Beware of Mom (2020 Lifetime)

Beware of Mom (2020 Lifetime)

Stars: Crystal Allen, René Ashton, Nicolette Langley 

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Synopsis (via Lifetime)

When a new family moves into their cul-de-sac, teenager Kylie quickly makes friends with the family’s daughter, Jessie, whose mother Anna lets the girls stay up late, takes them on adventurous outings, gets them into rocking nightclubs and hosts high school parties at her house. But as the adventures grow more wild and dangerous, Kylie’s mother Tanya grows worried, and things soon spiral out of control as Anna tries to steal Kylie away from her family by any means necessary.

Thoughts

 A man is sleeping soundly in his bed while someone in an all-black ensemble turns on the gas in his house and unscrews a lightbulb. (Classic Lifetime trick.) A teenage girl comes home and turns on the desk lamp, for no reason, and explodes the house. Killing everyone inside. (Maybe?)

Nine months later, we meet some terrible teens heading to a party in a car and running red lights. Kylie, not Jenner, texts her mom and wears an excessive amount of makeup. At said party, Kylie meets an awkward college boy. They are about to kiss when the police show up and break up the party. Kylie gets grounded by her mother, Tanya. (Who is raising her daughter alone. Her husband is away on active duty in Afganistan. Oh wait, no he died in combat ) 

A new neighbor, Anna, moves into the house with her teenage daughter Jesse. Anna is an influencer. (She takes a picture with cookware for crying out loud!!!) They neighbors invite Kylie over for dinner, but she can’t go because she is grounded.

It is probably for the best because Anna wakes up crying in the middle of the night over her other daughter, Lena, and husband, who died in the explosion. Anna’s sister in law accuses her of killing her brother Jack. Anna is very pushy and forces Tanya and Kylie to have dinner with them. The dinner turns out to be a party with a bunch of underage drinking. Anna is “a cool mom” (Think Amy Pohler in Mean Girls, but not intentional.

Anna says things like.

“Don’t Dilly Dally,” “You’re not a nun, live a little.” and “You need a bad boy.” The writing here is atrocious.   

When Tanya shows up at the party, she is concerned. Especially when she sees Kylie in Anna’s dead daughter dress partying while she is grounded, Tanya makes her daughter leave the party and is upset. 

Anna has more nightmares about Kylie replacing her dead daughter Lena. Then she sees her daughter burning up in a burst of flames. Anna decides she will win over Kylie by giving her more of Lena’s clothing and taking sexy pictures for social media. She also takes them to a terrible concert, and Kylie is serenaded on stage. Then later, Anna pimps out Kylie (an underage child) to the lead singer. 

Tanya finds the photos from the fashion shoot and concert on social media and screams at her daughter for spending time with Anna and bans Kylie from seeing them anymore. Tanya confronts Anna and tells her that Kylie is not allowed to be around them. Then she talked to Carter, the guy in the band, and tells him he made out with a 16-year-old. He stops the relationship. 

Kylie is flat out defiant of her mother and is such a stereotypical teen; it is painful to watch. When Kylie realizes her mother is meddling with her life, she practically moves in with Anna and Jessie. Anna is thrilled and envisions Kylie as her dead daughter Lena. 

Anna robs Tanya’s boutique and is caught by an employee. Anna kills the worker with a tire iron, steals money, and GTFO of there. A sexy ass detective shows up after Tanya finds the body the next morning. There is no surveillance footage or security cameras in the store, soooo… OH WELL!

Jessie starts to have conflicting feelings about helping her mother manipulate Kylie. It is sad because Jessie didn’t pick her mother and is mentally abused by her mother. Jessie is forced to do her mother’s dirty work against her will. 

When Jessie fails, Anna resorts to poisoning Tanya. Becca, who arrives at the boutique for a dress fitting and finds Tanya before it is too late, thwarting the plan. Tanya is admitted to the hospital, and Kylie is by her mother’s side. Jessie distracts Kylie long enough for Anna to attempts to pull the plug but is caught by the nurse making rounds.

Kylie stays with Anna and Jessie. Zoe, Anna’s sister in law, shows up and is banging on the doors and windows. Zoe goes through a laundry list of evidence that she has acquired over the movie. Anna kills her with a shovel before she can go to the police. Zoe is thrown in the trunk of a car, and that is the end of her. 

Anna wakes up Jessie in the middle of the night and calls her a disappointment/useless. Then she pulls a knife on Jessie and forces her to pack the car and kidnap Kylie. They drive off into the night, leaving Tanya in the hospital to wake up and essentially pulls out her tubes and screams, “WHERE’S MY DAUGHTER?!?!!” 

Kylie wakes up ties up and in a motel. Anna yells at the girls to go to sleep in the middle of the day. The girls don’t sleep, its the middle of the day without blackout curtains. (Let’s be real.) Anna steps out to check the continental breakfast, and the girls escape. (Kylie is still tied up.) ANNA KILLS THE MOTEL OWNER FOR NO REASON and then chases after Kylie and Jessie through… wait for it… the woods. (This movie is such a Lifetime cliche.)

It is revealed that Anna killed her husband and accidentally killed her daughter like it was some surprising twist. Tanya shows up and wrestles with Anna in some lame fight choreography. Jessie knocks her mother out with a log.

Jessie now lives with her grandparents and is forgiven by Kylie and Tanya. Anna is dead? In Jail? We don’t get any closure with that at all.  

Side Note

Minority Report: Becca, Detective, Nurse

I hated the writing in this one. The actors did their best, but the script was terrible. 

Crystal Allen is the only redeemable aspect of this Lifetime movie.

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Overall rating

🔪 (1 Knife)

🍷🍷🍷🍷 (4 glasses of wine required.)

*Photo Credit: © 2020 Lifetime