Doomsday Mom: The Lori Vallow Story (2021 Lifetime)
Cast: Marc Blucas, Lauren Lee Smith, Patrick Duffy, Linda Purl
📺. Stream/Watch the Movie (Ad): N/A
➡️ Check out our Youtube Channel: Lifetime Uncorked: Lifetime Movie Reviews
🎧 Listen to the Lifetime Uncorked Podcast: https://anchor.fm/lifetime-uncorked
🍷 Support the show with a $3 tip: https://ko-fi.com/patrickserrano
Synopsis (via Lifetime)
Doomsday Mom: The Lori Vallow Story is based on the true story of Lori Vallow (Lauren Lee Smith), who gained national attention when her children, JJ and Tylee, were reported missing from their Idaho home in the Fall of 2019. As investigators learned of Lori and her husband Chad Daybell’s (Marc Blucas) involvement in a doomsday-prepper group, a trail of mystery was revealed spanning five states and numerous questionable deaths, before the bodies of JJ and Tylee were found in the backyard of Chad’s home in June 2020. Linda Purl and Patrick Duffy also star.
Thoughts
Press hound Lori Vallow on a resort in Hawai. Her children are missing, and she is on vacation.
Flash to Christmas. Lori and her husband, Charles, are raising JJ and their teenage daughter. Taylee. They are very spiritual. Lori reads a book called “Spread Your Wings.” which spouts doomsday lies and is written by a man named Chad.
Lori goes to a doomsday event and makes friends with a woman named Melanie. Lori prays every night and misinterprets the scripture to allow for murder??????
At a book signing for Chad’s book, Lori makes a connection. He tells her that they have been married nine times before in previous lives. Then Chad tells her about the dark side, which consists of demons and zombies hiding in human bodies. Finally, Chad brainwashes Lori and tells her that she is saving the world by bringing back the savior.
Chad and Lori cheat on their spouses, and Lori brings Chad around her home while her husband is away. Her family thinks that Chad is strange. Tylee doesn’t buy into the zombie talk. Chad tells Lori that her husband Charles has “Gone Dark.” and has been taken over by an alien. He also tells her that there is a closet portal. Lori literally sits in the closet and talks to Chad as she goes through her divorce with Charles.
Lori steals $35,000 from Charles, and he calls his sister and brother-in-law upset. They promise to stand with him and help him with the divorce. Instead, Lori doesn’t even bat an eye and plans to move Charles in with her for two weeks. Those plans are put on hold when Charles finds their correspondence and threatens to tell Chad’s wife, Tammy.
Lori and her brother, Alex, decided to murder Charles and make it look like self-defense. The plan works except for the insurance money. Charles’ million-dollar life insurance policy goes to his sister. Alex and Lori want to move the family to Idaho to be safe from the killer earthquakes.
When Lori gets to Idaho, she learns that Chad didn’t kill his wife, Tammy, as they planned. Chad makes up more commandments. This time he tells Lori that her children have “Gone Dark.” When Tylee has a typical teenage outbreak, it is all the confirmation that Lori needs. Tylee begs her mom to snap out of it.
Tylee “goes away to college,” but her room sits empty. JJ is left alone in the house with Lori, Alex, and Melanie, which isn’t a safe environment for a child with autism. The more JJ acts out; the more convinced Lori believes that JJ has “Gone Dark.” Lori pulls JJ out of school against the wishes of his teacher.
Charles Sister and Brother-In-Law are freaking out after not having talked to JJ on facetime for five weeks. They report the children missing.
Tammy dies under mysterious circumstances. Chad and Lori immediately get married in Hawaii. This raises a lot of red flags for the police, who question the couple. However, Lori claims that she is a good person and the kids are fine. Lies WITH A SMILE ON HER FACE!!!!
The police get an arrest warrant and are surprised to find Lori, Alex, and Chad have split town. The police recruit Melanie to get the couple to incriminate themselves on a phone call. They do not fall for it. Then Alex dies mysteriously too.
The court proceedings begin and JJ’s grandparents speak out about the kids. Lori turns herself over to custody after she is not able to produce the children to the court. Lori maintains her innocence until her cellphone is unlocked and shows damning evidence and searches Chad’s property. Lori tells Chad to pray and when she tells him she love him. Chad is silent.
The police uncover the bodies of the missing children in a pet semetary. The couple are facing first degree murder charges but proceedings were placed on hold when Lori was found mentally incompetent to stand trial. I believe it.
Side Note
Minority Report: Cop, Louise, Detective
Read more about the real-life case here.
📺. Stream/Watch the Movie (Ad): https://amzn.to/2SzOeSw
➡️ Check out our Youtube Channel: Lifetime Uncorked: Lifetime Movie Reviews
🎧 Listen to the Lifetime Uncorked Podcast: https://anchor.fm/lifetime-uncorked
🍷 Support the show with a $3 tip: https://ko-fi.com/patrickserrano
📚 Read the book this movie is based on: https://amzn.to/35Aol7Q
Inquiries | podcast@lifetimeuncorked.com
🍾 Your Support is appreciated. Donate today to keep the website going! Thank you.
Overall rating
🔪🔪🔪 (3 Knives)
🍷🍷🍷 (3 glasses of wine required.)
*Photo Credit: © 2021 Lifetime® | A+E Networks®
Live tweet along with @LifetimeUncork using the hashtag #DoomsdayMom
Tweet
Accused: The Karen Read Story, Katie Cassidy, and Turtleboy? – Lifetime Uncorked
- Accused: The Karen Read Story, Katie Cassidy, and Turtleboy?
- It's A Wonderful Lifetime Preview, Brandy Norwood, Vivica A. Fox, and Airplane Movies?
- If I Run Lifetime Movie, Kat Graham, and Prayer Requests?
- Ice Road Killer Lifetime Movie, Christmas Thrillers, and Truckers
- You Better Watch Out, Christmas in July, and Bramblefest?
- The Nanny Sees All 2025 Lifetime Movie, Child Actor of the Year, and Golden Madison?
- I'm Your Biggest Fan Lifetime Movie, Hailey Duff Directs, and Beverley Mitchell?
- Abducted in the Everglades Lifetime Movie, Tori Spelling, and Tank Tops?
- Killing the Competition Lifetime Movie, Melissa Joan Hart, and Hospital Stays?
- Engaged by Christmas, New Year's Traditions, and Britt Britt Bristow?
Hey, we got another link for ya back here from The Lifetime Movies Wiki. Did you know the Daybell estate in the movie is a 106 year old Canadian farm house, and it’s been used in lots of movies? I found a cool site that shows Hallmark movies locations, and linked to them too. Anyway, keep up the good work, and here’s the link: https://lifetimemovies.fandom.com/wiki/Doomsday_Mom