Monster in the Family: The Stacey Kananen Story (2025 Lifetime Movie)
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Cast: Elisha Cuthbert, Pete MacLeod, Brendan Taylor
Director: Jessica Harmon
Writer(s): Jill E. Blotevogel
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DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearlySynopsis (via Lifetime)
Stacey survives a childhood of abuse and fear, only to face a shocking twist when her brother, Rickie, tells her that he killed their parents. She soon faces further betrayal and legal trouble when Rickie claims that she helped him commit the crimes.
Recap/Wine Thoughts
The movie begins in 1970 with a house on fire. Two sisters scream for help and are trapped inside. Their brother, Rickie, breaks them out of a window, and the youngest girl, Stacey, is saved.
Flash to 2003: nightmares of the incident still haunt her dreams. Stacey lives in a lovely house with her wife, Suz, and her divorced mother lives nearby. Rickie and his teenage son move in suddenly after a split from his wife. Rickie seems more interested in his father’s estate than in reconnecting with family. Their father seems like a bad guy; he burned down the house for insurance money and beat his kids. Ricki stood up for her sisters, so Stacey feels obligated to take them in.
Rickie is impressed with his sister’s happy life, because he can’t escape the trauma of their childhood. Stacey wants to move on and agrees to go into the landscaping business with her brother. He gets his own place in town and settles in. Things seem to be chugging right along until Stacey’s mother goes missing after receiving heavy breathing phone calls.
Stacey and Rickie tell detectives that it’s unlikely their mother would just up and disappear. Still, they do learn their mom was cashing their father’s social security checks, which is a felony.
Suz wins the award for worst wife ever, and leaves for a cruise, leaving Stacey to worry about her mother home alone. Stacey starts getting creepy phone calls and has nightmares about her father returning. She also feels like someone is following her around town. Stacey tells her siblings that their father is after them, but they aren’t too concerned.
Stacey is full-on freaking out at this point, running from her car to her house and locking the door. She is living in a constant state of fear that her dad is following her. Rickie agrees to stay with Stacey until Susan comes back from her cruise. Rickie and Stacey reminisce about the time their dad claimed to have killed Santa and threw blood all over the roof. (Charming!)
Rickie fulfills the protective older brother role and starts putting their mother’s stuff in storage in case the feds find out about her social security fraud. He wants to handle the affairs, but Stacey offers to help with the financial accounts. Neighbors report Rickie and Stacey throwing out their mother’s collectibles and throwing away trashloads of stuff. Detectives start to suspect foul play.
The police find a trust in Stacey’s mother’s name, and the bank staff, whom Stacey was helping Rickie with under the guise of their shared business, have been siphoning off money from their mother. Rickie set her up. After Stacey finds out, Rickie tells her that he killed their mother and buried her in the backyard.
The brother convinces his sister to kill herself to save her wife from being arrested for obstructing justice. He tells her to write a suicide note, not admitting to the plot to kill their mother. He pretends like he is going to do it with her, but it is a setup to implicate her for everything.
Stacey wakes up and learns that both her parents were murdered, and she is the number one suspect. Rickie has a whole narrative blaming Stacey for everything. He used his sister’s fear of her father against her to manipulate her. Rickie was also writing a book about their father. Stacey feels foolish for playing into his hand. Luckily for Stacey, her wife, Susan, is back to help her sort all this out.
Susan encourages her wife to testify against Rickie after he pleads not guilty in court for the murders. He is sentenced to 45 years in prison and takes a plea deal to turn on his sister. Stacey is arrested and put in jail.
Stacey has to sit through criminal proceedings where Rickie lies, claiming she orchestrated the whole thing. Stacey testifies about her father’s abuse to reframe the narrative that Rickie is trying to weave. The statement Stacey shares is horrifying and disturbing.
The State of Florida finds Stacey not guilty. THANK GOD!
STRAY Thoughts
Based on the book Fear of Our Father
The True Story of Abuse, Murder, and Family Ties
By Lisa Bonnice and Stacey Kananen
Overall rating
Number of Kills: 🔪🔪 (2 knives)
Lifetime Tropes: True Crime,
Enjoyment Level (1-5 scale)
🍷🍷🍷 (Glass of Wine)
Should you watch it?
Pour it up! (Check it out!)
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