Mormon Mom Gone Wrong: The Ruby Franke Story (2024 Lifetime)
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Cast: Heather Locklear, Emilie Ullerup, Josh Blacker
Director: Kevin Fair
Writer(s): Alyson Evans, Steve Kornacki
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DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearlySynopsis (via Lifetime)
About the Movie
Together, six adorable kids, a loving husband, and Ruby (Emilie Ullerup) made up “8 Passengers,” a web series documenting the group’s every-day-life and Ruby’s LDS-influenced parenting style. To viewers, Ruby had the perfect life, but everything took a turn for the worse when Ruby’s marriage counselor Jodi Hildebrandt (Heather Locklear), entered their lives. After Jodi moves into Ruby’s home, the environment becomes toxic and Ruby’s husband is forced to move out. Jodi and Ruby’s views of disciplining children were not “strict parenting” but actually abuse. But when Ruby’s 12-year-old son escaped from Ruby and Jodi’s real-life house-of-horrors with clear signs of abuse, the truth came to light. How could this idolized family-friendly mother of six and her spiritual guide transform into convicted child abusers? Find out in this riveting Lifetime original movie.
Let me know what you thought of the movie in the comments below or @lifetimeuncorked
Recap/Wine Thoughts
Ruby thought she had the perfect family, job, and life. So why is she in the back of a squad car with Heather Locklear?
The movie flashes back to the Finke family for Ruby’s son Russle’s birthday. Everything is for the cameras, and Ruby has a thriving YouTube channel, Eight Passengers, with the Franke Family surpassing 2.5 Million viewers. The Utah Family is a very over-glossed and aspirational parenting advice page. (Think Jon and Kate plus 8, but self-made.) Their eldest son, Chad, is unhappy with being on display and has started rebelling against his parents.
Heather Locklear plays Jodi Hildebrandt, a zealot who sees potential for the YouTube channel and her religious agenda. Heather Locklear sets up a meeting with Ruby Frankie and consults her on her relationship. (Accusing Ruby’s husband of sex addiction and her kids of being heathens.) Ruby takes Heather Locklear’s advice and asks her husband, Kevin, to go to Jodi’s church counseling therapy/cult? Kevin agrees to go.
Heather Locklear holds a men’s counseling group that is all about shaming men for their “unpure thoughts’ and sex addiction. She manipulates the men by telling them their wives cry at night because of their lustful ways. Heather Locklear tells Ruby that her husband isn’t taking the meetings seriously.
Ruby starts putting Heather Locklear’s advice into practice and disciplines the kids with a rigid/controversial approach. She doesn’t bring her daughter lunch at school when she forgets to get it as a form of punishment. She also makes Caleb sleep anywhere in the house that isn’t his bed. The viewers see this parenting as abusive and start a petition for Child Protective Services to look into the family.
Heather Locklear asks Ruby to cut back on blogging and focus more on preaching religious teachings and even start mental health counseling others. (Without any credentials.) Joid/Heather Locklear will start their own website and convert Ruby’s subscribers into members. Ruby moves her new friend into her house because Heather Locklear thinks she is being possessed by Satan.
Heather Locklear/Jodi is not a fan of the kids because they are unruly, and they annoy her so much that she stabs herself in the hand in front of the children. Kevin wants Heather Locklear/Jodi out of the house, but Ruby refuses.
Other couples start defecting from Jodi’s teachings, and Kevin meets with the husbands. Their stories are entirely similar. Jodi/Heather Locklear uses people’s faith against them to brainwash them. Kevin plays it cool, even when Jodi/Heather Locklear threatens him with a knife and questions his manhood.
Ruby becomes even more devoted to Jodi and kicks Kevin out of the house. She bans him from having contact with the children and threatens to get divorced if he doesn’t. Heather Locklear/Jodi also kicks Kevin out of the men’s group because he is “toxic.” Then she withdraws over 85K from her children’s trust funds.
Ruby moves Heather Locklear/Jodi back in; she tells the kids they are demon spawn. The kids are starved and forced to sleep outside. The women leave the kid’s home for a week to go look at properties to purchase. Russell, the youngest boy, is shackled and taped up with duct tape. He escapes and runs to a neighbor’s house.
Police are called to the scene and find the youngest child, Eve, malnourished and clinging to life. Jodi and Ruby are both charged with child neglect and serve 1 to 15 years in prison for each child.
Kevin divorces Ruby, and the kids end up in foster care.
Side Note/Stray Thoughts
This case has a lot to unpack and has been featured in the news.
The movie did a nice job depicting all the adults as neglectful of the children. They are all to blame for the horrific things that went down.
Overall rating
Number of Kills: N/A
Enjoyment Level (1-5 scale)
🍷🍷🍷🍷 (4 Glasses of Wine)
Should you watch it?
Pour it Up (Give it a shot!)
What did you think of the movie? Let me know in the comments or on social media at @LifetimeUncorked and @patrickmiguel.
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*Photo Credit: © 2024 A&E Television Networks, LLC
