However, I figured out the twist pretty early. I've never seen A Mother's Nightmare, so I didn't have that for context beyond reading some reviews here, but once she said her father abandoned her, I had an inkling. . This didn't ruin the movie at all for me, Vanessa was still super creepy and crafty, but that was like a blaring siren. There's another Lifetime movie with Shiri Appleby where a character (the eventual villain) is acknowledged to be the adopted sibling so it was the same kind of light bulb for me. Plus, the movie opens up with her requesting Lisa as a roomie, so it's clear she targeted Lisa for a specific purpose.
Now the one thing I think the movie missed as an opportunity is that while she did her best to alienate and destroy Lisa, as crazy as she is, it didn't seem like she was really targeting (their) father. Sure hurting Lisa hurts Dad, but IDK, she never let on her contempt and hatred of him. He did say something like "don't I know you," in the beginning but after all that time whether he'd recognize her as his daughter is anyone's guess. But one would think she'd either favor him or her mother who he was married to.
The mom showing up as a deus ex machina was weird. How they knew she was still alive after a suicide attempt and 20+ years kinda stretched disbelief when the movie kinda didn't ask us to for most of it.
But this is a good thriller from Lifetime. I've been a fan of JL since 90210 and now enjoy her Hallmark movies. She was the reason I watched. Her character was creepy right up to the end.
Now the one thing I think the movie missed as an opportunity is that while she did her best to alienate and destroy Lisa, as crazy as she is, it didn't seem like she was really targeting (their) father. Sure hurting Lisa hurts Dad, but IDK, she never let on her contempt and hatred of him. He did say something like "don't I know you," in the beginning but after all that time whether he'd recognize her as his daughter is anyone's guess. But one would think she'd either favor him or her mother who he was married to.
The mom showing up as a deus ex machina was weird. How they knew she was still alive after a suicide attempt and 20+ years kinda stretched disbelief when the movie kinda didn't ask us to for most of it.
But this is a good thriller from Lifetime. I've been a fan of JL since 90210 and now enjoy her Hallmark movies. She was the reason I watched. Her character was creepy right up to the end.