Secrets in the Woods (2020 Lifetime)
Cast: Brittany Underwood, Taylor Frey, Jim Klock
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Synopsis (via Lifetime)
Sandra is excited to go on a romantic cabin getaway in the woods with her new boyfriend, Brant. Everything is going well until Sandra begins to feel like someone is watching them. Brant dismisses her worries as a city girl out of her element. But when Sandra sees a strange man lurking, she runs for her life. Unable to escape, she learns the man is Brant’s father, Langley, who’s been using his son to lure women into the cabin to hold them captive until they agree to assume the role of his deceased wife. Meanwhile, Sandra’s sister, Becky, becomes concerned after she can’t reach her sister for several days. When Becky finally tracks down Sandra, they must find a way to survive this wild ordeal and will do anything–even kill–to get out .
Thoughts
A blonde woman runs through the woods and is murdered by a man with an ax. Welcome to Lifetime!
Sandra makes pour-over coffee for her sister Becky and is very prepared for all situations. (She is a lawyer after all.) Sandra is going to her boyfriend’s cabin in the woods to meet his family. They have been dating, three months.
Brant (Rugged mountain looking hunk) and Sandra drive up and talk about his family. They stop for gas, and Sandra pays the gas station attendant $5 to use the bathroom. He gives her flowers and is generally creepy. He asks where she is headed and will most likely follow them and kill them. Even if he did pursue them, he wouldn’t be able to find them because they park the car and then hike to get to the cabin.
When they arrive at the cabin, Sandra is disappointed to learn that there is no cell service. (Not as disappointed as Becky, who continually calls her sister to leave voicemail updates for her while drinking wine.) Sandra and Brent enjoy a campfire and drink some wine. It is romantic, okay!
The romance doesn’t last long, Sandra sees someone lurking in the woods in the middle of the night. The next morning, Brant takes Sandra foraging and shares all his nature knowledge. Then, they make out hardcore in nature. While they are hooking up, someone steals Sandra backpack. It has all her clothes, cellphone, and wallet inside. The car keys are also inside. Brant laughs it off and blames marmots. Sandra frantically searches for her backpack and injures her foot. (She wore flip flops hiking.) They are stranded, and Brant seems totally cool with it. The promises to leave if things get weird. OH AND THEY DO!
For starters, Brant gives Sandra his dead mother’s clothing and takes her ax throwing and makes her cook trout. Sandra almost puts poisonous mushrooms in the dinner, but Brant stops her. They eat by the campfire, and Sandra heads upstairs to put on some sexy red lingerie while Brant puts out the fire. When he doesn’t come to bed, Sandra heads downstairs and looks outside. She sees someone in the woods and runs from them, directly into a tree.
When Sandra comes to, she meets Brant’s father, Langley. Langley says that Sandra is perfect and will do much better than the last girl. Langley tells Sandra about all the girls he and his son have captured and how they died. None of them could live up to the role of the woman of the household. He chains her up and expects her to be his house servant. (Cooking, cleaning, and household duties. Langley forces Sandra to sleep with him. He is terrible.
The men talk as if Sandra isn’t even there. Brant talks about how easy it was to lure Sandra with online dating. Langely is impressed with his son and tells him he did a good job this time.
Sandra attempts to free herself from her chains while the men are fishing. She almost sneaks out but overhears the men talking about Brant’s mother trying to escape and Langley murdering her.
Brent lets Sandra go for a walk with him. It isn’t as romantic as before. Brent tells Sandra that he and his father “share” women. (Which is disgusting to think of women as something to share.) Langley catches them and punches his son in the face. Then the locks Sandra in the outhouse. The man from the gas station watches everything from the woods; he is Sandra’s only hope of getting out of this.
Sandra decides to play along and suggests fixing fish for Langley, and he allows her to go in the forest to pick what she needs. She, of course, remembers the poisonous mushrooms. When the father and son ask if Sandra is eating, she says she has a headache. Just as they are about to dig in, there is a knock at the door. It is Carl, the man from the gas station.
Carl can tell that something is wrong and sits down to join them for dinner while taking in his surroundings. He scarfs down the fish while telling them that Becky has been looking for her sister. The poison effects Carl and Brant. Langley knows better and doesn’t eat the fish. Carl stabs Langely, allowing Sandra to make a run for it.
Becca finds her sister in the woods and tries to save her. They both end up tied up and gagged. Brant admits to stealing the backpack and tells Sandra that she reminds him of his mother as he kisses her. (Gross.) Sandra hits him in the head with a rock, multiple times, and takes his ax to free herself.
Sandra tries to save Becky by offering herself to Langley. She distracts him by talking about his dead wife, Elizabeth. This allows Becky to knock him with a log. Sandra kills Langley with the ax. Brant domes back and almost shoot Becky. Sandra uses her ax-throwing skillz to use and stops him.
The sisters are lost in the wood until they get cell service and are saved. A woman at a diner see them and is unimpressed.
Side Note
Brittany Underwood remind anyone else of Shakira?
Minority Report: Sandra
Super happy, this was directed by a woman. Sara Lohman did an excellent job, but the script was kind of boring.
MaraVista AND Ninth House Production? Two of my favs.
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Overall rating
🔪🔪 (2 Knives)
🍷🍷🍷 (3 glasses of wine required.)
*Photo Credit: © 2020 Lifetime
I don’t know if this has already been said but Brittany Underwood is half Colombian from her mother that might be why you see a resemblance to Shakira.