Lifetime Review: 'Love Triangle Nightmare'

Synopsis:

Divorce is rarely easy, and that's certainly the case for Brittany Conrad (Glenda Braganza). Her ex-husband Austin (Tomas Chovanec) is reluctant to sign the papers and Brittany's daughter Emma (Sadie Laflamme-Snow) is taking the split hard. That's why Brittany's friends decide to surprise her with a "divorce party weekend" that will allow her to rest and recharge. While Brittany finds it to be a little odd, something good seems to come from it: she meets Jake Rich (Jeff Teravainen), a charming doctor who seems to be just what she's looking for after all she went through with Austin. But Brittany's second chance at love isn't going to be like the movies. Not only does she have to contend with a persistent ex and a two-faced friend, but her dashing new beau has a dark past--and a willingness to resort to violent extremes to keep others from interfering with his and Brittany's relationship. This whirlwind romance could cost Brittany dearly...

Story:

The primary storyline of Love Triangle Nightmare explores familiar Lifetime territory: a woman is swept off her feet by a man who, unbeknownst to her, has a dark side and is willing to kill to have her. But before that action starts up, we get treated to some lighter-weight drama between Brittany and her friends. It's an unexpected turn that allows us to savor something a little different before getting into the meat of the plot.

Even when the movie shifts focus to the usual "My Boyfriend's a Psycho" beats, the pacing is slick and stable enough to keep your interest as you watch Jake scheme to eliminate those he perceives as threats to his and Brittany's "happily ever after." When it finally comes time for the truth to come to light, it's a swift but satisfying climax only undone a little bit by some overacting (more on that later). I also appreciated the film's realistic ending, which sees SPOILER ALERT Brittany agreeing to give her and Austin's marriage a second chance rather than her just straight up taking him back. The situation with Jake doesn't change the fact that Austin and Brittany still have a lot of unresolved issues to tackle, between his continued battle with alcoholism and his infidelity. Spoilers Over

Characters:

Many of the people in Love Triangle Nightmare start out as average Lifetime characters. There's the everywoman heroine, the supportive besties, the angsty teenage daughter, the charismatic psychopath, and so on and so forth. But of those by-the-book roles, the only ones that don't get the chance to develop beyond that are the archetypally useless detectives Bell and Hunter. Everyone else has a few shades to them that make them endearing or interesting. The character who gets this treatment the best is Brittany's assistant Thea. At first glance, she seems to be the usual best friend character, from her supportive demeanor to her giddy encouragement of Brittany and Jake's relationship. But it's not long before the viewer gets to see Thea for what she is: a self-centered woman with a vicious streak and ulterior motives for wanting Brittany to move on from Austin. Even when she's trying to make amends, she still can't stop putting her own needs first and her arrogance ends up coming back to bite her in a particularly heinous way.

None of the other characters go against the Lifetime playbook as much as Thea, but they're still enjoyable in their own ways. Whereas Thea is arguably a deconstruction of the Lifetime Heroine's BFF character, Brittany's friend Ava fits the mold perfectly. Still, she's an incredibly lovable woman whose complicated relationship with her best friend's ex-husband puts her in a unique conflict that makes her even more sympathetic. Austin and Emma Conrad have their moments of fulfilling the "Slimy/Possessive Ex-Husband" and "Bratty Teenage Daughter" tropes respectively. But once they start getting pulled into Jake's web, Austin shows that he really does have good intentions and Emma gets the chance to show off her resourcefulness and genre savvy after spending most of the movie offscreen.

Brittany and Jake stick closest to the formula, but that doesn't stop them from being interesting main characters. While she has her naïve moments, Brittany isn't nearly as daft as other Lifetime heroines that come to mind. She avoids rushing her relationship with Jake too much and Jake's efforts to turn Brittany against Austin are unsuccessful. Jake, meanwhile, is revealed to have motivations a bit more complicated that just being a lunatic. It's nothing major, but it adds a chilling and slightly nauseating fold to Jake's characterization. One thing that sticks out as off is how Jake talks about how his wife's death has put him off dating...at the same time he's courting Brittany and trying to ask her out. It's a blaring disconnect between actions and words that makes Brittany look more gullible than the writers intended.

Acting:

Glenda Braganza's performance is one that grew on me as the film went on. While she initially comes across like she's just going through the motions, she settles into the role once Brittany's life starts to fall apart. Whenever Brittany hits another emotional low, Braganza does a stellar job depicting her character's devastation. Similarly, Jeff Teravainen alternates between overselling and underselling several of Jake's evil moments. To his credit, there are scenes where this habit isn't present, the best instance being the scene where SPOILER ALERT Jake threatens Thea at knifepoint and forces her to write a fake suicide note before killing her offscreen. Spoilers Over When it comes to Jake's charismatic façade, Teravainen does great work making his character a silver-tongued devil in plain sight. This in turn makes it believable that Brittany would be lured into trusting him so quickly.

JaNae Armogan gives an incredibly lovable performance as the ever-supportive (to both Brittany and Austin) Ava. She's definitely more memorable here than when she played a similar character in Galentine's Day Nightmare. Alternatively, Kelly Hope Taylor brings all the haughtiness and audacity needed to play backstabbing "friend" Thea. Sadie Laflamme-Snow powers through some stilted deliveries to give Emma the fierce determination needed to make her third-act upgrade from side character to unexpected hero work.

Tomas Chovanec consistently nails his depiction of a troubled but good-hearted man struggling to atone for his mistakes, allowing you to feel for Austin as he begs Brittany not to give up on their marriage. The tentative chemistry Chovanec and Braganza share only adds to Austin and Brittany's well-written "estranged exes who still care about each other in spite of their issues" dynamic. Lastly, Rebecca Amzallag makes a solid impression as Sheera, a woman connected to Jake's past who proves to be a great help in the final act. She's ironically able to (in one scene alone) make more of an impact than Sochi Fried and Jarrod MacLean, the actors who get saddled with the unenviable roles of the generic and thoroughly unhelpful Detectives Bell and Hunter.

Overall:

In a lot of ways, Love Triangle Nightmare is just as formulaic as its synopsis would suggest. It hits many plot points Lifetime has explored a hundred times over and features all the character types Lifetime fanatics have come to expect. The at-times shaky acting only serves to further pull viewers out of the action. Thankfully, there are enough good acting moments here to outweigh the lesser ones. That, along with the compelling characters and engaging pace, is what keeps Love Triangle Nightmare from becoming too bland a Lifetime movie to enjoy when you've got the downtime. Plus, if you're like Brittany and fresh off a breakup, this film may be just what you need to distract yourself from the heartache and remember one of the benefits of being single: you don't have to worry about your significant other turning out to be a deranged murderer.

Score: 7 out of 10 soft bistro openings.