Lifetime Review: 'Ruthless Realtor'

Having just bought their dream house, Annie and Ralph Savage (Lily Anne Harrison and Brian Ames) should be thrilled to finally have a place to start their family. There's just one problem keeping them from fully enjoying their new home: their realtor, Meg Atkins (Christie Burson). While she initially appeared to be a sweet if overly chipper woman, Meg's fixation on the Savages and frequent visits to the house quickly begin to unnerve Annie and Ralph.

When Meg's behavior crosses one line too many, Annie puts her foot down and orders Meg to leave her and Ralph alone. Even as the police become involved, Meg continues to hound the Savages, professing to be trying to protect them from a prowler out to harm them. Is Meg truly delusional...or is there more to Annie and Ralph's new home than meets the eye?

It's ironic how Ruthless Realtor and Secrets in the Basement ended up premiering a day apart from each, given how both movies can be boiled down to the same basic premise. Each center around a married couple buying their dream home, only to have the happy occasion rocked by an unwanted presence in their new dwelling. As you can guess from the title, Ruthless Realtor has its lead couple's troubles being the result of their unbalanced realtor. Also similar to Secrets in the Basement is how quickly the movie throws us into the central drama, with Annie and Ralph quickly growing wise to Meg's instability and working to get her out of their lives. While Ruthless Realtor doesn't have as much wall-to-wall suspense and thrills as Secrets in the Basement, it still makes for an entertaining Lifetime drama that even injects a touch of creativity to a familiar Lifetime formula.

WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW

While Ruthless Realtor would initially appear set to be an average Lifetime obsession feature, there proves to be more going on beneath the surface level. The plot synopsis was enough to convince me of this, and as the movie went on, it became clear to me who the Savages' truly dangerous stalker was. Given the minuscule amount of plausible suspects, odds are likely many viewers will see Lynette's villainous reveal coming. But like Secrets in the Basement, Ruthless Realtor tips its hand early enough regarding the reveal and works well enough as a drama to keep its non-mystery from causing serious damage.

What's more, the reveal allows for a neat little juxtaposition to occur between Ruthless Realtor's pair of unstable women. While Meg wears her unhinged colors on her sleeve, Lynette is introduced as your standard brusque snob before appearing to become an ally for Annie--leaving her fooled by Lynette's cloak of innocence. Christie Burson does an amazing job playing into Meg's social awkwardness and eventual bouts of desperate mania, with the role being considerably juicier and giving Burson more to work with than her character in last year's bland Fatal Getaway. Alexandra Peters, meanwhile, does well at hiding Lynette's true nature behind a supportive veneer before throwing herself into her character's reveal as a truly heartless sociopath. Peters' fantastically histrionic performance is complemented by Burson bringing Meg's previously subdued sympathetic qualities to the surface. For all her instability, Meg was never a danger to the Savages and was trying to protect them throughout the second half of the movie, only to be rejected as a delusional nutcase.

Spoilers Over

As for the film's main leads, Lily Anne Harrison and Brian Ames make for a compelling duo as Annie and Ralph waste no time wising up to Meg's unnerving obsession with them. Between the two of them, Ralph is a little slower to catch on than Annie. But with Ames' charm and Ralph's willingness to give Meg the benefit of the doubt that she's just a lonely woman in need of friendship, Ralph never loses any sympathy points. Annie, on the other hand, may have you wincing during moments when her outrage at Meg is unwarranted or (as shown later in the film) needlessly harsh and smug. But despite her imperfect character, Harrison gives a solid performance and plays well off all her co-stars--particularly Ames. Neil Lewis also has a memorable impact as Officer Miller, who proves to be a solid aversion of the "Useless Cop" trope and receives a cathartic moment of telling Annie off for being unnecessarily snide with Meg. SPOILER ALERT The movie even takes the time to give him some backstory regarding his family and career ambitions, making his expected demise hold more emotional weight than it would've without that information. Spoilers Over

What Ruthless Realtor lacks in high-octane thrills, it makes up for with consistent drama and a pace that keeps that drama from growing stagnant. It all culminates in a dramatic climax featuring some spectacularly wild fight choreography (a far cry from the unexplainably-odd-looking fight sequence that opens the movie) and an ending that ties it all together on a surprisingly sweet note. Like the film that predates it by a day, Ruthless Realtor would've flopped if it relied solely on its mystery elements, and Annie's unsympathetic moments are sure to rub some the wrong way. But with stellar drama and a cast that helps bring it to life, Ruthless Realtor still makes for an entertaining movie to unwind to. And for Christie Burson fans who were as disappointed as I was to see her abilities wasted last year, Ruthless Realtor will certainly wash the taste of Fatal Getaway out of your mouth.

Score: 7.5 out of 10 mounted pregnancy tests.