure that Rukundo got away by informing her husband that she had been killed. She was released from their clutches on February 19, 2015, almost a month since her abduction began. By this time, the woman’s brother had gotten worried about her disappearance for such a long period.
Notably, the gunmen did not allow Rukundo to leave empty-handed. They allegedly provided her with evidence that would be useful for her to file a case against Kalala, which contained phone conversations of him planning her death as well as the receipts for the 7000$ payment he made to the gang. The key highlight of the case happened on February 22, when Rukundo returned to Melbourne and visited her own funeral, which Kalala had arranged. Her appearance at the event was allegedly met with shock from her husband, who expressed his disbelief at his wife returning as a “ghost.” Rukundo announced her arrival to him by stating, “Surprise! I’m still alive!” Moments later, he allegedly began apologizing to her, which was eventually interrupted by the arrival of the police.
On December 11, Kalala was handed a 9-year prison sentence by a Melbourne court after being found guilty of incitement to murder. The extraordinary case of attempted spouse killing showcases the unexpected nature of crimes and how they can be stranger than fiction at times. However, it forms the central inspiration for ‘Death Saved My Family,’ capturing the peaks and troughs of the real case in its emotional complexities even if it may not match it a hundred percent of the time. To that end, the historical precision is less important than the core message, which the film does a commendable job of highlighting and bringing to life through a suspense-driven narrative that is full of intrigue and family betrayal.
Read More: My Family’s Killer Affairs: Is the Lifetime Movie Based on a True Story?
