Lifetime Review: 'The Nanny Murders'

With an Ivy League degree fresh under her belt, Jamie Kassman (Mia Topalian) is certain she's ready to take the business world by storm. But throughout her job search, Jamie is discouraged to find no employer is willing to hire someone fresh out of university with no experience. Just when things seem hopeless for Jamie, a big job opportunity falls into her lap: a nanny job for Walton Page (Coby Ryan McLaughlin), the billionaire businessman and philanthropist who Jamie has always idolized. Charmed by Walton's kindness to her and quickly bonding with his daughters Madison and Gwenny (AnaSofia Bianchi and Scarlett Fernandez), Jamie feels like she's found the perfect stepping stone for her career.

But Jamie's dream job turns into a nightmare when Walton's friendliness turns into unwanted advances. While Jamie tries to set boundaries with her employer, Walton soon crosses a line that leaves Jamie wanting out. But with an NDA and work contract tying her hands and the police refusing to believe her word over Walton's, Jamie is all on her own as she fights to break free from her idol turned tormentor. And as Jamie will soon learn, Walton Page is willing to do anything to protect his reputation--even kill.

It couldn't be more appropriate that The Nanny Murders (originally known under the much-more-fitting title Nanny's Killer Scandal) would premiere on Lifetime a day after Obsessed With the Babysitter. Not only do both films follow similar "Nanny in Peril" storylines, but each has a villain with heavily misogynistic attitudes. And with The Nanny Murders' antagonist being an influential businessman who believes his wealth and power entitles him to whatever he wants and makes him above the law, the #MeToo undertones of this film are much more blatant than the ones from Obsessed With the Babysitter. But unlike its predecessor, which had mostly consisting pacing, The Nanny Murders is uneven in that area--especially towards the final act as the action begins to feel more and more needlessly stretched. The plot maintains its intense nature and the cast does a good job, but the pace and some characterization issues bring The Nanny Murders below the subject of my last review.

The way The Nanny Murders started out, though, seemed promising. Walton's sleazy intentions with Jamie become clear before the first act is over, with much of the film's second half focusing on Jamie trying to escape the legal stranglehold Walton has her in. While you're bound to get frustrated seeing Jamie initially ignore Walton's inappropriate advances for the sake of her career, her reasons for doing so are sympathetic and budding Lifetime regular Mia Topalian does well as Jamie fights back and becomes intent on bringing her ex-role model down. But as the film goes on, the action turns into a long string of scenes of Jamie trying to uncover evidence about Walton's crimes and escaping Walton's attempts to murder her. While this could've made for a thrilling game of cat-and-mouse, it instead grows dull and at times becomes annoying due to how inept Jamie and Walton sometimes are in their respective roles in the game.

Actually, quite a few of Jamie's actions throughout the film lose her some sympathy points. SPOILER ALERT During their meet-up after the forced kiss, Jamie follows in the daft footsteps of Fatal Fiancé's Faith and accepts an out-of-her-line-of-sight-prepared drink from a man she knows has had ill intentions with her. That's not even getting into the meeting itself, which shows how Jamie's first response to Walton's sexual harassment is to try and blackmail a job out of him. As much as Walton deserves the threat, it doesn't take away from the unfortunate implications of Jamie only beginning her fight to put a stop to her predatory boss after her attempted extortion almost gets her killed. It also makes Jamie shaming Sheryl as "weak" for not wanting to go against her husband out of fear he'll take her children from her all the more cruel and hypocritical.

(Also, as the film goes on, Jamie is pretty bad at treading carefully after realizing the well-connected Walton is out to silence her by any means necessary. In her most baffling move, Jamie and Claire don't even consider finding somewhere else to stay after learning that Walton has put hidden cameras in their house and sent his henchman there with the presumed intention of killing them) Spoilers Over

Walton Page makes for the more consistently written half of The Nanny Murders' cat-and-mouse dynamic. Like Obsessed With the Babysitter's Simon Haycock, Coby Ryan McLaughlin gives an excellent performance as Walton transforms from a kind and encouraging boss/friend to a sleazy and ruthlessly entitled monster. While he makes as many mistakes trying to silence Jamie as she does trying to expose him, McLaughlin makes up for it with the way he throws himself into his perfectly despicable and arrogant character. Max Decker does the same as Walton's equally threatening righthand man Buck, making him a memorably menacing henchman.

The rest of the cast does similarly well playing characters that are--for the most part--better written than Jamie's. While her character is at times too eager and casual about her friend's serious predicament, Kennedy Tucker gives an overall likable performance as Jamie's supportive bestie Claire. The Page daughters are adorable as played by AnaSofia Bianchi and Scarlett Fernandez and form quick chemistry with Topalian (and lack the grating qualities of the Cartwright girls from Obsessed With the Babysitter) and Arianne Zucker makes a strong impact when the movie gives Sheryl some time to shine and open up about her troubling relationship with Walton. SPOILER ALERT Zucker and Sheryl are both at their best in the big climax, where Sheryl bursts onto the scene to save Jamie, reveal that she's set up Walton to be exposed for his crimes, and revel in having finally reclaimed her life from her bastard of a husband. If Sheryl had been the main protagonist instead of Jamie, I'd say The Nanny Murders would've been better for it. Spoilers Over

Matt Pratt makes for a memorable bit player as Ryan (the brother of the Page family's previous nanny Mara) and Revenge for Daddy's Robert Palmer Watkins brings as much charm as he can to Jamie's boyfriend Zack. But between Zack being such a milquetoast love interest who's willing to let Walton terrorize Jamie to save his own neck, there's not a lot Watkins can do to salvage such a spineless character. Though given the self-serving colors Jamie displays early on, it's almost enough to make me say that she and Zack deserve each other. And in addition to all the script problems, the visuals for this film get a little wonky sometimes. The opening sequence has this weird wavy overlay effect that makes it look like it's taking place on a Windows screensaver, and throughout the film, there are a few instances of shaky camera shots and weird scene cuts. At least the oddly edited opening ends with a clever transition cut to Jamie.

But in the end, The Nanny Murders' biggest issue comes down to its pacing. While the story had the potential for suspense and drama, a lot of it gets lost under all the padding the movie accumulates as it goes on. Jamie's likability taking a few hits only adds fuel to the fire. The juicier parts of the tense and topical story breathe some life back into the movie, as does the film's capable cast. But between the movie's aggravating protagonist and wobbly pace, the cast can only do so much to save The Nanny Murders from being an underwhelming successor to a better Lifetime nanny drama.

Score: 5 out of 10 red and white scarves.