Of Murder and Memory

Though saddled with some of the usual Lifetime quirks — a ridiculously generic title and a couple of sappy soft-rock songs towards the end — "Murder on Her Mind" is actually a quite good thriller. Its real theme, told vividly, is what makes good women fall for bad men and why do some such women escape their abusive partners while others let their men lead them into depravity and crime. The script by Semi Chellas is expert at paralleling the life experiences of Sally and Theresa, and showing that Sally's commitment to reopening Theresa's case is motivated by a feeling of "there but for the grace of God go I." It's a powerful film that triumphs through minor glitches in the execution, and David Wellington's direction is quiet, understated and fully worthy of the story. I especially liked the fact that he was able to get his actors to suggest that they were 15 years older in the modern scenes than in the flashbacks without having them slathered in makeup, just by getting them to change their facial expressions and move more slowly and heavily. Whether this film stays true to the details of the real story on which it's based is irrelevant; the point is that on its own terms it's powerful, moving and emotionally credible drama, the sort of diamond in the rough that makes Lifetime worth watching.