Killer Dream Home (2020 Lifetime)
Cast: Maiara Walsh, Eve Mauro, John DeLuca
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Synopsis (via Lifetime)
When happy couple Jules and Josh buy their dream house on a magnificent estate, they recruit beautiful Morgan to help them with the interior design, unaware Morgan has a history with the house and will stop at nothing to make it her own.
Thoughts
On a stormy night, a redheaded woman is making herself a bubble bath and drinking wine in a luxurious house. She hears a noise and goes to investigate in a flowy robe. She sees footprints and runs upstairs only to be killed by the most prepared murder in a red rain poncho!
One month later, Jules (Switched at Birth) and her husband Josh are looking to invest in a new property. (They flip houses.) The real estate agent, who says “library” as “Lie-Berry,” shows the place and waits till the end of the tour to mention the MURDER that took place in the house. (The home comes with a gardener named Edgar tho, so that is nice!)
Over wine, Jules and Josh discuss whether or not to buy the house. Josh doesn’t like that the owners died in the home, but he agrees to put in an offer. I love this couple and think they are cute. Renne, the sassy real estate agent, tells them that the offer was accepted, and she shows off a dress that is questionable at best. Jules is thrilled and hires an interior designer named Mogan. (It is because of her resume, not because they are both wearing horizontal stripes.)
The couple moves into the house with their friend, Bliss. Bliss is living in the house for a while to help them get settled. Morgan comes over to check out the place, and it seems that she has been in the home before. Could Morgan be lying and had an offer in on the house but lost out? (Her raised eyebrow at Edgar the gardener says, yes.) Apparently, Edgar and Morgan have a past. When he threatens to reveal who Morgan really is, Morgan grabs a gardening tool and cuts herself and Edgar. He screams, “YOU’RE CRAZY LADY,” as she saunters off.
Gratuitous scene of Josh in the pool. Thank you very much.
Morgan gets evicted by her handsome Zaddy Landlord. To come up with the money, she asks Jules for an advance for her salary. Then she brings the check to Zaddy and makes him take off his shirt so she can get it on with him as another form of payment. (Wish that worked with my landlord because my landlord is hot too.)
Bliss doesn’t trust Morgan either and thinks the interior designer is overstepping. She even catches Morgan attempting to break into a locked drawer. Morgan intentionally tries to shoot Bliss with a nailgun but misses. Morgan will get her next time, I’m sure. Morgan also sets her eyes on Josh. She was flirting with him while he takes out the trash.
Perry, a gay friend, shows up, and I’m jealous because I should have probably played the gay friend.
Over wine and Chinese (AKA my DREAM LIFE.) Morgan opens up to Jules about her living situation and lies to try to garner some sympathy. Jules makes a big mistake and invites Morgan to move into the guest house, since the gardener split. Morgan also places doubts in Jules’s mind about Bliss and Josh, possibly having an affair.
Jules breaks the new to Josh while shirtless. He is reluctant to have Morgan moving in. He and Bliss are both suspicious of Mogan. Morgan goes for a swim and changes her into her sexy bathing suit in front of Josh. Josh tells Bliss that he saw Morgan topless. Bliss thinks he should take to Jules about it. Then Bliss takes matters into her own hands. She sneaks into the guest house and finds the magazines Morgan cut out pictures of for her portfolio. Bliss takes pictures with her cellphone and calls Morgan a “Lying basic little bitch.” (Famous last words.)
Jules visits the real estate agent with flowers to thank for the house sale and a great interior designer. Renne hasn’t heard of Morgan but is going to look into her for other listings. The go-to lunch and afterward, Renne tells her assistant to call Edgar immediately. Later she gets stabbed in the office by the rain poncho killer.
John and Bliss somehow throw a surprise anniversary party while being wary of Morgan. At the party, Morgan shows up in an awful yellow dress and continues to flirt with Josh. Bliss tells Perry the things she has discovered, and he tells her to be careful GURL.
After the party, Shirtless Josh (AGAIN!) and Jules get ready for bed and then have sexy time by the fireplace.
While working on the house, Bliss finally confronts Morgan about the magazine cutouts in front of Jules. Morgan attempts to cover and say they were her designs pictured in the magazine. She runs out and bumps into a (Suprise surprise!) shirtless Josh in the kitchen. She cries to him and then tries to kiss him. Josh reminds Morgan that he is married and, unfortunately, he puts on a shirt.
With Jules finally onto Morgan and her plan to get the house, things are finally starting to get intense. Morgan throws herself off a ladder and threatens to sue. Jules fires her and tells Morgan to stay the hell away from her husband. Jules calls Perry, who isn’t just a gay friend, he is a gay lawyer! (Don’t tell my mother.) Perry advises them to remove Morgan from the guest house. He also promises to look into why Morgan seems so familiar to him and will check in with his lawyer friends.
The next day, Jules and Josh visit the emergency contact for the previous homeowners. The woman was a former housekeeper. When they show a picture of Morgan, the woman tells them that she was the previous owner’s assistant and had an affair with the husband and then threatened the wife.
Meanwhile, Bliss is home alone and spooked out. Only she isn’t alone. The rain poncho killer is in the house. Jules and Josh come home, and Bliss is relieved. Josh goes out to fix something and gets smashed in his pretty face with a hammer. Perry shows up and calls the police. He tries to reason with Morgan, but she hammers him too, and then MC hammer shows up, and things get weird. Just kidding.
Morgan takes out her gun and monologues to Bliss and Jules. They don’t care and runaway with fireplace tools as weapons. Jules finds Josh, and he is still alive. (I’m not so sure about Perry.) Bliss is the first to find morgan and goes at her with a fireplace shovel. It is no match for Morgan, who strangles her with some measuring tape in the much-hyped house elevator.
Jules, with the fire poker, distracts Morgan long enough for Josh to sneak up behind her with a hammer. Morgan makes one final attack but is stopped by Jules with a nail gun.
In the final scene of the movie, Josh is shirtless by the pool. Jules tells her husband that she would like to turn their dead friends room into a nursery because she is pregnant!
Side Note
Written and Directed by my boy Jake Helgren
The actors who played Jules and Josh are some of my TV movie favs. John DeLuca is adorable, and Maiara Walsh is great in Switched at Birth and, more recently, Identity theft of a Cheerleader.
Corona was an unfortunately timed sponsor.
Minority Report: Renne and Desi
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Overall rating
🔪🔪🔪 🔪 (4 Knives, added an extra knife for so much shirtless John DeLuca)
🍷🍷🍷 (3 glasses of wine required.)
I really liked the movie everything about it was fine with me . I had no complaints about any of the actor’s at all . I thought they all were really good . The house was stunning . Infact I googled the address because I wanted to see it but was unable to locate it .
I loved this movie and I’m not sure why. I think it was the good chemistry between the couple and their friends. Especially when they caught onto villain fairly quickly and banded together. I was upset that Bliss died. I need to watch it again and listen for “lie-berry” lmao!
It is totally worth a rewatch. Thanks for the comment, Jay!