Dying for Motherhood (2020 Lifetime)

Dying for Motherhood (2020 Lifetime)

Stars: Emmanuelle Vaugier, Hannah Bamberg, Josh Ventura

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Synopsis (via Lifetime)

Tracy finds herself unexpectedly pregnant and broke. Convinced that she’s unable to raise a child and eager to escape an unstable boyfriend, Tracy puts her baby up for adoption and is matched with a wealthy couple who want her to live with them during her pregnancy. It’s a dream come true. But Tracy’s joy soon turns to horror as she discovers that the couple’s deep-seated neuroses put not only her but her unborn child in danger.

Thoughts

A pregnant lady named Julie goes into labor and falls on the ground. Two voices are calling from the other side of a locked door for her to “open the door.” They continue to bang, and Julie jumps out of the window. She doesn’t die from falling; she dies while in labor handcuffed to a hospital bed. (In a basement?)

Another pregnant lady named Tracy is 21 weeks pregnant and has a full face of makeup! The baby was a surprise. Also, a surprise is the bruises on Tracy’s body. (Her skeezy boyfriend Bobby is an abusive cop, who will kill her for getting pregnant.) Tracy seems to be not so excited for this baby and is having issues paying her doctors bills. Her shifts at the restaurant aren’t covering things, and her boss Ed is the only person she can turn to. (He gives her some extra cash to tied her over.)

Tracy swaps out her cellphone with a burner, rents a cheap motel, and is on the run from her abusive boyfriend. The first stop in her new life is an adoption agency. The woman running the agency isn’t able to up adopt a baby without the consent of both parents. To help Tracy out, she drives her the contact of a young nurse who is married and looking to adopt a baby.

The nurse’s name is Ginny Parker, and she is very wealthy. Ginny has a luxurious house, a LatinX maid, and a goofy, preppy ill husband. Ginny interrogates Tracy and complements her boots, repeatedly. (They are the ugliest boots I’ve ever seen.) As they talk, Ginny gives Tract tea and cookies. Patrick, the husband, jokes that they are drugged. After the meeting, Tracy is reluctant to commit to the couple, but when her wallet goes missing, and she is unable to pay her motel bill. Patrick comes to her rescue and invites her to stay with him and his wife.

Bobby realizes that his wife Tracy, not girlfriend, has skipped out on him, and he barges into the restaurant. Bobby violently grabs a waitress and demands to know where Tracy is. Ed pulls out his shotgun and tells Bobby to GTFO. Bobby burns the restaurant down.

Tracy adapts to her new life with Ginny and Patrick quickly. She enjoys an ocean view, bubble baths, and new maternity trendy clothing! Much like Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Tracy wonders into a part of the mansion she isn’t supposed to be. (The nursery!) I thought Ginny was going to get pissed, but she is thrilled that Tracy has seen how committed she is to be a mother. Tracy is impressed and signs a lengthy contract for the couple to adopt her baby. Then, she moves in officially.

Shirtless hunk alert! Patrick is horse playing in the pool with no one when Tracy sees a news story about her old place of employment and passes out. Nurse Ginny rushes to her aid and takes her upstairs to her room. (equipped with a sonogram machine, blood pressure cuff, and pee sample cups!) Tracy isn’t concerned when Ginny tells her that she has high blood pressure and will need to be on bed rest.

Tracy continues to wander around the mansion and finds a birthing suite. Ginny explains that it will be safer for Tracy and the baby to be in her care rather than a hospital. Later in the middle of the night, Tracy has night sweats and opens a window setting off the alarm. Patrick and Ginny burst into the room, thinking Tracy jumped out the window, like the pregnant woman before. The police show up and, it is Bobby. He sees Tracy’s ugly ass boots by the door and knows she is in the house. He camps outside of the house.

Patrick opens up to Tracy alone in her room later the same night. He tells her that he is on lithium and was suicidal, but Ginny saved him from a psychiatric hospital. Ginny bursts into the room and thinks Patrick and Tracy are having an affair. More dark secrets come to the surface; Ginny had a son who died in a car crash. (Ginny drove her car off a bridge.)

While shopping for baby supplies, Ginny and Tracy are held at gunpoint by Bobby and almost abducted. Tracy runs him over with the car, and the women throw his body in the trunk. Then they take a shower together fully clothed. While they are bathing, Patrick brings Bobby’s body down to the birthing suite and handcuffs him to the hospital bed. Tracy finds him there in the middle of the night and reluctantly brings him a glass of water. Bloody and bruised, Bobby asks why Tracy didn’t tell him about the baby. He tells her that she isn’t safe with Patrick and Ginny. They were patients admitted to the mental hospital. Ginny and Patrick come down with a gun and kill him in cold blood.

Tracy knows it is time to leave; she attempts to act casual and asks to go shopping. (DENIED!) Then she fakes cramps and asks to go to a REAL doctor. (DENIED.) Ginny tells her that she will “hunt her down and follower her to the ends of the earth to bring her back.” then she cooly sets the alarm and locks her in the house. Fresh out of excuses, Tracy tells them she clogged to the toilet and needs a plumber. Patrick checks out the bathroom, and Tracy demands answers about the other pregnant lady and tells Patrick that Ginny is manipulating him. He loses it and takes handfuls of lithium. (Come on, Preppy! Pull it together!)

With no way out, Tracy breaks a glass and cuts her hands to hell; then she tampers with the sonogram to bock the sound waves or something. Gen is awakened by the screams and checks on Tracy and the baby. When she doesn’t hear a heartbeat, Ginny attacks Tracy. Tracy grabs a vase and knocks Ginny unconscious long enough to run downstairs and rush out of the house. Since she is pregnant and can’t run far, she gets retrieved by Patrick.

Tracy lays it all out there. She knew Julie and has been getting evidence to bring to the police as an act of revenge. Tracy accuses Ginny and Patrick of killing her, and when they admit to everything, Tracy pulls out a phone that has been recording as the police arrive to arrest them. Tracy visits Julie’s grave with her daughter, who is her namesake.

Side Note

Minority Report: Nurse, Ed, a few extras.

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Overall rating

🔪🔪🔪🔪 (4 Knives)

🍷🍷🍷 (3 glasses of wine required.)