His Secret Past (2016 Lifetime)
Stars: Brigid Brannagh, Patrick Muldoon, Gatlin Kate James
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Synopsis (via Lifetime)
Popular crime novelist, Jennifer Becker lives a lavish life in a small coastal town in California with her daughter, Lily. One day, while out for a run, Lily is attacked–but then rescued by a mysterious stranger named Mick.
Thoughts
A woman is jogging in the woods because it is a Lifetime movie, after all. She is beautiful and alone, of course, someone is following her in a hoodie and mask. A handsome blonde man (with highlights) stops the attacker, and the woman runs all the way to the police station.
The woman’s name is Lily, her redheaded mother, Jennifer, bursts into the police station, screaming for her daughter. Patrick Muldoon plays a detective/family friend named Charles. He is a sympathetic and sexy AF. As mother and daughter leave the police station, they are watched by someone from afar.
Lily has nightmares and stays home for the day. Her gay ex-boyfriend Scott stops by with flowers. Lily is mad because he cheated on her with her friend and wants to make amends before going off to Harvard. (Scott is a preppy named dropping jerk.) Lily goes to a diner and recaps everything to her BFF Kelly.
At the diner, Lily sees the guy who saved her. He is conveniently wearing the same v-neck. She thanks him for saving her life and asks him to make a statement with Detective Charles. His name is Mick, and he is new in town. Mick lives on a boat and wants to lay low from the police, but reluctantly makes a statement. Detective Charles is sure to get Mick’s fingerprints.
Jennifer is a writer. We know this because she has a typewriter!
When Scott, somehow, finds out about Mick. He hires a private investigator to look into him because he is worried about Lily. He keeps texting Lily, and she is very annoyed.
Lily musters up the courage to go for a jog; she is nervous the whole time. She should be because she is still being followed. After the run, Lily has a visitor! It isn’t her attacker; it is Mick with a new mp3 player as a gift. It is sweet, and Lily invites him to stay for dinner with her mom. Jennifer is thrilled and wants to take a picture of her daughter and “the hero.” Mick decline because he doesn’t like the spotlight. At dinner (Which is a big bowl of salad and glasses of water.), Mick is vague with details about his past. He does divulge that his parents passed away, and he is an aspiring writer. Jennifer loves him even more, and so does Lily!
While on their second date on Mick boat, Lily overshares. She talks about living in Seattle and her mother’s writing. A true crime cold case inspired Jennifer’s first big hit. When she released her book, the case was reopened and solved. It guess the conversation makes them turned on because they kiss, while Scott watches on while wearing the ugliest sweater/button-up combo.
Scott brings a folder to Jennifer about Mick. The envelope must be empty because Scott claims that he can’t find anything on the guy. Jennifer shows her daughter the folder, and Lily is defensive. Then Lily crosses a line and blames her mother for her divorce. (Jennifer’s ex-husband left her for a woman half her age.) Lily continues her rage tour by finding Scott and throw the files in his face. She tells him to take a hint and leave her alone. Scott gets aggressive but insists he is looking out for her. When Mick shows up, Scott gets aggressive with Mick and punches him. Then Mick and Scott brawl. Scott accidentally punches Lily in the face!!!! After the fight, Mick goes to his boat and takes off his shirt for no reason.
Detective Charles, remember him, investigates a body found by a tree stump. The dead body is assumed to be a homeless drunk with good taste in tequila.
Jennifer is in her office and is attacked by the stalker and almost is strangled to death. Lily stops him just in time to call the police. Detective Charles comes to the scene, finds a phone that fell out of the attacker’s pocket, and sees Lily with a bruise. He asks her who gave her the shiner, and she reluctantly says Scott’s name. Then a police officer hacks into the phone, and there are photos of Lily jogging on them. They trace the phone to Scott and arrest him. In the trunk of Scott’s car are the mask and the hoodie. The evidence speaks for itself; Lily’s BFF Kelly has doubts.
Kelly starts trailing Lily and Mick and taking photos. She gets the information on Mick’s boat as well and finds some weird info. Kelly tries to warn Lily, who isn’t hearing it. Kelly is determined to get more damning evidence and sneaks on Mick boat while wearing an adorable outfit. She finds a copy of Jennifer’s book with photos of Lily and Jennifer in them. Then she comes across a passport with the name Michael Grainger. He is the son of the man who Jennifer put behind bars! Kelly calls Lily, but before she can speak, Kelly is murdered.
Lily goes to Detective Charles, and he has evidence about Mick thanks to a photo Kelly sent. He heads down to the marina in a full suit and weapon out, and he finds Kelly dead. He is in the wrong location because Mick is upping his body count.
Mick kills the PI that Scott hired and then kills Scott, who is out of jail. Then he goes to Jennifer and Lily’s house. A sexy officer monitors the house, but Mick kills him. Mick bangs on the door and asks to be let in to explain himself. Jennifer has seen a crime or tow and locks all the doors in the house. She calls 911 and is put on hold.
Lily is locked in her room and gets a call from Kelly’s cellphone. It is Mick trying to convince her to let him into the house and that he loves her. Lily knows that he killed Kelly. She tells him that she doesn’t love him, and that is always a mistake with a stalker. (Pretend you love them!)
The power is cut, which means the rest of the movie will be in dark mode. Thankfully Detective Charles is there with a flashlight, but Mick sneaks up behind him and hits him with a shovel. Jennifer goes after Charles after he has been gone for too long. Gunshots are fired at her, so she runs back inside as the security alarm sounds.
Mick is in the house, and Jennifer grabs a kitchen knife. She finds Detective Charles tied up in the living room. Meanwhile, Lily is on hold with 911… STILL. Mick sneaks up behind her and tells her why he is doing all this. Revenge for his father. (Who was executed by lethal injection while Mick watched.)
Through flashbacks, we see, Mick hired the homeless guy to attack Lily in the woods, kill him, and plant the evidence for everything onto Scott. He planned to kill Lily to get back at Jennifer for destroying his family.
Mick shoots detective Charles. Mick is stabbed in his hand by Jennifer. They have some serious fight choreography here, but eventually, Jennifer stabs Mick in the stomach. Lily finished Mick off by shooting him before he can hurt anyone else she loves.
Detective Charles and Jennifer are dating now, she will be switching genres from true crime to ROMANCE. Awwwww! (So stupid, but fine.)
Side Note
Minority Report: Police officer, CJ, Sexy Cop,
Simple, but well done, Lifetime movie.
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Overall rating
🔪🔪🔪🔪 (4 Knives)
🍷🍷🍷 (3 glasses of wine required.)
*Photo Credit: © 2016 Lifetime
I think this movie was not that hard as to “who did it..” I knew it was Mick, five minutes into the movie. I just didn’t know why. I’M so use to seeing the cop (actor)playing a creep that I hope he was not involved. That, I am thankful for.
Mick did all that because his father did something criminal, and he wanted Jennifer to pay for it. That is life.