Lifetime Review: 'The Single Mom Conspiracy'

With her bitter divorce from an adulterous husband behind her, Grace Bailey (Allison McAtee) is ready to move on with her life. She's now running her own restaurant and enjoying a passionate relationship with handsome server Alex (Andrew Spach). But after getting spooked by a home intruder, Grace is convinced by her friends to rent out one of her bedrooms for safety's sake. After going through several unfit applicants, Grace meets a woman who appears to be the perfect candidate: Lilith Jones (Samantha Cope). Beautiful and charismatic, Lilith hits it off with Grace and becomes her new housemate as well as her new personal assistant.

While Grace hired Lilith to help her get her life organized, it instead begins to fall apart soon after Lilith moves in. Her tenuous relationship with her ex-husband James (Damon Carney) gets even worse. Her business starts to take a few hits. She even starts to become estranged from her teenage daughter Charlie (Aubrey Stevens). Just as Grace begins to suspect that Lilith is responsible, things take an alarming turn for the worse. Lilith might not be the only person in Grace's life with ill intentions...

Another day, another MarVista Entertainment movie that got slapped with a retitle and promotional material chockful of spoilers when it came time for its Lifetime premiere. While The Single Mom Conspiracy is more eye-catching than the film's original title An Organized Killer, it's also significantly more spoilery. Making matters worse is how Lifetime's promos and the synopsis on the movie's MarVista page give up the big reveal. Not that the movie itself keeps it a secret for long; even less astute viewers are sure to see the twist coming well ahead of time. It all renders most of the film's attempts at suspense moot and the deliberate pace (particularly in the opening act) doesn't help. But despite this and some other issues, The Single Mom Conspiracy remains a fairly entertaining Lifetime thriller thanks to the efforts of its cast and crew.

Let's start with the cast. Allison McAtee plays overwhelmed mother Grace Bailey and does a stellar job making you feel for the woman. Grace's life was already a bit of a mess before Lilith came into the picture, so the events after her roommate's arrival only serve to push Grace closer to the edge of a breakdown. McAtee draws you into Grace's strife as her stress levels near a boiling point and her relationships with Charlie and James become further strained. Opposite McAtee is Samantha Cope as the lovely but mysterious Lilith Jones. While it's odd just how quickly Grace comes to trust Lilith and offer her a room in her house, Cope gives off such confident energy that it's easier to buy into it. Cope and McAtee mesh well together, especially during Grace and Lilith's more emotionally intimate scenes. But it's once Lilith's true colors come out that Cope really shines. It's clear she's having fun playing someone so casually manipulative and evil, which in turn makes Lilith a fun villainess to watch in action.

WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW

Her partner-in-crime, however, isn't as effectively portrayed. Andrew Spach certainly has the looks to play Grace's hunky new lover, though for all the buzz caused by Grace dating a younger man, McAtee doesn't look that much older than Spach. But when it comes to acting, he doesn't measure up to either McAtee or Cope. His performance feels wooden for almost the whole movie, even during the explosive final act when Alex is revealed as Lilith's equally psychotic adoptive brother/lover. Though it's not like the script gives the man a lot to work with. Alex is little more than a piece of eye candy for Grace to smooch with during the first half of the film while the climax sees him get knocked out not long after his villainous reveal.

Then there's Lilith's pseudo-lesbian schtick. If you were to go into The Single Mom Conspiracy totally blind, there's a chance you'd think you were watching a lesbian obsession thriller. After Lilith claims to be interested in women, there's plenty of quasi-romantic interactions between her and Grace. The scene where Lilith pulls Grace into the pool with her could pass itself off as a scene from a porno and the pair even kiss during a tender bonding moment. But all of this sexual tension ends up going nowhere, as in the end, Lilith only has eyes for Alex. At best, it's a missed opportunity to add some layers to Lilith's character. At worst, it's blatant queerbaiting designed to rake in views. It would've been easy to write in a line during the climax suggesting Lilith's attraction to Grace may not have been entirely an act. Maybe something along the lines of "If it makes you feel any better...I actually did kind of like that kiss." As is, it's a plot point as redundant as it is problematic.

(Another low point that needs to be addressed in the Spoiler section: the bad editing during Kristin's murder and Jaclyn's assault. Kristin's death scene is made unintentionally hilarious and Jaclyn's attack ends with a ridiculously abrupt jump cut. It's also unbelievable to me that Lilith could nearly beat Jaclyn to death right outside her house without her husband or someone else hearing it and catching Lilith red-handed.)

Spoilers Over

Andrew Spach isn't the only actor in The Single Mom Conspiracy to give a shaky performance. Aubrey Stevens is a step up from Spach, having a few sweet and touching moments as Grace's daughter Charlie. The teen may be bratty at times, but overall, Charlie is a good kid caught up in an awkward situation with her parents. However, much like Spach, Stevens has plenty of rigid deliveries throughout the film. Thankfully, she brings her stronger efforts to the scenes that really count (i.e. scenes where Charlie's emotions are given the spotlight.)

The last of the primary cast is Damon Carney, who is incredibly believable as James, Grace's toxic trainwreck of an ex. SPOILER ALERT It makes the ending in which James is now a few months sober and back together with Grace feel undeserved on his part. Alcoholic or sober, James was shown to be an incredibly bitter man, constantly fighting with Grace and getting resentful over her being in a new relationship. It's never officially confirmed whether or not James actually cheated, but if he did, it makes his jealousy all the more petty and nauseating. He even talks trash about Grace with Charlie of all people and was intent on using Grace's "surprise birthday party" to try and win her back--despite Grace having made it clear she wasn't interested. Seeing James end the movie being rewarded for his nasty behavior is actually even more offensive than the whole "Lilith fakes being gay" subplot. Spoilers Over In memorable supporting characters, we have Grace's polar-opposite pair of gal pals. Triana Browne is a sweetheart as the kind and supportive Jaclyn while Jennifer Teel is a hoot as the over-the-top snooty busybody Karen Kristin.

Some wonky dialogue abounds within The Single Mom Conspiracy, and there's an exemplary headscratcher scene to go with it: Grace and Alex's steamy kitchen make-out session. It's bad enough they do it shirtless and right in front of a window, but they also do it while Charlie is at home and could easily walk in on them--which she does. The nonchalant reactions from everyone as Charlie interrupts the erotic moment only adds to the weirdness. But the story is where most of the film's problems lie. Even if you're able to avoid any advertising spoilers, it won't take long for most viewers to put two and two together and figure out where the plot is heading. That being said, there's still enough Lifetimey drama to make this movie worth checking out. Allison McAtee and Samantha Cope are great in their respective roles and the last act has just enough chaos to compensate for the slow build-up. So for all its flaws, The Single Mom Conspiracy still makes for an enjoyable Lifetime movie suitable for a Saturday-night-in watch over a glass of red wine.

Score: 6.5 out of 10 4-H flags.