When Mom Becomes a Murderer (2024 Lifetime)
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Cast: Matreya Scarrwener, Lauren K. Robek, Khamisa Wilsher,
Director: Paula Elle
Writer(s): Declan Dineen, Lucy Foster, Victoria Saxton
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DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearlySynopsis (via Lifetime)
In the aftermath of her best friend’s murder, an introverted teen discovers her mom has a secret past that involves a similar crime. Desperate to uncover the truth, the teen soon finds herself in over her head and wondering… “Is my mom a murderer?” Starring Matreya Scarrwener, Lauren K. Robek, and Khamisa Wilsher (2024).
Recap/Wine Thoughts
Somehow, I missed this one! So here I am, recapping WEEKS later. I’ve decided to do an old-fashioned bottle of wine while watching. HERE WE GO!
Ellie is a recent high school grad. She still debates on the debate team for some reason with her BFF, Isla. (Who wears glasses, so we know she is smart!) They win, and Ellie’s mom, Marion, congratulates her daughter. Then Ellie has a full-blown panic attack while talking to a boy. (Very lame, Ellie.)
The movie starts off with a lot of RED FLAGS, not from the characters behavior, from the writing.
- The mother is the school guidance counselor, and she is dating the principal? (Call HR!)
- There is a student in the school named NANCY MEYERS?!?!?
Before the girls go off to college, they want to REBEL! Ellie and Isla have gotten scholarships and have been good for four years. They want to go to a bar and celebrate. (Think Book Smart, but on Lifetime.) Isla is too nervous, So Nancy Meyers comes along. Nancy Meyers is a baaaaad chick!
The girls get busted by Marion, who reprimands her daughter and even goes as far as to pack Ellie a rape kit for the next time she makes a dangerous decision. Which is literally the next scene. Ellie tries to sneak out of the house to meet up with Nancy Meyers at a cliff. Marion catches her daughter again and sends Ellie to bed. Marion goes out into the night to talk with Nancy Meyers!
Nancy Meyers and this feels disrespectful to write, dies by falling off a cliff. (Or was she pushed?) Marion seems unphased when the police question her about finding her necklace at the scene of the crime, and she blatantly lies to the police chief about her alibi. (Marion claims she lied because her license plate sticker is EXPIRED?!?! What?!)
Marion has also been suspended from work after someone filed a complaint against her. This frees up time for Marion to devote more time to being overprotective of her daughter.
Ellie and Isla decide to do their own investigating, but they end up making themselves look more suspicious when they break into the high school and steal Nancy Meyer’s permanent record. Ellie reviews the files and sees that Isla is named in a report of bullying.
While walking around, Ellie bumps into a handsome man with long hair. His name is Simon, and he is a reporter. Simon feels bad and offers to buy Ellie coffee while he asks her many questions about Marion and, of course, Nancy Meyers! Ellie looks up her mother’s maiden name online and has a panic attack; she runs into the coffee shop’s bathroom and gets locked in. The panic attack worsens.
Ellie confronts Isla about the bullying and tells her BFF that she is suspicious. Isla schools Ellie and points out the facts that point to Marion. (Including the fact that Nancy Meyers is the one who got Marion suspended from her job.)
Marion and Ellie randomly go hiking, and they start arguing about Marion’s privacy rule and having no trace online. They get lost in the woods, and Ellie begins to freak out when they end up near cliffs. WAS HER MOTHER GOING TO KILL HER?!?!?
Ellie calls the journalist, and he helps her find a murder case from 20 years ago similar to Nancy Meyers in Marion’s hometown. Marion was a suspect in the murder. Ellie is convinced her mother is going to kill her because she knows too much. Ellie calls her dad for help and barricades herself in her room for the night.
Marion bangs on the door and screams at her daughter so much that Ellie jumps off the second-story window and runs into the night. (With her inhaler, of course.) Ellie runs to the library, and the friendly Librarian takes Ellie to her house for a nice cup of tea.
While drinking tea, Ellie tells the Librarian that she thinks her mother is a murderer. The Librarian tells Ellie that tea makes everything better and believes Ellie’s story. Isla calls and warns Ellie that the Librarian is dangerous!?!?!?!?
The tea is drugged, and the Librarian turns out not to be a librarian at all; she is the mother of the girl who died twenty years ago. The Librarian is getting revenge for what she thinks Marion did to her daughter by killing Mario’s daughter. (Did you follow that, I think it makes sense, but IDK!) Ellie freaks out and almost panics to death, but then she remembers to take deep breaths like her mother taught her and breaks free from the Librarian.
Ellie runs into the woods and flags down a car. Simon, the Librarian’s son, is behind the wheel, working with the Librarian. Simon pushes Nancy Meyers because she is wearing Ellie’s jacket. He tries to stop Ellie, and the Librarian pulls a gun on Ellie.
Marion stops them from shooting her daughter, and the Librarian points the gun at Marion. Marion explains that her friend fell over the cliff all those years ago, but they were in an argument, so Marion blamed herself.
A very anticlimactic securing of the gun from the Librarian involves a flashlight. (It was in the rape kit)
Ellie goes off to college! The End!
Side Note/Stray Thoughts
The Librarian needed to be MUCH older for this plot to work.
Overall rating
Number of Kills: 🔪🔪 (2 knives)
Enjoyment Level (1-5 scale)
🍷🍷 (2 Glasses of Wine)
Should you watch it?
Put a Cork In It (Skip It!)
What did you think of the movie? Let me know in the comments or on social media @LifetimeUncorked & @patrickmiguel.
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*Photo Credit: © 2024 A&E Television Networks, LLC
