Lifetime Review: 'The Wrong Stepfather'

High school teacher Karen Woodley (Krista Allen) is at her wit's end regarding her teenage daughter Sarah (Sydney Malakeh). Still reeling from her father abandoning them, Sarah has been getting into fights at school and falling behind in her academics, jeopardizing her chances of getting into college. Desperate to help her daughter, Karen turns to college counselor Craig Green (Corin Nemec) for aid. Sarah is less than thrilled at the prospect, and is even more upset at learning Craig is also her mother's new boyfriend.

As things progress, Sarah struggles with conflicted feelings about her mother's new relationship as Karen works to get Craig and Sarah to bond. But after Craig suddenly proposes to Karen, Sarah begins to realize some alarming oddities about her soon-to-be stepfather. Will Sarah be able to uncover the truth about Craig before her mother unwittingly invites a psychopath into their family?

It pains me to say this, but I find myself fearing that Lifetime's beloved "Wrong" series has been on unsteady ground as of late. First, there was the mediocre The Wrong Boy Next Door. Then, there was the shaky half-misfire of The Wrong Housesitter. Just when it seemed that the flawed-but-entertaining The Wrong Wedding Planner spelled an end to the franchise's choppy waters, the latest installment premiered and proved worse than the franchise's original low point (Wrong Boy Next Door). Despite being similar in plot to the enjoyable The Wrong Stepmother, its follow-up film The Wrong Stepfather unravels from the strain of wooden acting and unlikable characters.

The former is the most surprising, given how two of the film's three central stars have given solid Lifetime performances in the past. In Corin Nemec's case, it's even more surprising given he's no stranger to the "Wrong" series--playing the victim of a psychotic stepparent-to-be in Wrong Stepmother before graduating to being the psychotic stepparent-to-be. But despite his past strong performances, Nemec feels stiff and restrained in his attempts at being an over-the-top villain, only truly letting loose in short bursts during Craig's nuttier moments. Not helping matters is Nemec seemingly forgetting to turn off the crazy whenever he's supposed to be playing Craig as a suave and seductive manipulator, and instead consistently comes across as an obviously unstable creep. This not only cheapens Craig's effectiveness as a villain, but also makes Karen look like a blind idiot for falling for him.

Speaking of Karen, she definitely earns the title of "Most Annoying Wrong Stepfather Character". While Sarah has her requisite amount of Bratty Teenager moments, they pale in comparison to how stupendously gullible Karen is. It makes it unintentionally ironic for Karen to be played by Krista Allen, given how Allen previously played a similarly Love Dumb protagonist in last year's I Almost Married a Serial Killer. With Craig's true nature never feeling as concealed as it should be, Karen looks practically braindead for being so easily charmed by him and deciding to marry Craig after knowing him for a few weeks. Karen's actions only become more dim-witted as the film goes on, ranging from SPOILER ALERT believing Craig's thin excuse for writing a mock college essay for Sarah naming himself as her inspiration (a plot point that was handled tens times better in Wrong Stepmother) to showing no objections to Craig outright altering her daughter's transcripts to erase her three-day suspension from her record (which also flies in the face of Karen's characterization as a by-the-book teacher). In the former incident, even Sarah briefly joins in her mother's unbelievable naivete! Spoilers Over

Adding fuel to the fire is Karen's occasional snippiness towards Sarah, her refusal to believe her evidence-backed claims against Craig, and Krista Allen getting hit with the same bout of rigid acting as Nemec. The film even makes matters worse by giving Karen a blatant dose of character shilling (Principal Higgins claiming her to be a "great judge of character") and SPOILER ALERT not letting her receive any comeuppance for her idiocy. Similarly dumb Lifetime characters like Tina Kershaw and Sam Morgan at least received a murder attempt as a sort of payback; the worst Karen gets is a harmless sedation. Spoilers Over

The rest of the film's cast also suffers from a degree of stiffness, though some show more specks of quality acting than others. Sydney Malakeh shows promise in her debut role once Sarah gets through her bratty moments and becomes a wholly sympathetic protagonist. Two other promising new Lifetime stars are Alaya Lee Walton and Derick Breezee as Sarah's best friend Darby and boyfriend Jason respectively, though between the two performances, Walton's has more kinks in need of ironing out. Vivica A. Fox brings her usual brand of sass and charisma as Principal Higgins, though some of Karen's unlikability rubs off on her through her unwillingness to help Sarah as she begins to uncover Craig's dark history. Fellow "Wrong" regular William McNamara brings his usual strength as gruff teacher Mr. Crane, though it would've been nice to see Crane's all-too-briefly-seen adorkable side elaborated on. Even The Wrong Stepfather's minor cast gets hit by the subpar acting bug, and no one who gets infected is helped by the script's numerous bits of awkward dialogue.

In addition to its character and acting pitfalls, The Wrong Stepfather suffers from uneven plotting and poorly staged action scenes. Even accounting for Lifetime low budgets, the film's two major scenes of this nature are pretty embarrassing to watch. For all the potential The Wrong Stepfather had going for it (such as Nemec's moments of effective over-the-top villainy and Craig's admittedly disturbing past), its ultimately drowned out by the film's mistakes. Poor acting, shaky pacing, hackneyed script, and unappealing characters all combine to push this film below even the standards set by Wrong Boy Next Door. Given the heights the saga has reached in the past, here's hoping the "Wrong" series can find its way back to those levels.

Score: 3 out of 10 Golden Arrow awards.