This movie was so predictable, but enjoyable. Five minutes into the film, they showed Kendra's birthmark so I knew that the 'good' twin would prevail, and the scene in the bar where they pretended not to know each other set things up for Amber to trick Dane. Saw that one coming...as I said, predictable.
Lindsay Hartley did such a nice job with her dual role, I would have liked to have seen the plot take a different direction rather than the typical Hollywood 'evil twin' plotline.
When Amber first visits the house, she signs for some packages that Kendra had ordered online. Some clothes and nail polish. I would have liked to have seen Amber break in and take some of Kendra's actual clothes, or use the same online shopping to duplicate her outfits. Taking the packages raises suspicion.
Amber was a thief by trade, so getting seen at the house was her first mistake that really shouldn't have happened and why didn't Kendra and Dane notice the big blank spot on the wall from their missing wedding photo? Amber took pictures of everything else with her phone, why not that?
Amber stole Kendra's credit card info and went on a shopping spree at the same boutique and maxed out her cards. Stupid. If her plan was to get rid of her sister and take over her life, she was doing it all wrong. For her plan to succeed, she should have worked from the shadows gathering information, not going out in public dressed as Kendra and running into her friends. When she went to have her nails done and fooled Kendra's regular manicurist, I was hoping that Amber was practicing her 'Kendra' persona and working her way up Kentra's friends to see if she could fool them, but alas, it went downhill from there and she ended up having to murder people to keep them from telling Kendra. I think it would have been more sinister for Amber to insinuate herself with Kendra's friend Monica and even her mother to make them begin to doubt the real Kendra as she worked her way to Dane.
Amber had also stolen Kendra's epi pen and safe deposit box key. Who carries their safe deposit box key all the time? Really? Kendra went to the bank to get some jewelry from the box and couldn't find the key, then shortly after, Amber shows up with the key wearing different clothes and of course, the same bank employee helps her. The smart move would have been to wait until the following day when the change in outfit would have been less suspicious. And bank employees NEVER stand in the room and chat you up while you open your box. Only in the movies. I'm still not sure what the box's contents had to do with the storyline.
Amber's friend, Lotto who employed some typically bogus movie hacking techniques accessed Kendra's email allowing Amber to have some visibility into Kendra's life. Why not her social media? Why not clone her phone? Why not bug the house to listen in? It would have been nice to see an 'Amazon Echo' or some other device in the house that Lotto could have hacked to give Amber more current information. If you're going to use fake hacking...do it right. Amber needed a way to spy on Dane and Kendra's intimate moments if she wanted to successfully take her place, especially fooling her husband.
When Amber lands Kendra in the hospital with an allergic reaction to poppy seeds (you can buy just the seeds by the way, you don't need to scrape them off bagels) , she deliver's Kendra's speech flawlessly and then goes to the bar to seduce Kendra's drunk husband by playing their little 'we just met' game, as predicted. Dane notices that 'Kendra' isn't wearing her wedding ring and Amber kisses him to distract him. (Kendra should have had a prettier, more distinctive wedding set than the plain gold band anyway and Amber should have devised a scheme to get it.) Dane, of course, forgets his phone when he goes off with Amber just as Kendra tries calling again. Again, this all would have been so much better if they didn't know that Kendra had a twin.
When Dane sees the missing birthmark, he is suddenly sober as a judge and Amber has to knock him out and her plan falls apart. With these movies, the impersonation usually only lasts a few hours before they're hauled off in cuffs.
If I were writing this movie, I would have sent it down a darker path. I would have not used the birthmark so the two would be nearly impossible to tell apart and I would have had Amber gather more information and stay hidden until it was time to switch places. Amber wanted what she thought was rightfully hers, Kendra's life and she wanted to make Kendra suffer for 'abandoning' her at the orphanage. What better way than to keep Kendra tied up and drugged in a dingy basement somewhere while she took over her life? Visit her daily wearing her clothes and her wedding ring and brag about sleeping with her husband until such time as she became 'disposable'? The pregnancy was another giveaway that the good twin would prevail. It would have been better to see Kendra unable to get pregnant and then see Amber get pregnant in her place while sleeping with her husband. Maybe even have Kendra escape and try to confront Amber in a psychotic, drug-induced rage, then being hauled away in cuffs while Amber, wearing Kendra's sexy nightwear, is comforted by Dane who is now convinced that the imposter is his real wife.
I remember watching a movie called 'Echo' with Jack Wagner where a twin successfully takes over his brother's life and sleeps with his wife while the brother is forced to watch. It was a well-executed plot and the 'bad' twin prevailed. This movie could have been much more exciting and less predictable, but it was entertaining nonetheless.
Review of Killer Twin
