Lifetime Review: 'Beware of Mom'

After she's caught by the police at a college party, Kylie Porter (Nicolette Langley) is grounded and has something of a falling-out with her caring but strict mother Tanya (René Ashton). A welcome distraction comes in the form of Anna (Crystal Allen) and her teenage daughter Jessie (Monica Rose Betz), who move into Kylie's neighborhood and quickly make an impression on the teen. Charmed by Anna's social media fame and party-loving attitude, Kylie finds herself wrapped up in Anna's allure and growing further apart from Tanya.

While Tanya does what she can to put a stop to Anna's toxic influence over Kylie, Anna is far from willing to let Kylie go. Having grown to view Kylie as her own daughter, Anna is hellbent on having Kylie all to herself--even if that means taking Tanya out of the picture.

Obsessive and psychotic mothers are a frequent source of drama in the world of Lifetime. Recent inductees in this Lifetime subgenre include Deadly Daughter Switch and Stalked by My Husband's Ex. Astute Lifetime watchers or readers of my blog might also recognize Beware of Mom's villainous lead Crystal Allen from the other "Psycho Mom" Lifetime movie she was in last year (if you don't know what I'm referring to, avoid the link). But despite having this fierce lead and a literally explosive opening to its name, Beware of Mom's drama is surprisingly contained and (at times) plodding. This, in addition to having an alarming amount of familiar plot beats and frustrating character moments, put the film in danger of falling apart.

Thankfully, Beware of Mom has a stellar cast to counteract these stumbles. As already stated, Crystal Allen is no stranger to Lifetime and thoroughly delivers as maniacal mother Anna. From her histrionic "cool mom" façade to her moments of unbridled insanity, Allen nails it when playing Anna as a psychotic Lifetimey take on June George. Allen is at her strongest, however, when Beware of Mom allows a darker side of Anna's craziness to emerge. As Anna becomes more fixated on having Kylie as her "new daughter", we not only see how far she's willing to go to make her delusions a reality, but also how horribly she treats her actual daughter Jessie. Like her previous villain roles, Allen brings ice cold malice to Anna as she grows crueler towards Jessie and even towards Kylie in her efforts to get what she wants, making her a villainess you'll root to see meet her downfall.

Matching Allen's performance is Monica Rose Betz as beleaguered daughter Jessie. Fresh off her Lifetime debut in Birthmother's Betrayal, Betz makes an even bigger splash in Beware of Mom. Betz makes Jessie as adorkably sweet as Tara, and as the movie goes on, she allows us to see the hidden turmoil having a mother like Anna leaves her with. Starting with just a few hints that Jessie isn't as on board with her mother's behavior as she might appear, Betz cranks up the emotional resonance when Anna goes from unconventional but sweet to brash and volatile. Betz is sure to have your heart aching as Jessie endures her mother's emotional abuse and struggles with being a pawn in Anna's scheme, allowing you to cheer her on when her chance to strike back comes.

Making her own Lifetime premiere is Nicolette Langley as Kylie Porter. Langley has a charming screen presence and certainly brings authenticity to Kylie's sweeter and more likable moments. But for a good portion of the first act, Kylie is your standard "Bratty Teenage Daughter" trope that more than a few Lifetime fans have grown to hate. Mercifully, Kylie doesn't go too far in her brattiness to become unlikable, with the third act allowing Kylie and Tanya's love for each other to shine through their moments of estrangement and for a deeper camaraderie to form between Kylie and Jessie. Beware of Mom also sets Kylie up to face the consequences of her earlier behavior and naivete regarding Anna, ultimately allowing Kylie's character growth to coincide with Jessie's.

To finish out the main cast, we have Lifetime regular René Ashton as Tanya Porter--who marks Ashton's first time appearing as a central character on the channel. Character-wise, Tanya is a fairly standard "Loving but Stern" mother figure common for Lifetime, and her limited screentime in comparison to the rest of the main cast doesn't leave her with a lot of room to grow. But with the time she does have, Ashton gives Tanya a maternal warmth and forms chemistry with Langley that makes them believable as a troubled but loving mother-daughter duo. Ashton also makes sure to reign in Tanya's protectiveness, keeping it at an understandable level so as to not make you root for Anna to succeed in stealing Kylie. For her first central Lifetime role, Ashton does very well, with a scene in which Tanya opens up about her feelings surrounding her husband's death being Ashton's definitive shining moment.

The plot and script are where most of Beware of Mom's problems reside. Along with the issues mentioned earlier, Beware of Mom contains more than your fair share of annoying character moments that will be familiar to regular Lifetime viewers. While a few moments can be forgiven by suspension of disbelief, this film has enough to where it gets annoying. Kylie's naivete with Anna is moderately forgivable, but more egregious moments of idiocy abound throughout Beware of Mom. Those instances include: WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW

1. Tanya buying into Anna's false sudden change of heart after bearing witness to Anna's true nature.

2. Anna's sister-in-law Zoe (played by Andrea Lee Davis) waiting far too long to try and warn Tanya about Anna before doing the usual moronic bit of boasting to Anna--who she knows to be a deranged murderer--about all the evidence she has against her while they're alone together. You can imagine how that ends.

And 3. Tanya (for reasons unknown) not calling the police after learning that Anna has abducted Kylie and taken her and Jessie to an isolated motel. Instead, she opts to go there alone to rescue her daughter....unarmed and still potentially weathering the effects of Anna's attempt on her life. Any of these moments would be annoying on their own, but together, the frustration almost reaches a breaking point.

Spoilers Over

The side cast is also without many surprise gems, though this is more for lack of focus than anyone's acting ability. Jessica Buda is left with a flat character in Tanya's requisite BFF/co-worker Renee, and Andrea Lee Davis' side character is left similarly flat and--as described in the Spoiler section--is marred by her frustratingly dense decisions. The closest thing to a memorable side character is Anna's musician colleague Carter, with Brandon Howell (previously seen in 2018's Nightmare Best Friend) doing what he can with his brief screentime to have Carter strike a charming (if only slightly troubling) dynamic with Kylie.

But for all of its faults, Beware of Mom still comes out as a fairly solid Lifetime drama. Crystal Allen is at her usual best, and shows true potential as a budding Lifetime regular. With a similarly talented cast surrounding her and a third act that makes up for the pacing dips, Beware of Mom brings enough to the table to redeem its weaker points to some degree. And if you're like me and enjoy yourself a nutty Lifetime villainess, Beware of Mom has what you're looking for!

Score: 6.5 out of 10 tragic keepsake stuffed animals.