This is a good lifetime movie, but I wasn't sure if it deserved a 5 or 6. The movie starts off at two teenaged girls being caught by a masked intruder, then cuts to the previous couple of days, when the girls are happy to celebrate the girl's birthday. Everyone is happy, they seem. Then the aunt is found dead at the end of the party and this begins a whirlwind of strange events for the teenager. The whole film is actually nice but also quite unrealistic in places.
5 Reviews
A cozy script with questionable direction...
Design8825 March 2022
Warning: Spoilers
This movie is actually fairly enjoyable overall and has a relatively good premise but even presented with a somewhat questionable script, the director's choices are often questionable. But if you like a fun Nancy Drew style mystery then this is one to watch. It does have twists and turns. The more I critiqued it the more I appreciated the cozy aspect but while watching it, the questionable direction and choices annoyed me. So I have changed my rating to 5. I can appreciate why another reviewer couldn't decide between a 5 or a 6.
I don't usually include spoilers in my reviews but this movie just begs for lots of them so I can't resist. Please don't read any further if you don't want any. This review is full of them.
The first third of the story takes place in a flashback a few days before the opening sequence and then continues in real time. Odd choice. It ends a year later. There is a photo montage at the beginning and a recurring "photo" theme and the plot hinges on one in particular.
It opens with a photo montage and then a break-in scene. Then it cuts to a few days earlier when a late 20s actress, Rachel, is celebrating her 16th birthday. My first red flag. A very poor casting choice since she's immediately visibly more mature than she should be. She's enjoying her party with family and very stiff background actors. The director obviously forgot they were there or have them react to anything going on at the party.
Then we see her aunt Jenny sneak a miniature shot into her drink and shortly afterwards she turns up murdered and floating in their pool. Rachel and her 20s something "high school" boyfriend find her and her reaction to the situation is pretty lame. 2nd red flag. From then on she is determined to find her killer which is just as well because we never see detectives interviewing any suspects or the police ever again. Not even when her friend is attacked when they are breaking into her aunt's house, when her car is broken into, when her home is broken into, when she is attacked in her boyfriend's home and his car is set alight in his driveway. She doesn't even think to tell anyone, let alone the police, that it's the same mysterious hooded figure in sunglasses committing all these acts.
Cellphones and detectives don't exist in this movie.
The overall lighthearted spirit she and her BFF react in such a sad and seriously mounting situation makes the movie laudable and cozy but at least it's consistently so and I assume that was the director's choice. It's interesting to speculate what the movie would have been like if presented as a scary, dramatized version.
They rush off to search for anything in her aunt's home that might reveal who she actually was with the excitement of breaking into a sorority house. I don't think they were going to find anything worthwhile in the kitchen drawers or the fridge but her friend was hungry. I suppose the director was at the craft service table while that scene was being shot. Then they move up to her bedroom and are successful.
She finds photos of a little girl sticking out from under the mattress which I'm sure her aunt would hide there for 11 years. Not even in an envelope or a special, sentimental box of some sort. I'm sure the director's intention was to throw us off any scent by them seemingly just stuffed there for no apparent reason.
Her parents finally tell her the "truth" that her aunt Jenny was actually her biological mother and off she goes again to track down her father. Assuming he was Jenny's high school boyfriend she and her boyfriend easily find him and he's shocked to hear how much she'd changed from the Jenny he knew. When he asked how she died Rachel unemotionally and with no regard to his feelings tosses out my favorite shocking line in the movie "she was drunk and got into a fight"! Really? This was the aunt who took care of her growing up and who she supposedly loved dearly. Granted, the picture painted of Aunt Jenny is confusing since she was supposed to be loving, caring and nice to Rachel growing up yet also unhappy, guilt-ridden and a drunk. She was seen to be happy and successful in high school yet we are to believe she had a baby right out of school that she couldn't cope with. Then we find out she was forced to kidnap a child. Really? None of it adds up. And Rachel doesn't seem to question the inconsistencies as they are unfolding.
The story takes a few more twists and turns ending up with two equally unlikely and somewhat embarrassingly bad ending sequences.
Other very noticeably questionable director choices were simple but annoying. One was the fact that the "hooded attacker" wore sunglasses in the dark whilst wielding a flashlight in the first break-in. Really? Why would the director decide on that ridiculous choice over ski masks, twice, especially when they wore a ski mask later on? Perhaps costumes thought props was bringing them and vice-versa that day. The only time they actually wore ski masks was in the truck and the bright sunny day in the park at the end. It obviously made for a more dramatic reveal than pushing back a hood and taking off sunglasses when approaching with a gun. Although they actually struggled a bit to pull it off, lessening the effect, so I think the director ought to have used a better take if there was one.
No one shows any grief over Jenny's death and when Jenny's poor high school ex-boyfriend, shattered and confused by his memory of Jenny and the bad picture Rachel is painting of her aunt, asks about the memorial service, Rachel visibly hesitates as if they've never even considered one and blurts out that they haven't planned it yet. He's crushed and they just bounce up and leave.
Then the movie hints at the ex possibly being the killer but that goes nowhere. A clumsy red herring.
When Rachel is attacked in her boyfriend's house she doesn't immediately scream out for her boyfriend to call the police and after the intruder has run away, yet again, they rush out past the burning car in the driveway with no visible call to the fire department or thought to it blowing up the house.
The parents putting bars on every window and security cameras everywhere as if they are going to hold their daughter captive is yet another red herring. The next morning we see them eating breakfast out on the back patio with no bars on the huge glass patio doors or back windows. What??
The confrontation sequence at the end is poorly directed from start to finish. I think the director was off at crafty then too and left it up to the actors and the DP.
My favorite bit was the wife stretching her arm out behind her and waving to signal to her husband to stay with the kids while having a gun trained on her. Close ups of scared people's expressions added no drama and no one but the boyfriend moves towards the gun wielding mother. The overhead shot of them all reminded me of the staging of a theatrical production.
I think Rachel's boyfriend was the best, most consistent and realistic actor throughout the whole movie so I'm glad he became the hero in the end.
My second favorite line in this movie is at the end when Rachel/Rebecca delivers her voice-over speech a year later at the Foundation's dedication of a playground in memory of Jenny. "I've come to realize that what we call evil is just human desperation and who are we to condemn someone for being desperate". Really?
She goes on philosophically "Which one of us has never been so desperate for love we've done something we've regretted". I'm not convinced murder fits into that category but who am I to say. She does mention that she's come to understand that every action has consequences and that we need to accept those consequences (while showing us only Angela so I assume her "father" died) and finally she tells us that the way we shine through the darkness is with play! Fearless and undaunted to the end. No PTSD for this gal. This movie is definitely playful.
I don't usually include spoilers in my reviews but this movie just begs for lots of them so I can't resist. Please don't read any further if you don't want any. This review is full of them.
The first third of the story takes place in a flashback a few days before the opening sequence and then continues in real time. Odd choice. It ends a year later. There is a photo montage at the beginning and a recurring "photo" theme and the plot hinges on one in particular.
It opens with a photo montage and then a break-in scene. Then it cuts to a few days earlier when a late 20s actress, Rachel, is celebrating her 16th birthday. My first red flag. A very poor casting choice since she's immediately visibly more mature than she should be. She's enjoying her party with family and very stiff background actors. The director obviously forgot they were there or have them react to anything going on at the party.
Then we see her aunt Jenny sneak a miniature shot into her drink and shortly afterwards she turns up murdered and floating in their pool. Rachel and her 20s something "high school" boyfriend find her and her reaction to the situation is pretty lame. 2nd red flag. From then on she is determined to find her killer which is just as well because we never see detectives interviewing any suspects or the police ever again. Not even when her friend is attacked when they are breaking into her aunt's house, when her car is broken into, when her home is broken into, when she is attacked in her boyfriend's home and his car is set alight in his driveway. She doesn't even think to tell anyone, let alone the police, that it's the same mysterious hooded figure in sunglasses committing all these acts.
Cellphones and detectives don't exist in this movie.
The overall lighthearted spirit she and her BFF react in such a sad and seriously mounting situation makes the movie laudable and cozy but at least it's consistently so and I assume that was the director's choice. It's interesting to speculate what the movie would have been like if presented as a scary, dramatized version.
They rush off to search for anything in her aunt's home that might reveal who she actually was with the excitement of breaking into a sorority house. I don't think they were going to find anything worthwhile in the kitchen drawers or the fridge but her friend was hungry. I suppose the director was at the craft service table while that scene was being shot. Then they move up to her bedroom and are successful.
She finds photos of a little girl sticking out from under the mattress which I'm sure her aunt would hide there for 11 years. Not even in an envelope or a special, sentimental box of some sort. I'm sure the director's intention was to throw us off any scent by them seemingly just stuffed there for no apparent reason.
Her parents finally tell her the "truth" that her aunt Jenny was actually her biological mother and off she goes again to track down her father. Assuming he was Jenny's high school boyfriend she and her boyfriend easily find him and he's shocked to hear how much she'd changed from the Jenny he knew. When he asked how she died Rachel unemotionally and with no regard to his feelings tosses out my favorite shocking line in the movie "she was drunk and got into a fight"! Really? This was the aunt who took care of her growing up and who she supposedly loved dearly. Granted, the picture painted of Aunt Jenny is confusing since she was supposed to be loving, caring and nice to Rachel growing up yet also unhappy, guilt-ridden and a drunk. She was seen to be happy and successful in high school yet we are to believe she had a baby right out of school that she couldn't cope with. Then we find out she was forced to kidnap a child. Really? None of it adds up. And Rachel doesn't seem to question the inconsistencies as they are unfolding.
The story takes a few more twists and turns ending up with two equally unlikely and somewhat embarrassingly bad ending sequences.
Other very noticeably questionable director choices were simple but annoying. One was the fact that the "hooded attacker" wore sunglasses in the dark whilst wielding a flashlight in the first break-in. Really? Why would the director decide on that ridiculous choice over ski masks, twice, especially when they wore a ski mask later on? Perhaps costumes thought props was bringing them and vice-versa that day. The only time they actually wore ski masks was in the truck and the bright sunny day in the park at the end. It obviously made for a more dramatic reveal than pushing back a hood and taking off sunglasses when approaching with a gun. Although they actually struggled a bit to pull it off, lessening the effect, so I think the director ought to have used a better take if there was one.
No one shows any grief over Jenny's death and when Jenny's poor high school ex-boyfriend, shattered and confused by his memory of Jenny and the bad picture Rachel is painting of her aunt, asks about the memorial service, Rachel visibly hesitates as if they've never even considered one and blurts out that they haven't planned it yet. He's crushed and they just bounce up and leave.
Then the movie hints at the ex possibly being the killer but that goes nowhere. A clumsy red herring.
When Rachel is attacked in her boyfriend's house she doesn't immediately scream out for her boyfriend to call the police and after the intruder has run away, yet again, they rush out past the burning car in the driveway with no visible call to the fire department or thought to it blowing up the house.
The parents putting bars on every window and security cameras everywhere as if they are going to hold their daughter captive is yet another red herring. The next morning we see them eating breakfast out on the back patio with no bars on the huge glass patio doors or back windows. What??
The confrontation sequence at the end is poorly directed from start to finish. I think the director was off at crafty then too and left it up to the actors and the DP.
My favorite bit was the wife stretching her arm out behind her and waving to signal to her husband to stay with the kids while having a gun trained on her. Close ups of scared people's expressions added no drama and no one but the boyfriend moves towards the gun wielding mother. The overhead shot of them all reminded me of the staging of a theatrical production.
I think Rachel's boyfriend was the best, most consistent and realistic actor throughout the whole movie so I'm glad he became the hero in the end.
My second favorite line in this movie is at the end when Rachel/Rebecca delivers her voice-over speech a year later at the Foundation's dedication of a playground in memory of Jenny. "I've come to realize that what we call evil is just human desperation and who are we to condemn someone for being desperate". Really?
She goes on philosophically "Which one of us has never been so desperate for love we've done something we've regretted". I'm not convinced murder fits into that category but who am I to say. She does mention that she's come to understand that every action has consequences and that we need to accept those consequences (while showing us only Angela so I assume her "father" died) and finally she tells us that the way we shine through the darkness is with play! Fearless and undaunted to the end. No PTSD for this gal. This movie is definitely playful.
A Really Rough Movie
Droid_Gunner1 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I would never dock points from a Lifetime movie for being formulaic, as that is often a requirement. While 'Perfect Little Lies' managed to throw in some plot twists, hardly any of them landed successfully. It really felt like the script was written on the fly without much forethought into what was coming next. Some performances, especially from the lead, were quite good, but a lot of the supporting cast were awkward. And the ending was borderline embarrassing.
If you want a good laugh, catch the moment toward the film's conclusion where the masked villains are casually tailing the hero in a truck WHILE BOTH STILL WEARING THEIR MASKS. I am still chuckling at that image. It really makes no sense. Why would they be wearing their masks alone in their own vehicle? They know who each other are! (The actual reason they're wearing their masks in that scene is so the AUDIENCE doesn't see who they are, which, of course, is not a good reason at all.)
If you want a good laugh, catch the moment toward the film's conclusion where the masked villains are casually tailing the hero in a truck WHILE BOTH STILL WEARING THEIR MASKS. I am still chuckling at that image. It really makes no sense. Why would they be wearing their masks alone in their own vehicle? They know who each other are! (The actual reason they're wearing their masks in that scene is so the AUDIENCE doesn't see who they are, which, of course, is not a good reason at all.)
Interesting movie!
Chartreuse13 July 2021
Rachel's Aunt Jenny is murdered and this Lifetime movie spins an interesting plot of why her. Police have no suspects. Rachel is bound and determined to find out what happened to her Aunt Jenny and finds herself in the middle of the mystery that discovers Rachel's not who she thinks she is and neither is her aunt! Quite enjoyable and recommended!
Picture perfect lies
coltras354 May 2023
Rachel Collins (Megan Elizabeth Barker) thought she had a perfect life: a beautiful home, doting parents, and a loving boyfriend. But that all changed on her 16th birthday, with her party ending with Rachel finding her aunt Jenny (Crystal Allen) dead in the pool. Rachel is even more shocked when the death is ruled a homicide, as she can't understand why anyone would want to kill her aunt--or why her parents Angela and Spencer (Laurie Fortier and Matthew Pohlkamp) are acting so strangely in the aftermath.
Determined to get some answers, Rachel begins to look into her aunt's murder and discovers more than a few secrets that turn her world upside down.
I was watching thinking that it would be a typical Lifetime mystery drama but as it progresses it becomes really compelling with some fine twist and turns as secrets are unravelled. The Nancy Drew-style investigation by the two amateur sleuths is quite fun. It's a formulaic but well-structured drama about a teenage girl and a whole lot of lies.
Determined to get some answers, Rachel begins to look into her aunt's murder and discovers more than a few secrets that turn her world upside down.
I was watching thinking that it would be a typical Lifetime mystery drama but as it progresses it becomes really compelling with some fine twist and turns as secrets are unravelled. The Nancy Drew-style investigation by the two amateur sleuths is quite fun. It's a formulaic but well-structured drama about a teenage girl and a whole lot of lies.
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