Trapped in the Spotlight (2025 Lifetime Movie)
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Cast: Monique Coleman, Melyssa Ford, Emmanuel Kabongo, Romaine Waite
Director: Nicole G. Leier
Writer(s): Derick Ackerley, Jag Gill, Alberto Halfeld, Rene Rodriguez-Lopez
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DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearlySynopsis (via Lifetime)
Neveah, a canceled R&B singer, struggles to rebuild her career and regain her fame 15 years after breaking up with her estranged co-star, Lupita, who publicly betrayed her. When a psychotic music producer kidnaps both women, they must earn their survival by completing their magnum opus album while being held hostage in his studio. With life and legacy on the line, Neveah and Lupita must face the demons of their past and decide if they can trust each other in order to make it out alive. Monique Coleman, Melyssa Ford, Emmanuel Kabongo, and Romaine Waite (2025).
Recap/Wine Thoughts
The movie starts with a house on fire.
Neveah and Lupita are an internationally renowned girl group, Lucious. (Even if their song “One Life” kind of sucks.) Nev seems to like the party and fame aspect, while Lu wants to focus on the music and is ready to go solo. Lupita is also pregnant and asks her manager/husband Marcel to get her out of the group by releasing an article smearing Neveah publicly, ruining her reputation. Nev is caught totally off guard and gets booed off the stage. Nev is dropped from her label, and her manager, Lenny, tells her she was never meant for stardom.
15 years later, Neveah can’t pay her rent and is still trying to make it in the music industry. She meets with a hot, bearded producer, Quinten, who tells her she is a has-been. This sets her off, and she publicly blows up at him. The moment goes viral, and Quinten has a change of heart and gives Neveah another chance.
Neveah plays a song for Izaak, another producer at the music label. (IDK, I don’t know how music works, haha.) Izaak is impressed and tells Neveah that she still has what it takes. He wants to reunite with Luscious and finish their album, Phoenix. (An album name that is on the nose.) When Nev refuses, Izaak CHLOROFORMS HER!!!!!!!??????
Nev wakes up locked in a room with Lupita. There is a recording studio but little else. Music is pumped into the room. Izaak is Lenny’s kid, and he wants them to make the album that they never finished because he is a superfan. Lenny locked Izaak up and forced his son to listen to Luscious and was abusive. Izaak’s hearing was damaged, and he wears hearing aids.
Lupita has left music behind and refuses to record, but even in captivity, Nev wants her second chance back. Lupita just wants to go back to her family and smashes a guitar. She calls Izaak crazy, and he uses her family against him. Then, he puts shock collars on them to force them to collaborate and start working on music. (Who thinks of this stuff!??!? This is wild.)
Lupita isn’t standing for that, and she plays her electric guitar so loudly that she busts Izaak’s hearing aids. Lupita bashes Izaak with a mic stand, and they make their getaway. They make it outside but are stopped by an electric fence and Izaak with a gun.
Izaak puts on a 5-hour timer and handcuffs the musicians together. He tells them they write a hit song or die! The former bandmates make amends and decide to play for their lives! The time on the clock ticks by as they work on new music together. The song is downtempo about Nev’s addiction and still kind of sucks. I just might not be into Lucious.
Lupita’s daughter Simone hears the new song online and shows it to her dad. Marcel calls Roxanne to babysit his daughter while he leaves to figure out what is going on. Marcel meets with Lenny, who tells him his son must be behind this resurgence.
Izzak lets Nev out of the room, and she pretends (or maybe not) that she is falling for him. They have a fancy dinner and slow dance. The date is interrupted when Lenny and Marcel show up to see what is happening.
Marcel and Lenny demand to see Lupita, and Izzak locks them in the studio with Lupita. He blasts music and hits Marcel with a guitar, knocking him out. Then he stabs his father. Nev realizes she is in big trouble but keeps up that she is in love with Izzak.
Nev gets Izzak drunk and steals his keys. She frees Lupita, and they attempt to escape again. They try to unchain Marcel and devise a plan, but it is too risky. Nev takes the key and runs off to get to the car, but it doesn’t work.
Instead, the ladies write a song in Morris Code and reverse lyrics about freedom and try to send for help. This one is a BOP! (Do people say that anymore?) Izzak thinks it is cool too and releases the song.
Simone feels something is wrong and starts investigating. She has to rescue her parents, and she works to decode the messages in the song. They decode it, and Simone posts it on social media. (This isn’t the smartest idea because Izzak sees it and is onto them.) Izzak sends Nev with the finished album files to the hot-bearded producer and promises to take care of Lupita, Marcel, and his father.
Nev leaves Lupita behind but finds Lenny’s dead body and has a change of heart. She flashes back to when she and Lupita were just getting started, and Lupita tells Lenny that she won’t sing with him without her. Nev goes running back to help her friend.
Izzak burns down the studio with Marcel and Lupita inside; it is the fire we saw at the top of the film. Nev rushes back to save Lupita and Marcel. She beat Izzak down and put the shock collar on him. They leave him to burn in the fire. (Well, Nev rushes back to get the master recording. They end up burning anyway.)
Nev performs CPR on Lupita outside and saves her just like Lupita did when Nev was in a bad way back in the day. Then Nev starts singing a song about coming out of the fire (That kind of sounds like Katy Perry’s “Fighter.”) The police pull up, and we hear the SOS song again while they walk in slow motion. It is the best song in the movie, for sure.
Stray Thoughts
I’m not sure if this movie was part of the “Voices of a Lifetime” series, but I will give them this: It was an original idea.
Overall rating
Number of Kills: 🔪🔪(2 knives)
Lifetime Tropes: Corrupt music industry, Rise to fame/fall from grace, trapped, chloroform, friendship
Enjoyment Level (1-5 scale)
🍷🍷🍷 (3 Glasses of Wine)
Should you watch it?
Pour it Up (Give it a shot!)
Put a Cork in it! (Skip it!)
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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Let me know what you thought of the movie in the comments below or @lifetimeuncorked
This is a rare occasion that Lifetime has an original movie idea and it’s actually delivered well.
The singing alone was so unbearable I had to switch it off after 15 minutes. Hard pass.
OMG I can’t wait to see this! I really hope you do a video recap of this one, or do it on Deck the Lifetime Uncorked, it sounds really wild.
Probably one of the most original Lifetime movies, I’ve ever seen.
The SOS song was actually a banger not gonna lie. I Need them to release the full version asap.
Love this song and it needs to be released!!!
While the movie was original. It wasn’t one that I would rewatch. Monique Coleman’s character was insufferable until the end of the movie. I would have skipped it.