Lifetime Review: 'Dying for a Family'

Synopsis:

Sisters Darcie and Hannah Williams (Maddy Hillis and Alaska Leigh) both agree that they lucked out with their latest foster parents. They've been with Gillian and Keith Parks (Corina Akeson and Jay Hindle) for a few years now and the well-to-do couple has finally given Darcie and Hannah a stable home again. But on the night they announce their plan to formally adopt the sisters, their happy life comes crashing down. After Gillian and Hannah get into a fight, Hannah sneaks out of the house and is nowhere to be found the next day. While the police are certain it's a simple case of a runaway teen, Darcie knows her sister wouldn't abandon her without a word of explanation and starts her own investigation into Hannah's disappearance. But the secrets Darcie uncovers could cost her her family...and her life.

Story:

This makes the third Lifetime movie I've seen recently about a girl going missing and a loved one searching for her. Dying for a Family isn't as good as Disappearance in Yellowstone, but it still outranks Big Lies in a Small Town (which, incidentally, is also about a missing girl named Hannah). The pacing is smooth enough to keep a viewer's interest from drifting too far and the mystery's resolution may surprise you in one way or another. The case is light on suspects, but Darcie's sleuthing turns up so little concrete evidence that you won't be able to really predict who the guilty party is until Darcie finds something that spells it all out. The admittedly simplistic mystery is spiced up a little by the film putting a secondary focus on the turmoil Hannah's disappearance causes for her family. This kind of plot structure won't be up everyone's alley, but for others, it'll keep them from tuning out before the dramatic climax kicks in.

Characters:

All the characters you expect to find in a Lifetime mystery are here. There's the spunky heroine, the suspicious boyfriend, the unhelpful detectives, and the suspects. While none of the characters in Dying For a Family are especially unlikable, they rarely feel like more than cardboard cutouts. Gillian fares the best of the bunch, as her neurotic and easily overwhelmed demeanor sets her apart from other Lifetime maternal figures. Darcie and Hannah are an accurate depiction of sisters whose differing personalities (Hannah is significantly brasher than Darcie) don't take away from the loving bond they share as a result of their rough upbringing. But Hannah doesn't get enough screentime to get all that much development and Darcie ultimately doesn't stray far from the "Nancy Drew type" mold. The only unique thing about her is how her foster care background serves as her somewhat understandable reason for not trusting the police.

Still, Darcie remains a likable protagonist from beginning to end and she has a few vulnerable moments that are sure to elicit more empathy from the audience. Gillian is also pretty sympathetic once you get past her argument with Hannah, a scene that doesn't give the best first impression of her. As uptight as the woman may be, Gillian clearly loves both her foster daughters with all her heart and wants to protect them after all they've been through. She just makes the mistake of taking her maternal instincts too far, which inadvertently causes trouble for everyone.

SPOILER ALERT Ironically, while Keith initially appears to be stabler and more level-headed than his wife, the twist reveals he's actually a cruel human trafficker willing to kill his entire family to protect his secret. In one splash of depth, we see Keith tearing up as he gives the order to his henchman to kill Darcie and Gillian to get the video, suggesting he didn't want the cover-up to come to such a horrific conclusion. But ultimately, whatever love Keith has for his family is overshadowed by his greed and sense of self-preservation. The implication that Keith only agreed to foster Darcie and Hannah to appease Gillian adds another fold to his character. Spoilers Over The remaining characters are Hannah's troubled boyfriend Caleb and the investigating detectives Diaz and Swenson. The detectives are formulaically useless while Caleb inexplicably shifts from aloof jerk to kind ally just in time to help Darcie in her investigation. Despite having significantly more screentime than them, Caleb is just as underdeveloped as the cops assigned to his girlfriend's case.

Acting:

Maddy Hillis and Alaska Leigh don't get too much screentime together, but in the time they have, they develop some heartwarmingly believable sisterly chemistry. Hillis also gives the most natural performance of the cast, making up for where Darcie's character falls flat. Of Hillis and Leigh's co-stars, only Corina Akeson and Jay Hindle make any big impression. Akeson emotively brings Gillian's high-strung personality to life while SPOILER ALERT Hindle does a fine job selling Keith's eleventh-hour transformation from normal suburbanite dad to cold-blooded monster. Spoilers Over The supporting cast is comprised of Aiden Howard, Nneka Croal , and Leo Chiang as boyfriend Caleb and detectives Diaz and Swenson. Unfortunately, none of their performances go beyond a "bland, but serviceable" ranking, due largely in part to how stale and underused their characters are.

Overall:

It's definitely not as dull as Big Lies in a Small Town, but Dying For a Family still hits enough rough patches to fall short of being a great Lifetime movie. The pacing won't suit every viewer's taste and the characters are fairly lacking in distinguishing personalities, despite the efforts of their actors. On the other hand, the plot has enough momentum to keep it from coming completely undone and the underbaked mystery at least has the potential to surprise you when the cause of Hannah's disappearance is revealed. It may not be a film you'll be dying to watch again when it's over, but it still makes for a fine downtime flick.

Score: 6.5 out of 10 celestial planispheres.