The Paradise Murders (2025 Lifetime Movie)
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Cast: Kayla Raelle, Mo Sehgal, Taija James, Christopher Dover
Director: Richard Switzer
Writer(s): Amy Irons, Jesse Mittelstadt, Richard Switzer
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DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearlySynopsis (via Lifetime)
.During their stay at a five-star resort, Emma and Jake befriend fellow guests Sarah and Tom, who seem like the perfect couple. But when Sarah is found dead after revealing doubts about Tom, Emma uncovers secrets about the hotel and guests.
Recap/Wine Thoughts
The movie starts with a woman dressed like a stereotypical American pretending to be Persian in a Gene Kelly movie. She hides from someone under the bed in a hotel, and she is not hiding from ANYONE in that outfit.
Cut to the same woman, Emma, celebrating her anniversary with her husband, Jake. He gifts her a week’s Honeymoon that they’ve been putting off for THREE YEARS.
They check into a beach resort, which is a standard hotel, but Emma has fond memories of it because she frequented it as a kid. They don’t even get their own terrace. A snooty couple named Jarrod and Isla. The not newlyweds make friends with another couple named Sarah and Tom. They spend the day together in a cheesy montage. (Tom is a boozer and a loser.) The cracks quickly show in all their relationships. Sarah is unhappy in her relationship, Jarrod seems like a kronie, and Jake naps all the time instead of enjoying his three-year delayed Honeymoon.
Emma is the annoying person who constantly talks about her childhood memories of the resort. She asks about secret menu items, Medivok. (A random Russian Honey Cake.) She also looks for a staff member named Gabby, who looked after her when she was young, but sadly, Gabriela passed away. A waiter named Lee grew up on the resort, and strangely… Emma doesn’t know him.
After dinner, Jake and Tom go missing. Emma is worried about her husband, but she needs to be worrying about Sarah. Sarah turns up dead and died sometime between 3 AM and 4 AM. The time when Jake was missing with Tom. Jake lies to detectives, and Emma is like, WTF?!?!?
Lee sits with Emma and helps her talk through her feelings and find out what she knows about Sarah’s death. It is totally inappropriate to be right in the middle of the restaurant during his shift, like, get to work, Lee.
Tom goes on a bender and trashes his room. He tells Jake and Emma that he isn’t allowed to leave his room because he is a suspect. They offer to bring him food, as if he were sitting Shiva. (Which, maybe he is! IDK!) The Detectives close Sarah’s case and rule it an accident, even though someone broke into Lee and Emma’s room. Since there has been a death at the hotel, flights out are booked solid for two days, and the Honeymooners are stranded.
Emma and Jake work out in the hotel gym, go to the sauna, and dance at the nightclub, trying to make the most of their time. Lee offers them some hiking suggestions and remains creepy. Tom takes a bus home, and the movie plays this very ominously. Before he goes, he whispers in Emma’s ear to be careful.
The cleaning lady, Vera, gives Emma a note that Sarah left for her. It is a page from her diary warning Emma to be careful who she trusts. Tom, who really needs to go, finds Emma and tells her he and Sarah were fighting because he thought she was having an affair. Drunk at the bus station, Tom is the next to go, as someone dressed in all back strangles him.
Emma, now wearing the worst outfit of the year in a Lifetime Movie, learns that her bank account has been emptied, AND she finds a page from Sarah’s diary implicating that Jeff or Jarrod is dangerous. (Someone with a J name, the paper is torn) Emma confronts Jake, tells him she doesn’t know him anymore, and storms off.
Vera, in a spooky basement, is doing laundry and arguing on her phone with someone. She is the next to go. Locked in a deep freezer. Vera does keep Sarah’s diary in her locker, and Emma finds it. Just as she does, Jarrod confronts Emma and tries to take the diary because it has incriminating secrets. There is a chase around the resort, and Emma ends up hiding in a pool, holding her breath under the water. They eventually fight over the diary in the pool, which is almost like synchronized swimming. Emma manages to get away, but the pages in the diary are ruined.
Isla and Jarrod are professional con artists and were blackmailing Jake. (They took sus photos of him and Sarah together.) Later, we learn that Sarah was trying to warn Jake that he was being set up. (So, why didn’t he just tell Emma from the jump?)
They don’t really matter, because the psycho is Lee, the waiter who grew up on the resort. He forged Sarah’s diary entry to cause Emma to doubt everything. He saw Isla and Jarrod blackmailing Jake with the Sarah photos. Lee killed everyone to protect his childhood friend Emma. Emma isn’t appreciative of his efforts and smashes him over the head with a wine bottle, before growling, “THE VACATION IS OVER!”
The Honeymooners check out and probably won’t be back.
Eleven months later, Lee’s killing spree is all over the news and dubbed The Paradise Murders, AKA the movie’s title! Yay! The End!
STRAY Thoughts
I was once stranded at a resort in Costa Rica due to a volcanic eruption. My family LEFT ME because they got a flight out, and my flight was canceled. I cried in my room and watched Grey’s Anatomy, haha.
We know Lifetime mysteries aren’t my favorite, but I called this one from the get-go!
Overall rating
Number of Kills: 🔪🔪🔪 (3 knives)
Lifetime Tropes: Vacation, Murder Mystery, Newlyweds,
Enjoyment Level (1-5 scale)
🍷🍷 (Glass of Wine)
Should you watch it?
Pour it up! (Check it out!)
What are your thoughts on the mo ie? I’d love to hear from you. Share your comments or connect with me on social media at @LifetimeUncorked and @patrickmiguel. Your perspective is valuable.
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*Photo Credit: © 2025 A&E Television Networks, LLC
Let me know what you thought of the movie in the comments below or @lifetimeuncorked
I have been to an all-inclusive resort. That murder must’ve really cleared the place out because I have never seen one so empty. People are all over the place all of the time.
“The movie starts with a woman dressed like a stereotypical American pretending to be Persian in a Gene Kelly movie. She hides from someone under the bed in a hotel, and she is not hiding from ANYONE in that outfit.” LOL! When it first started, I thought she was a child. I am happy that they did dress her like a normal person on vacation, not like a Kardashian on vacay. And when she wasn’t out to dinner or out on the town, she was make-up free. That part was very relatable. Unlike you I wasn’t fully sure what was going on but didn’t trust anyone but her.
It wasn’t epic, but it was a fun romp of movie while I did little chores around my place.