Stranger in the House (2016 Lifetime)

Stranger in the House (2016 Lifetime)

Stars: Emmanuelle Vaugier, Matthew MacCaull, Jordana Largy

Listen to the Lifetime Uncorked Podcast here!

Synopsis (via Lifetime)

On returning from her honeymoon, a young woman discovers that her recently widowed father has been persuaded to marry the carer she hired to look after him. She suspects further foul play when he dies soon after, and it is revealed that he altered his will to benefit his new bride.

Thoughts

A wealthy and corrupt family lives in a sleepy but huge lake house property. Jade and her husband, Marco, are looking for a caretaker for Jade’s father, whose health is declining and has recently been widowed. Samantha seems like a perfect fit. She has previous work experience and is nerdy-looking so that she won’t seduce Jade’s father, they joke. Wayne, the father, is rude to Marco and doesn’t want someone watching after him. (Even if he reaches for his oxygen mask every few minutes.)

Jade and Marco (Who is hot AF, by the way.) leave for their honeymoon. They leave Wayne is Samantha’s care, and Jade even asks her co-worker/freind, Chantal, to keep an eye on things. Wyne is cold to Samantha but eventually warms up to her over a game of chess. I’m not sure how long the honeymoon is, but Jade sends a lot of letters while Samantha gets hotter and hotter in a montage. She does seduce Wayne, and when the newlyweds return, they are surprised to see Wayne in the best mood ever. He informs the couple that he and Samantha are married. Jade calls Samantha a golddigger and tells her father to get an annulment.

Wayne and Samantha tell the newlyweds that they are selfish and don’t want them to live in the mansion anymore. Jade feels Samantha turning her father against him. Things go south quickly when Wayne “has a fall.” and dies. Jade can’t believe it and hires a handsome detective named Luke to look into her father’s death.

The will states that the estate, the house, and all the belongings will go to Samantha. Jade gets some Jewelry. The will’s changes were a surprise to Jade, who stormed off to talk with Detective Luke. He delivers more bad news and tells Jade that her father was cremated so they can’t look for evidence of foul play.

At the funeral, Samantha looks more and more stunning. She laughs and looks like she is having a great time. Marco is rude to one of Wayne’s business partners. Jade is disgusted with everything.

Samantha drinks a lot and talks about throwing a party. In the wine cellar, Samantha looks for more wine, and Marco joins her. He makes out with her they are in on it together?!?! They are planning to get all of Jade’s money because she doesn’t deserve it. They drink champagne together and celebrate being rich. Then they have sexy time.

Jade contests the will and is taking all the legal actions to stop Samantha. She gets upset and throws a book at Samantha, which causes Samantha to file assault charges. Jade and Marco move out of the house. When Jade returns the keys, the two women sit down with some wine, and Jade attempts to repair the relationship.

The next morning, Samantha turns up dead, and Jade is the number one suspect. Detective Luke reads Jade her Miranda Rights and takes her into custody for questioning. Chantal is a lawyer and represents Jade.

After being released on bail for half a million dollars or something, Jade and Marco go to the cabin. Marco pushes Jade to get counseling, she reluctantly agrees. Chantal stops by with court papers and promises to clear Jade’s name. Jade is convinced that she is being set up, but by who.

Detective Luke and Jade visit Samantha’s caregiver. The woman says that Samantha was moody and troubled. Samantha’s parents lost everything in a Ponzi scheme and killed themselves. The Ponzi scheme was the same one that Wayne got rich off of. After Jade and Detective Luke leave, Marco kills the woman to keep her from talking anymore.

Jade gets upset when Detective Luke implicates Marco could be a suspect. He starts to look into things.

Marco crushes up a bunch of pills and puts them in a bottle of wine. He pouts Jade a glass. They talk over dinner, and Marco opens up about his parents. He grew up poor, and his family lost all they had with bad investments. Jade realizes that Marco killed her father and Samantha just as the pills start taking effect. She tries to get to the front door but is stopped by Marco with a knife. He force-feeds Jade more wine and sets it up to look like Jade killed herself.

We flash to the day that Marco killed Wayne. He pushed the wheelchair off a cliff in the act of revenge for his parents. As Marco recalls everything, Jade tries to get away and finds an oxygen tank to try and sober up.

Chantal interrupts Marco’s plan with an impromptu visit, so he stabs her a lot. This gives Jade time to get out of the house and grab her weapon of choice. (A shovel.) She hits him in the face and then stabs him, Marco stumbles back and Jade wacks him again with a shovel as the police arrive.

Jade moves out of the mansion, and Detective Luke sends her off. He asks her to reach out to him when she is ready to come back. She tells him she may never be ready and drives away.

Side Note

Minority Report: Chantal

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Overall rating

🔪🔪🔪🔪 (4 Knives)

🍷🍷🍷 (3 glasses of wine required.)