This movie was above average for a Lifetime movie. That is largely down to a nice plot twist and a morally ambiguous, atypical ending.
I spent most of the movie thinking either the best friend/frenemy Samantha or husband Peter did it.
Meanwhile, the son was disturbed and clearly disrespectful to his mom, with violent tendencies. Plus he did all the weird surveillance in the home - hidden cameras everywhere - that was never clearly explained. Still, I wasn't expecting Lifetime to go THERE.
That choice was a refreshing change of pace. Or maybe it reflects the changing mores of who Lifetime considers to be middle America and its target audience. People who can excuse anything with no regard for truth or ethical mooring. Look at former President Trump's deliberate mishandling of classified documents and obstruction - his followers don't care. In this movie, the parents put "protecting" their son from accountability for his actions above everything else, including being good, responsible citizens.
As a result, as viewers we don't know necessarily see them as villains, but we end up not liking any of the characters. We're not supposed to approve of such immorality. But we can certainly recognise ourselves in it.
I spent most of the movie thinking either the best friend/frenemy Samantha or husband Peter did it.
Meanwhile, the son was disturbed and clearly disrespectful to his mom, with violent tendencies. Plus he did all the weird surveillance in the home - hidden cameras everywhere - that was never clearly explained. Still, I wasn't expecting Lifetime to go THERE.
That choice was a refreshing change of pace. Or maybe it reflects the changing mores of who Lifetime considers to be middle America and its target audience. People who can excuse anything with no regard for truth or ethical mooring. Look at former President Trump's deliberate mishandling of classified documents and obstruction - his followers don't care. In this movie, the parents put "protecting" their son from accountability for his actions above everything else, including being good, responsible citizens.
As a result, as viewers we don't know necessarily see them as villains, but we end up not liking any of the characters. We're not supposed to approve of such immorality. But we can certainly recognise ourselves in it.