Plot

In the 1970s, Patricia Hearst is abducted by American revolutionaries, but eventually joins their cause instead.

The true story of Patricia Hearst, a rich girl who was abducted by American revolutionaries in the 1970s. The time spent with her captors made her question her way of life and she joined forces with the cause that her abductors were fighting for. This created a scandal in the US and since then Patty Hearst has become a pop culture fixture.—Josh Pasnak <chainsaw@intouch.bc.ca>

On the night of February 4, 1974 in Berkeley, California, nineteen-year-old Patricia "Patty" Hearst (Natasha Richardson) of the Hearst Publishing family is abducted, while her fiance, Steven Weed (Scott Kraft), escapes. Her attackers lock her in the trunk of a car, then transfer her to a locked closet where she remains for days (her only interaction with her abductors is shadows that open the closet door during most of this time). One kidnapper announces that his name is "Cinque," (Ving Rhames) the general field marshal of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), the group responsible for the recent death of Oakland Public School Superintendent Marcus Foster. They plan to trade Patty for the freedom of their two friends serving time in prison for Foster's murder.

Members of the group take turns brainwashing Patty with their philosophy and goals to improve society. One female captor explains that the SLA will demand that supermarkets distribute seventy dollars' worth of free food to every needy person in California, paid for by Hearst family money. Cinque, the group's black leader, forces Patty to record a statement, encouraging her father, Randolph A. Hearst, to support the SLA's food program, but he responds on a newscast that the plan would cost $400 million to implement.

As the days pass, Patty sleeps constantly and grows weaker. Cinque sends another message to the media, stating his goal of creating a world in which African Americans can live safely, have access to good education, and be free from corporate tyranny. In time, food is distributed to the poor, but riots erupt and people are injured. Cinque gives Patty a choice of joining the revolution or being executed. She must also choose an SLA member to rape her. Patty agrees to join, and accepts the group's revolutionary ideals.

On April 3, 1974, after having been blindfolded for the past two months, Patty's blindfold is finally removed and she meets Cinque and all the members of the SLA for the first time. They dress her in combat fatigues and give her a new name, "Tanya", and photograph her standing before the SLA's emblem. Patty records a message to her family, explaining that she has decided to join the SLA's righteous cause. In preparation for a bank robbery, SLA member "Teko" (William Forsythe) demonstrates how to use a gun, and afterward, expects sexual favors.

During the robbery on April 15, Cinque announces that he represents the SLA and Patty Hearst has joined the fight. After they collect money from tellers' drawers, one of the robbers shoots a customer. Back at the hideout, they celebrate their successful heist, and Cinque compliments Tanya on becoming a symbol of the revolution. Nevertheless, Teko and "Yolanda" warn that they will be watching her closely. Cinque decides to move to Los Angeles, California, where there are more opportunities to recruit new members, and the group arrives there on May 9, 1974.

One day on May 16, when Teko and his wife Yolanda (Frances Fisher) attempt to shoplift goods at Mel's Sporting Goods store, a security guard slaps handcuffs on one of his wrists, and Tanya rescues him by firing her rifle at the store. Escaping, they exchange cars twice by persuading drivers to help the revolution, and one of the drivers, a high school student, tags along with them for excitement. Teko, Yolanda, Tanya, and their willing captive avoid returning to their safe house. In the morning, Teko uses a hacksaw to remove the handcuffs and gives them to the student as a souvenir.

Later that day, while hiding out at a motel in Anaheim, California, Patty, Teko and Yolanda watch a number of live television newscasts in which the police surround the SLA hideout and, during a shootout, set it on fire. All six SLA members, including Cinque, dies in the house (off-camera) as the house burns down, and at first the media speculate that Patty Hearst is among the victims. As Teko drives back to San Francisco, he announces to Yolanda that their new aliases are "Frank," and "Eva." Patty will now be known as "Pearl."

Eventually, the three travel to Pennsylvania to hide out in the countryside, but Teko grows annoyed that the group is lazy and not interested in planning more bombings. They return to San Francisco in November 1974 where they shack up with a former SLA member named Wendy Yoshimura (Jodi Long) and to recruit new SLA members. The reformed group begins committing bank robberies. Teko determines that the SLA will now kill police officers. Believing that Cinque was a genius, Teko decides they need to recruit another black man to replace him.

One day on September 18, 1975, FBI agents raid the SLA safe house and arrest Patty Hearst along with Wendy. As she sits in jail, a team of lawyers works on her defense. A gynecologist examines her for signs of rape. She collapses when she sees her family. Her attorney, F. Lee Bailey (Gerald Gordon), insists that she speak to a few psychiatrists, but she claims that she is unable to describe her ordeal. Doctors determine that she is being truthful.

At night, in an adjacent cell, Yolanda accuses Patty of telling authorities that she and Teko are to blame for SLA violence. She muses that they should have killed Patty early on.

At the start of the trial, Patty is cross-examined. Although in tape recordings released to the public, she stated that she was not brainwashed, in court, Patty responds that she is not sure what happened during her ordeal. In closing arguments, the prosecutor states that Patty's story is not believable. He doubts that in her nineteen months of captivity, she pretended to be a revolutionary, or was too fearful to contact her parents or sisters or even try to escape once they released her from her closet confinement.

The jury finds Patty guilty of bank robbery and using a firearm during a felony. On July 22, 1976, she is sent to the federal prison in Pleasanton, California to serve a seven-year prison sentence. During a visit, her father tells her that the Supreme Court denied her appeal. In response, she plans to fire F. Lee Bailey, and hire a new attorney named George Martinez. Her father believes the political climate will not support a pardon, but Patty insists that she will use the press, do interviews, and challenge the public's perception of her.

The film closes with a series of texts which state:

Patty Hearst was granted a Presidential commutation by Jimmy Carter of her sentence on February 1, 1979 and now lives on the East Coast. She is married to Bernard Shaw, her former bodyguard. Efforts to overturn her conviction have been futile.

Bill Harris (Teko) and Emily Harris (Yolanda) were found guilty of kidnapping, robbery, and auto theft, and both served eight years in prison. They are now separated. Bill works for a legal firm in Northern California. Emily lives in Los Angeles County.

Wendy Yoshimura was convicted on unrelated weapons charges and served a short term in prison. She works in a restaurant in Northern California.

None of the later SLA members were convicted of any crimes.

Randolph and Catherine Hearst are divorced. He is now remarried. She lives in Southern California.

Steven Weed published a book, 'My Search for Patty Hearst'. To this date, she has not spoken with him.

F. Lee Bailey also wrote a book about the case, but to date it has not been published.

District Attorney Jim Browning is now a judge.

The proprietor of Mel's Sporting Goods sued Patricia Hearst and the Harrises, claiming the shooting at his store rendered him "incapable of performing his duties as a spouse".