Secrets in the Building (2023 Lifetime)
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Cast: Shemeka Wright, Kia Dorsey, Justin Berti
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Synopsis (via Lifetime)
Following the death of her husband, Michelle and her daughter, Norah, move into a new condo for a fresh start. They become fast friends with fellow mother-daughter tenants, Helene and Channing, which irritates the gruff maintenance worker. However, building contractor Josh takes a liking to Michelle, and the two begin dating. Meanwhile, Channing has taken Norah under her wing at school but has grown jealous of Norah’s popularity. Matters only get worse as Michelle and Norah are threatened with increasing intensity. Certain someone will do whatever it takes to get them out of the building, Michelle and Norah work together to figure out who has been targeting them, not realizing just how close the culprit has been all along. Stars Shemeka Wright, Kia Dorsey, Katelin Chesna, Justin Berti, and Frontera Tori Griffith (2022).
Recap/Wine Thoughts
The movie starts off with a mother and daughter enjoying a meal until they both pass out from drugs in the food.
Cut to Michelle and Nora moving into their condo two months earlier. The father died a year earlier, and Nora is focusing on school athletics. The mother and daughter have a fun relationship, but the building manager doesn’t appreciate their laughter as they move in. He is a rule follower.
Helene and Channing welcome the new neighbors and are also a mother-daughter duo. Helene’s ex-husband is a cheater and liar, and Channing is a drug pusher. The two pairs couldn’t be more different.
The building manager has it out for Helene and tries to warn Michelle but Channing jumps in and starts trying to beat him up for talking about her family. Channing seems quick to react and tries to make Norah look back in front of her friends by suggesting she is looking for drugs. (The WTF face Norah shoots her is priceless.) It turns out Channing used to date a cute boy named Aidan, who was making eyes at Norah and Channing got jealous.
Michelle meets the repair man for the building named Josh, and they totally flirt. He even asks her on a date. Their date goes well, and they two have excellent chemistry. He does warn Michelle to keep her distance from Helene.
Things keep going south for Channing when she loses out at track practice to Norah and catches Norah and Aiden texting after practice. The jealousy is HIGH!
Michelle asks Helene if she used to live in their condo, and Helene admits that she had to downsize after her divorce moving to a tiny one-bedroom in the same building.
When Norah starts hanging out with another girl from school, Channing becomes jealous. She follows them around and even shows up unannounced at the condo. Amanda tells Norah that Channing is a stage five clinger.
Michelle overhears Channing and Helene arguing while she is down by the laundry room. She checks in to make sure everything is okay. The next day Michelle’s car is keyed with a note that reads, “Mind your business.” Lawrence seems mighty suspicious, which means it is definitely NOT him.
Amanda throws a party, and Norah is excited to see Aiden. Michelle also makes plans, and the mother-daughter gets dressed up together. (I love them! They are like friends but not in a “cool mom” way.)
At the party, Aiden pulls Norah aside, and they connect over past relationships. Channing sees them talking and tries to take Norah out with a beer bottle from a window above. The crash interrupts their kiss, and Aiden walks Norah home. He gives her a proper kiss, and then a car runs over Norah. (Maybe she should stop kissing this boy because he is bad luck!) Norah calls her mom from the side of he road instead of 911. (That’s how close they are!)
Norah tells her mom about her hunch that Channing is behind the strange things. Michelle says that she doesn’t want to confront the family without evidence.
The evidence against Channing starts piling up. Norah finds her migraine pills in Channing’s bag, and drugs end up in her locker. The principal expels Norah because they have a zero-tolerance policy.
We finally get a confirmation between both mother-daughter duos; just as things are heating up, Lawrence interrupts and tells everyone to be quiet.
When they go back to their apartment, the door is ajar. Michelle goes in with her pepper spray and sprays the intruder, Lawrence. The house is trashed, and “Get out” is written on the carpet. Michelle at first blames Lawerence (Who is an annoying building manager.) but then goes back to accusing Helene and Channing. They argue in the lobby while a Condo Karen films the altercation.
Josh comes over to help clean up and fix some things that were broken. He seems to know a lot about Helene’s ex-husband because he probably is HER EX HUSBAND?!?!?!?
Channing slams her head into a locker and blames Norah. Helene punches Michelle in the face, and they both call the police. The cops tell Michelle that she shouldn’t needlessly call the police.
Later, Lawernce checks with Michelle about the fumigation of the condo and asks her to submit a work order. When Michelle tells him that Josh stopped by, Lawrence tells her that Josh has been on vacation for a month.
Michelle and Norah eat some cake Josh brought over, and they both start to feel dizzy and pass out. Channing and her father, FAKE JOSH, walk into the apartment and stand over them.
The two wake up tied to a chair with Channing and Josh staring at them. Fake Josh tells them that he did it all because they moved into the wrong condo at the wrong time. He is trying to get back at his wife, Helene. He explains that he is going to murder them and frame his ex-wife.
Channing didn’t realize they would be killing anyone and didn’t want to go along. She thought they were going to scare them. She grabs the hammer from her father, but they fall into a struggle. The hammer hits Channing in the head and she is knocked out.
Fake Josh chases Norah around the building and almost kills her with the hammer, but Michelle saves her daughter’s life with some Golf Clubs.
Dan/Fake Josh is arrested and pleads guilty on all counts. Helene and Channing apologize before moving out, and they all freaking hug?!?! WTF.
Side Note
Minority Report: Michelle, Norah, Josh, Amanda, Griffin, Lawrence, Coach, Principal
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Overall rating
Number of Kills:
None (0 Knives)
Enjoyment Level (1-5 scale)
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