Lifetime Review: 'Nightmare Wedding'

It seems Sandy (Nicola Posener) is on her way to a fairytale life. Not only is she working towards becoming a doctor, but she's preparing to get married to Max (Isaac Reyes), her college sweetheart. While the wedding preparations have perfectionist Sandy a little frazzled, Max assures her that their wedding will go smoothly and that the busy weekend before their nuptials will give them some romantic time together.

But unbeknownst to Max, one of his guests is a big reason why Sandy is so nervous about the upcoming weekend. That guest is Roman (Evan Henderson), Max's best man and close friend--and the man Sandy lost her virginity to. Desperate to keep her fling with Roman in the past, Sandy hopes to get through the weekend without too much awkwardness. But as becomes clearer and clearer as the weekend goes on, Roman still isn't over his brief relationship with Sandy. How far will this jilted lover go to have Sandy as his bride?

With Nicola Posener having been introduced to the Lifetime Christmas Movie scene with this year's A Crafty Christmas Romance, I thought it would be fun to revisit the London-born actress's first official Lifetime movie: The Asylum's Nightmare Wedding. In another unintentional bit of irony, I'm revisiting this film at around the same time it first premiered on Lifetime--November 19, 2016. Coming from the campy mockbuster company responsible for Psycho BFF and Her Deadly Groom, it's not much of a surprise that Nightmare Wedding has a similar over-the-top flair to it. While the story and characters have some stumbles that take the film below its successors, Nightmare Wedding still makes for an enjoyable watch thanks to a capable cast and a delicious sense of Lifetimey melodrama.

Unsurprisingly, the source of much of this drama is obsessed ex Roman. But what is surprising is how much emotional resonance Evan Henderson brings to his character. Unlike other romantically obsessed Lifetime villains, Roman's fixation on Sandy doesn't come with many undertones of entitlement. Instead, Henderson brings pitiable desperation to Roman's pursuit of his brief college lover. So even as Roman is resorting to violent and backstabbing means to win Sandy back, Henderson's emotive performance might have you feeling a twinge of empathy for the hopelessly infatuated man.

WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW

The finale allows Henderson to bring all this emotion to a head. Henderson perfectly captures Roman's poignantly insane delusions and the genuine heartbreak that hits him once Sandy makes it clear that she'll never love him, dead or alive. It adds a lot of weight to Roman's suicide--weight that is at great odds with the film's tone-deaf final shot. After such a heavy scene, seeing Sandy and Max share a passionate kiss (seemingly over all the chaos Roman stirred up between them) before an abrupt fade-to-The-End-card felt more than a little icky and unsatisfying. A better final shot would've been having Sandy and Max staring in shock at the cliff before slowly fading to black, leaving the couple's future and the lasting effects of Roman's actions and death ambiguous.

Spoilers Over

In addition to all the unexpected depth, Henderson brings all the right charm to Roman, making it believable that Max and so many others would be lulled into trusting him--or at least think he's just a harmless douchebag. Meanwhile, the rest of the cast all get their moments to shine. Nicola Posener's Lifetime debut is a strong one, selling Sandy's downward spiral with emotive prowess. Though Sandy is something of a prickly protagonist (more on that in a bit), Posener's performance allows some sympathy for her character to survive. Isaac Reyes is in the same boat as Posener: giving a likably quirky performance as a rough-around-the-edges character. Future Lifetime leading lady Gina Vitori is a snarky blast as Sandy's perpetually drunk and manic sister Megan, and while she has moments of becoming too histrionic, AnnMarie Giaquinto gets a fun scene in the third act where she rages on two characters for their perceived callous actions.

Angie Teodora Dick also gives a good performance as Sandy's requisite Genre Savvy bestie Lisa, though her character's actions do draw attention to one of Sandy's unsavory traits. Similar to Dying For a Daughter's Karen, Lisa is the first character we see directly confront Roman about his odd behavior and troubling efforts to steal Sandy from Max. While her tell-off to Roman is much-needed, it also reminds you just how complacent Sandy is about Roman's unwanted presence at her wedding.

The only reason Roman even has an in for worming his way back into Sandy's life is because she decided to keep their relationship a secret from Max. And with how vaguely defined her history with Roman is, it's not even clear why Sandy insists on keeping her soon-to-be husband in the dark about it. From what little information we get, I'm left with the impression that Sandy and Roman's fling happened before she started dating Max. So in addition to her moments of being shrill and overly snappish, Sandy's willingness to put up with Roman's creepy behavior to superfluously save face cuts away at her sympathy. That vague history also damages Max's character a bit, since it causes his (admittedly partially justified) outrage at finding out the truth to take on some possessive undertones. All that said, it does come with the unintentional side effect of making Nightmare Wedding fun to watch in a different way. With Sandy essentially opening the door for Roman to wreak havoc on her wedding weekend, the chaotic snowball effect he sets into motion comes with a hint of catharsis.

According to IMDB, Nightmare Wedding is currently Evan Henderson's only Lifetime movie. After seeing his performance here, though, I can't imagine why Lifetime wouldn't want him as a regular star. As played by Henderson, Roman makes for an entertainingly insane and calculating villain who also has some surprising shades of nuance. Even as the protagonists drift towards unlikable territory, Roman and the drama he leaves in his wake keep the movie fun. Still, the main protagonists' attitudes and actions are enough to grate the nerves and the finale certainly doesn't do Henderson justice after how he brought Roman to life. But if you like your Lifetime with a big helping of melodrama, Nightmare Wedding is as scrumptious as a slice of wedding cake.

Score: 7.5 out of 10 toy stethoscopes.