Single Black Tenant (2026 Lifetime Movie)
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Cast: Tia Mowry, Natasha Burnett, Damon Gregory
Director: Stacey N. Harding
Writer(s): Yuri Baranovsky, Angela Gulner
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Synopsis (via Lifetime)
A woman believes her luck has finally turned after landing an affordable apartment in a quiet neighborhood but her relief quickly gives way to fear when she starts to suspect she’s living with a killer who’s trying to frame her for murder.
Recap/Wine Thoughts
Tia (Playing Esme) is living in a motel with no heat and noisy neighbors. So she listens to true crime podcasts to drown out the noise. Sne is a mechanic making ends meet and has been looking for an apartment to rent for over a year?!?! Her fun co-worker agrees to use her feminine wiles to land a place. (Love her! It doesn’t work on the gays in this movie, but I would totally fall for it!)
Angie and her boyfriend, Nolan, are looking for a tenant for their rental. Angie is SUPER picky, but when she meets Tia, she is overjoyed and even hugs her. Nolan is standoffish and RUDE to Tia, which we don’t love. Angie asks questions about Tia’s family life (no family), relationships (No partner), and, most importantly, no security deposit. Tia thinks it is too good to be true, but goes for it anyway.
Tia signs the lease without reading and moves in the next day. Her BFF, Lydia, has concerns about Nolan’s angry behavior. I’m more concerned about Angie objectifying Tia, calling her “pretty neighbor.” Angie even offers Tia a rent discount to fix up the upstairs apartment. Tia finds bloody rags and is creeped out. The house’s owner, Barbie, just left, so Angie took over as the building manager.
Angie wants to give Tia a makeover and take her out for drinks to celebrate. Lydia is NOT invited because Angie wants to be Tia’s new BFF. (Honestly, who wouldn’t want to be Tia’s best friend?) Angie gives Tia old clothes and really is making Tia her twin, which is ironic because Tia already has a Sister, Sister.
While prepping the upstairs apartment, Tia notices the couch is BLOODY. (They just flipped the cushions.) When Tia confronts Angie, the landlord is out of it, mumbling about Barbie dying in a bathtub accident. Tia notices Nolan throwing out large black trash bags and calls Lydia to gossip about her suspicions.
Angie apologizes for being out of it and blames Nolan’s alcoholism and being up all night fighting. While they talk, Angie kisses Tia, and Tia handles the situation as well as she can!
Lydia comes over with pizza and flowers. Lydia pokes holes in Angie’s story and wants to know the important things, like was Angie a good kisser? Then, Lydia gives real talk, telling Tia that she is not responsible for Angie’s well-being and advising her friend to move out. Then Angie crashes the party, and Lydia feels like the third wheel. Angie is trying to shade Lydia and makes up rude comments to get Tia to turn on her friend.
Once everyone is drunk, Lydia asks Angie questions, and the stories don’t really match up. Barbie apparently wasn’t a fan of Nolan sleeping over at Angie’s apartment. There was a woman named Trisha who lived in Tia’s apartment before her, and she was a “pathological liar.” Angie says the house attracts psychos before chugging a bottle of red. Yikes!
After Angie goes to bed, Tia takes Lydia upstairs and shows her the creepy apartment. Lydia thinks it is weird that there IS no bathtub in Barbie’s apartment. They also find a gun in a box and Trisha’s number. When they call the old tenant, Trisha tells Tia to move out because she is in danger.
Tia goes to the police, and the detective laughs at her evidence. He tells Tia that she has been listening to too much true crime. He says conspiracy theories are a HUGE problem for the department. Sorry, people are trying to help you, detective.
Since no one will help her, Tia follows Nolan with the trash bags. They turned out to be filled with alcohol. Nolan says he was dating Barbie first, NOT Angie. He had an affair with Angie. He doesn’t know what happened to Barbie and has been drinking since her death. He warns Tia to stay away from Angie.
Tia talks to Trisha at a laundromat, and Trish is like, NEVER CONTACT ME AGAIN. She also thinks that Tia looks a lot like Angie.
Detectives get a tip that Barbie and Angie are setting Tia up for the murder. The whole makeover was a ploy to make Tia look like surveillance footage of Angie fighting with Barbie. Tia isn’t going to go down like that, and Tia gets the video from Angie’s phone. It is VERY incriminating.
Angie shot Barbie, and Nolan helped cover it up. Angie calls the police and claims that Tia is hurting her. A fake 911 phone won’t cut it. Actually tho, Angie has thought of everything. She changed the lease terms and planted Tia’s DNA on the murder weapon and at the crime scene. Angie calls Tia her twin, and that doesn’t go over well. They fight it out, and Ti tries to run away, but Angie chases after her with a shovel.
Lydia saves the day with a baseball bat and records the whole confession. Angie tries to lie to the police, but Nolan says he will admit to everything. Lydia finds Tia a new home because she is a REAL friend.
STRAY Thought
Wardrobe nailed this!!!!
Gigi Saul Guerrero wins the Lifetime Best Best Friend Award of 2026. Loved her!
Couldn’t we just make Esme queer in this?
Overall rating
Number of Kills: 🔪( 1 knife)
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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*Photo Credit: © 2026 A&E Television Networks, LLC
Let me know what you thought of the movie in the comments below or @lifetimeuncorked
I actually liked this movie. My biggest problem was that Tia’s character and Natasha’s don’t look alike, not even a little bit, so why couldn’t the police not tell that it wasn’t Esme in that video?
I hate the trope of new person puts doubts in the heroine’s head about a person I have known for a very long time and someone I am close with. Especially when that new someone seems just a little off… Also, would never stay in a place where the landlord is trying to be my bestie and doesn’t know boundaries. And the running joke about them looking alike? Am I missing something? They looked nothing alike! And Esme, was making some rookie mistakes. Following a huge guy in a truck late at night…on your bike. Really?! But entertaining