Lifetime Review: 'Mommy is a Murderer'

While her new children's boutique business has been doing well, Karina Harlow (Bree Williamson) still feels like an outsider in her new town--which leaves her wary to her husband Ryan's (Jason Cermak) eagerness to have a child. In desperate need of a new friend, Karina finds herself bonding with new customer Lena Colbert (Heather McComb), who herself is the single mother of a beautiful young girl named Mallie (Josie M. Parker). At first, Lena proves to be just what Karina is looking for, even as she takes quick note of how extremely protective Lena is over Mallie.

But after an incident where Mallie is nearly abducted from her store, Karina begins to notice odd things about both Mallie and Lena--and soon, Lena's overprotective qualities go from odd but understandable to disconcerting. It soon becomes clear to Karina that there's a secret lurking in Lena's past--one she's prepared to kill to keep it there.

Mommy is a Murderer (previously given the superior title of Forgotten Abduction) is similar in two big ways to another recent Lifetime premiere, Deadly Daughter Switch. Both have Lindsay Hartley working behind the scenes in some capacity (she co-wrote Deadly Daughter Switch while Mommy is a Murderer serves as Hartley's directorial debut) and both have a trio of actors familiar to Lifetime serving as the main characters. In this case, the familiar duo consists of Bree Williamson, Heather McComb, and Jason Cermak. One major difference, however, is what causes many of Mommy is a Murderer's problems: while Deadly Daughter Switch took a familiar plotline and spiced it up a little, Mommy is a Murderer more or less sticks strictly to the formula.

While many Lifetime movies in the past have been able to spin entertaining content out of familiar plotlines, Mommy is a Murderer makes the mistake of following the pattern to a constricting degree, seemingly content to stay on the narrow path set by its basic premise. As such, the story becomes dry and hard to be engaged with, and the film's uneven pacing only makes matters worse. So much of the movie is spent on build-up that by the time Mommy is a Murderer gets into the meat of its story, viewers may already be too tuned out to care.

Thankfully, Mommy is a Murderer boasts a cast that proves more than up to the task of making up for their film's lackluster plot. Bree Williamson makes Karina a protagonist you quickly like and feel for. After seeing her vent about her worries regarding motherhood, seeing Karina easily bond with Mallie and later move heaven and earth to protect her is made all the more heartwarming thanks to Williamson's earnest performance. Karina also makes up for the film's slow pace by being an incredibly proactive main character, quick to notice that something is off about Lena's relationship with Mallie and quick to act accordingly once it becomes clear that Lena is dangerous--even as she faces doubts from her husband and finds herself ostracized from her friends thanks to Lena's manipulations.

Speaking of Lena, Heather McComb brings balance to her portrayal of Lena Colbert. Like Lindy Shores from Psycho Party Planner, Lena is a villainess whose insanity is played from a more subdued angle by their actor. But while Katrina Begin's performance was at times shaky on how she balanced Lindy's good false persona and her true psychotic nature, McComb's portrayal remains even throughout the film as we see her use the persona of a loving but overprotective mother to hide her dark secret. McComb brings a sincerity to this false persona, just as she brings an understated malice to the scenes when she pulls back the veil to reveal her true self.

WARNING: Spoilers Below

The film's finale also allows for the tragedy that drove Lena down her dark path to emerge, with McComb allowing for that heartache to permeate Lena's violent actions in the film's finale. Even as she proves herself willing to kill innocent people to get what she wants, Lena seems to subconsciously realize that she's gone too far, but feels it's too late to go back--an emotional crossroads that McComb sells incredibly well (with Williamson playing well off her as Karina manages to talk her down). Unfortunately for Lena and by extension McComb, Mommy is a Murderer ends without Lena's character arc receiving a proper ending, and while the ultimate conclusion is a sweet one, it would've proven stronger had we gotten closure on what became of Lena and any potential relationship she could have with her biological daughter.

Spoilers Over

As with his past roles on Lifetime, Jason Cermak has a charming presence as devoted husband Ryan, maintaining likability even as he doubts whether or not Karina is right to be suspicious of Lena. Josie M. Parker is adorable as the young Mallie and shares natural chemistry with Williamson as Mallie and Karina bond, and David Kelsey brings authentic emotions to a character who proves vital in the third act (whose identity I will withhold to cut back on spoilers). Thanks to both the primary and secondary cast bringing their all to the proceedings, Mommy is a Murderer is given a reason for viewers to keep watching, even when the formulaic plot drags to a crawl and makes it hard to stay invested.

Coming so soon after the exceptional Lindsay-Hartley-penned Deadly Daughter Switch, seeing her directorial debut be for such a bland film is a bit disheartening. While the cast clearly puts all their effort into their characters and the final act proves both intense and surprisingly heartfelt, the painfully paint-by-numbers story and segments of tedious pacing prove too detrimental to fully compensate for--and may be enough to send viewers away. Seeing as Mommy is a Murderer is credited as writer Kate Hanyok's first project, here's hoping that experience comes with improvement if she decides to continue writing for Lifetime.

Score: 5 out of 10 tulle dresses.