Lifetime Review: 'Galentine's Day Nightmare'

Claire Donahue (Camille Stopps) is a fashion designer still reeling from how her last relationship ended in tragedy. So for February 13th, Claire and her friends Tiffany and Sophia (Tina Jung and JaNae Armogan) go out for a Galentine's Day girls night. But despite her self-imposed "No Boys" rule, Claire winds up spending the night with Brian (Anthony Grant), a handsome and charismatic man she meets during the night out. From the looks of it, Claire's romantic misfortune has taken a turn for the better...

Until she learns that her one-night stand is also her new boss's husband! The revelation leaves Claire's head spinning, and Brian's behavior afterward only stuns her more. One day, he's pleading with her to give them a chance, and the next, he's yelling at her to stop "stalking" him. It's only after her boss is found murdered that Brian's intentions become clear: he's setting Claire up to take the fall for his crime. With help from her friends and family, can Claire find the evidence she needs to prove her innocence before her paramour steals her freedom--or her life?

While its story technically starts on the day before Valentine's Day, Galentine's Day Nightmare is another V-day themed Lifetime flick about a woman learning her "Mr. Right" is scheming against her. But even more so than The Wrong Valentine, Galentine's Day Nightmare isn't that heavily focused around the holiday it's set during. In fact, after the opening scene, I think "Galentine's" is only mentioned two other times (about two times less than its predecessor's references to Valentine's Day). But given how both movies focus on love stories gone rabid, such anti-Valentine's Day vibes make perfect sense. Galentine's Day Nightmare follows an oft-seen story, but thanks to a few tweaks and a solid enough cast, it offers enough zest to keep you watching as Claire goes from smitten to on the run.

To get some negatives out of the way first, the film follows The Wrong Valentine's example a bit when it comes to acting and dialogue. It's not as distracting or as noticeable, but there are still enough stiff deliveries and weird lines to give you pause. New Lifetime star Camille Stopps is shaky in places and the more-experienced-by-one-movie Anthony Grant fumbles some of Brian's cheesier lines. There's also the matter of the chemistry between Claire and Brian in their quick initial romance. Stopps and Grant play well enough together in these scenes, but between bouts of choppy acting and the rapid-fire pace of their romance, Claire's quick interest in Brian--which continues even after learning he's married to her boss--is hard to believe.

But in other areas of their characters, Stopps and Grant are consistently effective. As we watch Claire get pulled further into Brian's trap and learn more about her troubled past, Stopps allows us to feel Claire's vulnerability and anguish. And despite stumbling on some of Brian's cheesier lines, Grant is able to bring chilling malice to his character's cold and methodical plans for Claire. While he's given a tragic backstory (revealed in hints rather than thrown at the audience all at once), the film wisely doesn't try to use it to mitigate Brian's actions. Cleverly, said backstory is left vague enough to where it could be interpreted in a way that makes Brian even less sympathetic. In the end, Grant and the script leave you with little doubt that Brian Coleman is a heartless man who truly only cares about himself.

With Claire and Brian's cat-and-mouse game taking up most of the runtime, the supporting cast and their character are given very little room to make an impact. Susan Hamann gets the most focus as Anna Donahue, giving an adequate performance in a requisite "Supportive Mother" role. Lisa Michelle Cornelius's Detective Baily is the most memorable of the bunch, bringing a commanding energy to the wholly competent and level-headed detective. Even as Baily begins to suspect Claire of being involved in Margaret's murder, she never discounts the possibility that Brian could be involved. This allows Baily to serve as a parallel to her partner, Kate Fenton's Detective Sanders, who ends up being a more textbook Lifetime cop (read: narrow-sighted and quick to jump to conclusions). Thankfully, Sanders avoids becoming as infuriating as some Lifetime cops I've discussed in the past.

The remainder of the supporting cast is left with generic roles and a minuscule amount of screentime to work with. Even Karen Cliche can't bring any personality to the ill-fated Margaret Coleman, with her death scene being marred by a laughable use of the Wilhelm scream. Even if Cliche (for whatever reason) couldn't pull off a proper death scream, they could've found a better sound effect to use. SPOILER ALERT Alex Hook gives a decent enough emotional performance once Claire meets up with Brian's former stepdaughter Madison. But like Cliche, her screentime ends on a ridiculous note. I'm no medical expert, but I find it hard to believe that getting bonked on the head by a little horse statuette would cause such a severe injury. It was an out-of-place silly moment in an otherwise well-done suspense scene between Madison, Claire, and Brian.

(On the plus side, the third act reveal of Tiffany as Brian's accomplice was a well-done twist. It's not until the third act that her true nature becomes clear, and before then, there are a few hints to it dropped that aren't obvious on a first viewing. Tina Jung also effectively keeps Tiffany's colors hidden, keeping her performance from betraying a well-crafted surprise twist) Spoilers Over

It can't be said that Galentine's Day Nightmare is anything groundbreaking when it comes to Lifetime thrillers. The plot is a mashup of the "My Man's a Psycho" and "Clearing My Name" plot beats Lifetime has explored many times over in the past. An easy comparison that comes to mind is last year's My Husband's Deadly Past. But between the slower plot progression and flawed performances/character writing, Galentine's Day Nightmare doesn't quite align with its predecessor. But it has a surprisingly well-written mystery under its belt and the new-to-Lifetime leads have their strong moments of connecting you to their characters. Getting about as much right as it gets wrong, Galentine's Day Nightmare is a romance-turned-thriller that makes for a good downtime watch. It might even leave you feeling like you dodged a bullet if you spent this past Valentine's Day solo.

Score: 6.5 out of 10 keyloggers.