Lifetime Review: 'Bad Tutor'

While they have an otherwise close relationship, Kelly (Vanessa Marcil) and Emily Armstrong (Alex Frnka) find themselves at odds when it comes to Emily's grades. Kelly is concerned that Emily's D in chemistry will hurt her chances of getting into a good college. Emily is convinced it's not as big a deal as her mother fears it is and that if she doesn't get into college, she can simply find a job to support her dreams of pursuing music with her band.

Kelly begins searching for a tutor that can help Emily in chemistry, and it's through her work at a dental clinic that she meets Devin Fletch (Charles Hittinger), a chemist and tutor who is quick to take up Kelly's request that he work with Emily. What Kelly doesn't know, however, is that Devin has become obsessed with Emily after seeing her and Kelly at a cafe, drawn by Emily's resemblance to his late girlfriend—who he had killed after she turned down his marriage proposal. Now having integrated himself into Emily's life, Devin is determined to use every resource at his disposal to win Emily over, and is more than willing to kill again if anyone stands in his way....

With The Wrong Tutor coming to the screens of Lifetime soon, I thought it would be nice to practice a little synergy with the network whose movies I often critique by exploring another movie in their catalog focusing on a less than perfect tutor: Bad Tutor. On the surface, Bad Tutor would appear to be as standard as Lifetime can get. And it's true that a lot of age-old tropes are present here: the well-meaning but struggling single mother, the rebellious teenage daughter, the delusional and obsessive psychopath, etc. But like the better movies in Lifetime's repertoire, Bad Tutor knows how to spin its tropes into a compelling story, with the cast also helping to keep the film above boiler plate level.

Since he's the first of the main cast we see, it seems fitting to discuss Devin Fletch first, played by familiar Lifetime face Charles Hittinger. Unlike his bare bones role in Killer Reputation, Bad Tutor gives Hittinger a lot more to chew on—something Hittinger definitely takes advantage of. With our introduction to Devin having him shove his girlfriend off a cliff to her death after she expresses a desire to take a break from him and attend college before they consider getting married, Devin is established as less of an entitled psychopath like we typically see in this type of movie, and instead as something of a psychotic man child. His reactions to his girlfriend's suggestion, as well as several others throughout his obsessive pursuit of Emily, are akin to that of a toddler having a tantrum over having a toy taken from them. This difference, while small, is a nice little twist on the usual Lifetime formula, and Hittinger sells Devin's brand of crazy very well.

On the protagonist side of the equation, Vanessa Marcil and Alex Frnka share strong mother-daughter chemistry as Kelly and Emily Armstrong, with Marcil joining Hittinger in this being a much better role than one she would receive from Lifetime in the future. While the relationship goes through the usual "single mother/teenage daughter" beats that Lifetime has given us before, Bad Tutor goes a different route by portraying both Kelly and Emily as being in the wrong in their own right, rather than simply dismissing Emily's frustrations with her mother as teenage melodrama. Kelly's character arc has her ultimately coming to realize that, as well-intentioned as she was, it was wrong of her to try and dictate the choices Emily made for her future and that she needed to trust Emily to make her own decisions for the sake of their relationship. While an argument that ensues before the film's climax puts a dent in this arc, it still remains a refreshingly progressive spin on the usual mother/daughter relationships given to us by Lifetime.

Frnka, meanwhile, gives a strong performance in what could've been a cliche "Bratty Teenage Daughter" archetype. In addition to Frnka bringing charm to Emily, she also keeps Emily's less likable moments restrained to where she doesn't become unbearable and, thanks to the previously mentioned handling of her relationship arc with Kelly, you can at least understand why she's so miffed with her mother. Her performance in the climax of her arc with Kelly is particularly strong, and even as the film's third act has Emily really making some infuriatingly dumb decisions, they can at least be explained by Emily being a teenage girl made vulnerable by a manipulative man who is working to have her all to himself.

Ben Reed is likable and plays well off of Marcil in his role of Kelly's new boyfriend Jared, and Jean St. James throws in a moment of comedy for Bad Tutor as Karina Ayers, a tutor who falls victim to Devin's sabotage (another moment of comedy coming in the form of Kelly and Emily's introduction, which has Emily helping her mother scare off a sleazy date). A particular highlight of the side cast, however, comes in the form of Ian Ward as Emily's friend and fellow band member Steve. In addition to Ward exuding charm in his role as the sweet and supportive Steve, he also sells Steve's devastation at becoming a victim of Devin's deranged pursuit for all its worth before his arc comes to its expected tragic end.

(SPOILER ALERT: A pet peeve regarding Bad Tutor that I have is regarding its ultimate conclusion regarding Devin, who initially appears to commit suicide by stepping off the same cliff he pushed Alexis off of to her death. However, somehow, Devin manages to survive the fall and disappear before Emily can look over the cliff for him, with the epilogue showing Devin has somehow lied his way into college and is setting his sights on a student he bumps into. Even allowing for suspension of disbelief, Devin surviving the fall that killed his girlfriend and conjuring up evidence to pass himself off as a college student is too much to believe and takes what could've been a poignant but satisfying ending and turns it into a cliche "Bad Guy Gets Away" conclusion. Spoilers Over)

Aside from a few missteps, Bad Tutor remains a solid Lifetime thriller that has everything fans will eat up: an enjoyably deranged villain, strong protagonists, and some depth that will serve as a surprise to the Lifetime naysayers. And given his track record, I have little doubt David DeCoteau won't match Bad Tutor in strengths with the upcoming Wrong Tutor.

Score: 7 out of 10 "Seth Vertigo" T-shirts.