Dangerous Lies (2020 Netflix)
Stars: Camila Mendes, Jessie T. Usher, Jamie Chung
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Synopsis (via Lifetime)
A broke caregiver unexpectedly inherits her patient’s estate, but dark secrets swirl around her newfound wealth, tangling her in deceit and danger.
Thoughts
Netflix is attempting to come for Lifetime’s lunch money with this sloppy, low-budget thriller. Let’s dive in with a sassy recap, shall we? (Spoilers below! If you’re new and didn’t know.)
Katie works at a diner and makes out with her husband, Adam, in the car during her breaks. (Like teenagers?) After a makeout session, Katie and Adam come back to find the diner in the middle of an armed robbery. Adam grabs a Lifetime weapon of choice, a frying pan, and stops the theft. (The busboy dies tho, RIP busboy!)
Flash forward four months, Katie is the caretaker for a paranoid old rich man named Leonard. She is still living in Chicago with Adam, and they are struggling to pay off student loan/credit card debt. Leonard offers to help Katie pay off some debt, and he gives Adam a job doing lawn work. Later, he gives them a large check that they deposit. (Katie has a bad feeling but does it anyway.)
A sexy AF real estate agent named Micky (played by Cam Gigandet) stops by with a client who is VERY interested in buying Leonard’s house. Katie tells him that it will never happen because Leonard loves his home. Well, that is until he dies while listening to old records. Instead of calling the police, Katie and Adam look through a chest of old photos and newspaper articles… oh, and a lot of cash. Adam convinces Katie to steal the money.
A lady detective arrives in a fashionable trench coat. She questions Adam and Katie but sees nothing out of the ordinary. Until the police close their investigation, Katie is out of a job. (Her caretaker agency won’t send her out on a new job.) Meanwhile, Adam counts the money in the chest at Leonard’s house and hears a noise downstairs. He gets hit in the back of the head, knocking him out cold, but the money remains in the attic. Katie and Adam know that someone else is looking for the money. They move the cash in a duffel bag into a bank safe-deposit box for safekeeping. (Little do they know Mikey is trailing them every step of the way.)
Leonard’s funeral happens, and only one person shows up. Leonard’s attorney, Julia. (MTV’s The Real World’s most successful alum, Jamie Chung.) Julia was contacted by Leonard a week before his death with a revision to his will, leaving everything to Katie.
Adam wants to TREAT HIMSELF and spend all the money immediately. Katie is more conservative with her approach. They move into the house and promise not to spend frivolously. Katie is suspicious of Adam when she finds a new Rolex watch he bought. Adam claims it is a knockoff.
Micky returns to convince Katie to sell the house. Saying things like “this ain’t my first rodeo” and “kick the bucket.” (The writing in this movie is terrible.) He claims Katie forged the will.
Tensions between Katie and Adam are thick. The lady detective points out a strange coincidence between Adam and the diner robbery. Katie is mistrustful of Adam, especially when he refuses to give back the money. Lady detective also doesn’t trust Adam and starts looking into his background.
Katie searches in the attic and finds a bag of diamonds, uncashed checks, and a body. It is Ethan, the previous gardener who vanished. He was shot to death and stashed in the attic. When she tells Adam, he wants to keep the blood diamonds. Adam is determined not to go back into debt. He takes care of the body and then burns the uncashed checks in the fireplace.
In the middle of the night, Katie and Adam hear an intruder downstairs. Adam gets out his gun and shouts at the intruder, startling him. The intruder falls down the stairs and dies. It turns out to be Katie’s boss from the agency. Lady detective believes that Adam is responsible for everything. She accuses Adam of staging the robbery, killing Leonard, hiring Julie, luring the boss to the house, and lying to Katie about it all.
Katie finally decides to look into things herself and meets with Julie. They go to the bank and discover that the money is all missing. Julie advises Katie to find Adam and get him to the house so that Lady Detective can find him with the diamonds and dirty money.
At the house, Adam is frantically packing. He learned that Micky isn’t a realtor. He is a criminal who was working with the gardener to steal diamonds from downtown Chicago. Mikey breaks into the house and holds Katie at gunpoint. He shoots Adam, but before he can finish Adam off, he is shot and killed. Katie cries over Adam’s body as Julie arrives on the scene and is insistent on getting the diamonds. Julie takes Micky’s gun and pulls it on Katie. (She was working with Micky.) She faked the will to get to the diamonds, which are worth three million. Before Julie can kill Katie, Lady Detective bursts in and takes Julie out. It is a lot of action in a short time. Is it good? Not really.
Four more months later, Katie is gardening. She is pregnant now, and Adam died. Katie tells the Lady Detective that she doesn’t know where the diamonds are. They are buried in the yard. Katie has no idea.
Wow, this was a terrible movie.
Side Note
Pacing on this was VERY slow. I think the movie would have benefited from a female perspective.
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Overall rating: Put a Cork in it
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*Photo Credit: © 2020 Netflix
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