Deadly Secrets by the Lake (2017 Lifetime)

Deadly Secrets by the Lake (2017 Lifetime)

Stars: Stefanie von Pfetten, Steve Byers, Tahmoh Penikett

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Synopsis (via Lifetime)

Decorated NYPD Detective Jennifer Riley (Stefanie Von Pfetten, “Shooter”) returns to her hometown of Thornwood Heights after her sister Lauren (Ferelith Young,” Orphan”) is charged with the murder of her boss Victor Townsend (Andrew Moodie, “Total Recall”). Over the course of the investigation, Jennifer attempts to make amends with her estranged family and exposes the dark underbelly of a long-suppressed secret that threatens to tear Thornwood Heights apart.

Thoughts

A detective named Victor is reaching the 20th anniversary of the disappearance of Abby Blake. He gets a text that says he way just using her.

Cut to a woman running in the woods. It is just a nightmare. Jen has them frequently because she is a homicide detective in New York. (We know this by the extensive NYC stock footage.) Her handsome boyfriend, Santos, comforts her and reassures her that everything will be okay. He wants to move in with Jennifer, but she is too preoccupied with work. The woman has a push pin cap of the city and a red pen, so you know she is serious!

On her way home from work, Jennifer catches a man abducting a woman. As Lauren is uniting the woman, the kidnapper comes from behind and attempts to fight her. Lauren is such a badass that she kicks his butt and apprehends the New York City Stalker.

Then Jennifer gets a call from her sister Lauren, who is in jail and a suspect in the murder of Detective Victor. Jennifer has to go back to her hometown, and I have a feeling this will not result in her opening a Bed and Breakfast and falling in love with her high school sweetheart. The movie is setting up the mystery, so we get a ton of clues. A locket, news clipping, flashbacks to young Jennifer being friends with Abby Blake. (And also hooking up with Abby Blake’s brother?) It is a lot, and I haven’t had enough wine to deal with all this detail.

Jennifer learns that Lauren was having an affair with Victor. They were working on a website focusing on the murder of Abby Blake. Lauren was found with Victor’s blood all over her and the murder weapon. Witnesses saw them arguing in a bar earlier the same night. It is not looking good for sister Lauren. This is all so monotonous because that is how the information is delivered. Then repeated multiple times in flashback, in case you missed it.

People from Jennifer’s past are either happy to see her or very unwelcoming. You’ve got Jennifer’s sister Nova and father Tom, who are both on the police force. There is also Dr. Haydenl Blake, Abby’s brother, and Jennifer’s former fling. Lucky and his daughter Isleigh who dated or was married to Victor. The cast of characters is extensive and exhausting.

Jennifer starts looking into Blake Enterprises. Someone is so worried about Jennifer uncovering something that they throw bricks through her window, calling her a “Murdering Bitch.” Hayden Blake looks into the financials and thinks his father may be up to no good. They investigate together and maybe are rekindling a romance, except the actor who plays Hayden is so stiff that I can’t tell. (They like, kiss in a boathouse.)

More evidence is discovered, they find a body buried in the boathouse. (The police assume it is Abby Blake’s body and suspect Jen is responsible.) Jennifer finds Victor’s cellphone but gets hit in the head before she can read it. Hayden finds the knocked out Jennifer and patches her up while Jennifer rattles on about her theory on the mystery that is so boring. I couldn’t care less.

Somehow. Jennifer and her father blame themselves for Abby Blake’s disappearance, and they cry a lot to dramatic music.

Hayden and Jennifer finally have sex. Santos keeps calling while they are doing it, and I can’t figure out why Jennifer would choose Hayden over Santos. Neither can Santos because he shows up in town.

A man who works for Blake Enterprises named Jame is the bad guy. Jamie was having an affair with Victor and was informing him about Blake Enterprises’ financials. The fact that Jamie and Victor were in a gay love affair is the big reveal, which is pretty lame. Jennifer and Jamie wrestle over a gun and Hayden gets shot, but will recover.

Jennifer heads back to New York now that her sister is out of jail. Santos is going to propose to Jennifer but doesn’t when he sees Hayden and Jennifer kissing outside as they say goodbye. As she is leaving her home town, Jennifer gets a text that reads, “This isn’t over.” It is from Abby Blake. Jennifer turns around and heads back into town.

Then a tltle card reads:

“To help solve the mystery behind the disappearance of Abby Blake visit thornwoodheights.com”

The website leads to an advertisement for the sequel, which is a book that you must by. Fuuuuck that!

Side Note

Minority Report: Victor, Jamie, Lucky, and Isleigh

There is a reason LMN doesn’t often produce movies. This is an excellent case for it NEVER to happen again. Yikes.

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Overall rating

🔪 (1 Knive)

🍷🍷🍷 🍷 🍷 (5 glasses of wine required.)