The Wrong Valentine (2021 Lifetime)
Cast: Vivica A. Fox, Mariah Robinson, Evan Adams
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Synopsis (via Lifetime)
A high school senior attracts the attention of a new student who may have ulterior motives. (2021)
Thoughts
Ms. Vivica A. Fox is back, and she is my favorite Galentine! The movie opens in a mansion, with an intruder lurking outside while Emily and her mother watch TV. They are still reeling from Emily’s father’s sudden death. Emily has withdrawn, and her mother is concerned her daughter is not popular.
At school, Ms. Vivica A. Fox plays a teacher who wants Emily to apply herself. Ms. Vivica A. Fox also meets a new student named David with a “bad boy” haircut. Emily and her only friend Michelle plan her sad birthday party. (Which happens to fall on Valentine’s Day.) Ms. Vivica A. Fox plays matchmaker and seats David and Emily next to each other in class. David and Emily talk philosophically about history. “If you don’t know your history, you’ll be doomed to repeat it.” They plan a coffee date… as friends.
Emily’s mom is overjoyed for her daughter and tries to look at her texts from David. (While wearing an embarrassing tie-dyed sweater with a mini skirt.) The texts are pictures of food to entice her to go to coffee with him. (It is a weird move and should have been Emily’s first red flag.)
At coffee, David and Emily bond over losing their fathers. David’s mother is also dead. He probably killed them.
Ms. Vivica A. Fox then gives a history lesson about Valentine’s Day. She is rudely interrupted by a girl giving out roses, and she has one for Emily from David. He literally asks her if she will “accept this rose,” and I thought I was watching The Bachelor for a sec.
At Emily’s Valentine’s birthday party, David shows up with flowers for Emily AND her mama. Even though this boy is a stalker, he is a sweetheart. Michelle starts flirting with David, and Emily starts to think he is into her BFF. When Emily tries to kiss him, he turns his cheek and tells her he wants to take things slow. (Then he creeps outside her windows and watches her all night and even the next morning.)
Emily notices David creeping outside and confronts him. He has an excuse, but she is unsettled. At school, he stalks Emily more and acts jealous and possessive of Emily. (Demanding to see her text and grabbing her arm.) He also pushes a poor kid named Peter, who asks Emily for class notes. The guidance counselor (Meredith Thomas from Killer Advice) sees the altercation and steps in. She warns Ms. Vivica A. Fox about David and flat-out says she doesn’t like him. (It is an excellent line delivery.)
David shows up at Emily’s mom’s workplace. His ambush puts Ashley off, not to mention that it is in the middle of a school day. Ashley calls Ms. Vivica A. Fox to see if David is, in fact, a creep. Ms. Vivica A. Fox reassures Ashley.
Michelle and David hook up in a car. I’m not sure why. David calls Michelle dumb for hooking up with him and tells her not to tell Emily. Guilt overwhelms Michelle, and she breaks down to Emily. Emily kicks her ex-best friend out and cries to her mother.
Emily comes home from school and finds David in her living room. Emily isn’t concerned about that and is more worried about him cheating with Michelle. Ashley intervenes and sets some clearly needed boundaries.
The counselor finds Emily in the hallway and checks in with her. Then she confronts David, tells him he is a problem, and says she will call the police. David calls her a lesbian and then backs down. (Not really. He crashes Emily’s college interview and ruins it.)
Mrs. Stein, the counselor, receives a call from the college recruiter complaining about David. She takes the call in a parking lot at night. So, needless to say… she is a goner. David sneaks up on her and stabs her.
Emily and Michelle make up while David watches from a bush. Then a random girl comes up and tells the girls that Mrs. Stine is DEAD. Emily goes home and ignores multiple texts from David. She tells her mother what is going on, and Ashley decides it is time to talk to the police. (Especially when she sees David on the security camera.) Ashley confronts David and is all like, “LEAVE MY DAUGHTER ALONE!” (It is excellent.) David breaks into Ashley’s office and wrecks the place. (The good news is a hot cop comes to check out the scene of the crime.)
Michelle and Emily create a plan to get David’s school records. She calls his old school, and they are not forthcoming. With no other options, Emily goes solo to break into David’s apartment. (His place is pretty nice for a creepy stalker!) Emily finds David’s laptop and learns that his mother committed suicide, and he was in a mental institution. She also learns that they have the same father. (Good thing she didn’t kiss him.) David almost catches Emily, but she manages to get away.
Emily tells her mother about what she learned (and shows a crazy photoshopped picture) as David bangs on the door. The police arrive and scare him off. Ashley checks to make sure Emily and David didn’t hook up. (Because that would be gross.) The hot cop checks the house out and gives them the all-clear. Then he is attacked by the pool. David sneaks up on Ashley and holds a gun to her head. It is a jump scare moment.
Emily comes home to find her mother bound and gagged. David tells her that he will kill them all if she doesn’t cooperate with him. He explains that he wishes Ashley was his mother so he didn’t have to grow up abused. His mother went off the deep end and killed herself after learning about Emily’s father’s death. David had a nervous breakdown. Once he was out, he wanted to get his revenge on Emily and Ashley. Manipulating them so they would feel the pain that he felt while growing up without a father. David plans on killing them and then himself after one family dinner together. Emily and Ashley try to reason with him. While he is distracted, Ashley unties herself and chokes him out. Emily grabs the gun and shoots her half-brother while he screams at her and calls her his “funny Valentine.”
With David dead, Ms. Vivica A Fox pops in to say the titular line of the movie, and we are done with this movie! Very fun.
Side Note
Evan Adams makes an impressive villain here. I’m hoping to see him in more Lifetime movies. He and the whole cast were great.
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Overall rating
🔪🔪🔪
🍷🍷🍷🍷 (4 glasses of wine, would have been 5, but no shirtless hunks.))
*Photo Credit: © 2021 Lifetime® | A+E Networks®
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