Lifetime Review: 'Erasing His Dark Past'

Freelance photographer Karen Miller (Laurie Fortier) couldn't have asked for a better husband than David (Michael Welch). Handsome and loving, David proved to be just what Karen and her 17-year-old daughter Annie (Taylor Blackwell) needed after the death of Karen's first husband and Annie's father. But their perfect life takes a hit when David is suddenly killed in a plane crash while away on business, devastating Karen and Annie.

But before Karen even has time to properly grieve, she learns from her bank that there are numerous problems with her finances, most of which are a result of a late mortgage she never took out. As Karen looks deeper into her financial problems, she finds that in addition to the mortgage, many of her accounts have been mysteriously wiped out. As her financial situation leaves Karen puzzled, she begins to realize that David was not the perfect man she thought he was—and she will soon have to fight to protect herself and Annie from the husband she never really knew.

Eight months following his last appearance on Lifetime, Michael Welch is back on the channel in another villainous role. Like in Who's Stalking Me? and the 2017 release The Bachelor Next Door, Welch proves himself effective as an antagonist, with his performance as the duplicitous David having him alternate between suavely manipulative and remorselessly callous. The opening act has the audience witnessing the loving relationships David has crafted with Karen and Annie, allowing the audience to see how skilled David is at manipulating people while cringing at the inevitable moment when Karen and Annie realize the compassionate man they've grown to love and trust is a heartless monster. The third act, as per usual, allows for Welch to go wonderfully over-the-top as David goes from conniving to violent, and apart from one moment that goes a bit too far for my taste, Welch utilizes these moments to make David a deranged and thoroughly loathsome and hypocritical villain who you will root to see Karen defeat.

Laurie Fortier makes Karen a sympathetic and strong protagonist, allowing Karen to show vulnerability to David's scheme while never allowing her to truly become a helpless victim against him. Fortier also plays well off of Taylor Blackwell in their characters' "estranged mother-daughter duo who deep down really do love each other" dynamic, including a particularly powerful scene they share after Karen and Annie first learn of David's "death." While Karen and Annie each receive an uncharacteristically snippy moment that sticks out like a sore thumb, the pair build their strained but loving relationship well, with Blackwell bringing a particular poignancy to her character when Annie learns the truth about the man she had grown to love like a father the hard way.

Steven Allerick is charming as Karen's co-worker Neil, bringing a deep sincerity to his friendship and implied romantic attraction to Karen in every scene he shares with Fortier. Al Sapienza (who previously appeared with Fortier in MarVista's In Bed with a Killer) is also solid as the gruff and suspicious Detective Baldwin, even if it is a bit disheartening to see one of my favorite Lifetime Familiar Faces relegated to the much maligned "Useless Cop" trope with little variation added to it. Add to that, Baldwin's first scene has him talking to Annie, which has him speaking to Annie in such a cloying manner that you'd think he was talking to someone who was 7 instead of 17—not an introduction that inspires confidence in a character's likability. In a surprise cameo, Mary Badham (famous for playing Scout Finch in the 1962 film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird in her first film role) appears as bank employee Barbara, with Badham bringing palpable worry to her dialogue as Barbara does what she can to help Karen with her increasingly troubling situation.

As for the plot itself, Erasing His Dark Past keeps its action well-paced for the most part, starting a build of tension at the initial hints of David's true nature before culminating in an intense third act dominated by Welch and Fortier's performances and a conclusion that ends things on a rather distressing note once you think about it. A slight flaw comes into play in the third act due to David's professed jealousy of Karen and Neil's friendship, which goes against his characterization as not caring about Karen anymore now that she has served her purpose for his scheme. Erasing His Dark Past also has moments throughout its first acts where the action is unnecessarily dragged down, namely in how long it takes for Karen to realize and accept that David was not all he seemed to be, despite the ample evidence in front of her.

As a whole, however, Erasing His Dark Past is a well-paced and entertaining Lifetime thriller, with Michael Welch once again delivering as a histrionic villain. With a solid cast surrounding Welch, Erasing His Dark Past is an overall enjoyable Lifetime thriller. If you were a fan of Welch in his previous villain roles, this film is surely to be right up your alley.

Score: 7 out of 10 mini-golf dates.