The Dating App Nightmare (2026 Lifetime Movie)
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Cast: Nicky Whelan, Charisma Carpenter, Brennan Mejia
Director: Glenn Ciano
Writer(s): Jackie Moore, Daniel West
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Synopsis (via Lifetime)
Single mom Kate signs up for a dating app with her daughter, Sarah, turning it into a fun bonding moment. But when Sarah goes missing after a date, Kate must navigate the dangerous world they entered together to bring her home safely.
Recap/Wine Thoughts
The movie starts with our favorite, a woman running through the woods. She trips and falls before being killed by her captor.
Next, we get stock footage of people on their phones using dating apps, then cut to teen Sarah and her widowed mother, Kate. (Nicky Whalen with a lip flip.) Kate talks about the importance of breakfast, but Sarah needs to get to school.
At school, Amber, the BFF, warns Sarah about a dorky boy who is obsessed with her. The kid, Justin, leaves notes in Sarah’s locker, and she lets him down gently.
Sarah, who seconds ago didn’t have time for her mother, talks Kate into signing up for a dating app called First Glance. Nothing like online dating with your mother. Sarah tries to convince her mom that she understands safety and shows her the passwords she has written in a notebook.
Sarah matches with a hunk named Mark, and they flirt via text. Kate isn’t as lucky and worries that her daughter is moving too fast with a coffee date.
At said coffee shop, CARISMA CARPENTER is playing the least convincing waitress. This can’t just be a cameo. Sarah waits for her date and meets a stood-up, lonely guy named Colin. Her date, Mark, is a total dreamboat. Mark is late, and Carisma Carpenter tells Sarah to dock him for every minute. Justin catches Sarah and Mark together and is like WTF, you told me you had a family game night! Mark hightails it out of there, and Sarah is left in an awkward spot despite doing nothing wrong.
Kate stays up late, folding laundry and waiting to hear how the date went, and worries as the night goes on. Kate calls the police, and the detective is super weirded out about the mother/daughter dating app pact. They don’t take her seriously, and Kate decides to look into things herself.
Amber, the BFF, helps Kate try to hack into the dating app website. While they are trying out passwords, instead of checking that notebook, “Sarah” texts her mother. Amber says the texts don’t seem to be from Sarah.
Detective Lynch finds Sarah’s abandoned car, but the texts rule out a missing person case. Kate and the detective go to the coffee shop and talk to Carisma Carpenter, who doesn’t have much information OR working security cameras.
Kate remembers the password notebook and logs in to the app. Amber messages with Mark and sets up another coffee date to get more information. When Mark shows up in a literal outfit, I would have worn in the 90s. He is VERY confused when Kate and Amber ambush him. Mark tells them about Justin crashing their date.
Detectives interview Justin, why EVERYONE is watching behind the mirrored glass, I have no idea. They should have brought popcorn for this viewing party. Justin blames Mark, and the case/this movie is getting nowhere.
The girl from the woods’ body is recovered, and the police think it might be Sarah or that there is a serial abductor. Carisma Carpenter opens up to Kate about her daughter, who died after an argument. They went to talk to the parents of the girl who died, and she was dating Mark, too.
Mark shows up at Kate’s house and says Sarah texted him. Whoever has been texting as Sarah didn’t know that her dad was dead. Mark knew that, so it can’t be him pretending to be Sarah. The police show up and arrest Mark.
Carisma Carpenter and Kate get together to talk about who could be responsible. Then Colin knocks Carisma Carpenter in the kitchen. He explains that he has been looking into what happened, and just as he is about to reveal his findings, Carisma Carpenter returns the favor and knocks him out.
Turns out Carisma Carpenter has been kidnapping brunette girls to replace the daughter who died too soon. She plays house with Sarah, but Detective Lynch and Kate find them. Carisma Carpenter takes the detective out with a fire log and runs into the woods. Kate saves her daughter, and Carisma Carpenter has lost her damn mind.
The police arrest Carisma Carpenter, and Sarah is reunited with her mother. Sarah ends up dating Mark, which is a weird choice. Kate swipes right on a guy named Jeffrey, so good for her!
STRAY Thought
The keypad typing sound effects were a choice!
This was very bad, but I enjoyed it. I like Nicky, and she hasn’t been in one of these in a while.
Overall rating
Number of Kills: 🔪🔪( 2 knives)
Enjoyment Level (1-5 scale)
🍷🍷 (2 Glasses of Wine)
Lifetime Tropes: Kidnapping, Home invasion,
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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*Photo Credit: © 2026 A&E Television Networks, LLC
Let me know what you thought of the movie in the comments below or @lifetimeuncorked
ooh that female cop. What is with her attitude?! Her bedside manner leaves much to be desired, and she should have another job. Because as a detective she is supposed to help people and consider each case separately. I am 1/4 in and I am hoping either she changes her attitude or eats major crow by the end. Charisma Carpenter-big name…. first guy goes to meet a girl who doesn’t show up. I get sex trafficking pick up spot and Charisma is the madam. Person chasing girl in the beginning, wasn’t a male. What I can’t imagine and maybe because it is a movie or real life, many of the main characters do not have any close true friends to rally around them when they are going through things. I just can’t imagine going through this life without a support team. I mean she latched onto a complete stranger to help her. A complete stranger who, surprise surprise was the one behind it all along. So, it wasn’t sex trafficking but replacing her own dead daughter. Having a big name is a huge clue in the wrong direction. Movie was good, but I like a good twist, and I feel like they haven’t been delivering on that note, or I have been watching the wrong movies.