Reviewing a Pair of Killer Villainesses from "Meet the Killer Parents"

Similar to Shohei Ohtani this season, Tubi seems to hit it out of the park every time they come to the plate. Their latest big time home run came in the form of Meet the Killer Parents, and this was the film I was looking forward to the most out of Tubi's batch of July films. The film centers on Grace Perkins, a young woman who was in a relationship with wealthy Rob Whitby, and only has her best friend/roommate, May, in her life, as Grace lost her parents at a young age. May is wary, but happy for Grace, who ends up going to Rob's house to meet his parents.

Seems nice and ordinary, right? Not on Tubi.

Rob's parents, Miriam and Stephen, are quite welcoming to Grace and display a bit of charm as well. As Grace learns, however, there's a bit of tragedy in their backstory, as the couple's young daughter (Rob's younger sister), Jenny Whitby, was lost about a decade ago. Conflicting stories about Jenny's disappearance lead to Grace informing May, but that ends up being the least of Grace's problems. The strange behavior from the parents begins, which includes Stephen referring to Grace as "Jenny," and later chasing her around the house in such a peculiar manner. The last straw comes when Grace suddenly collapses after drinking a glass of veggie juice (blech), and she suddenly wakes up tied to a chair.

Grace sees Stephen and Miriam sadistically staring at her before revealing their true game plan: they're going to turn her into Jenny. Grace's attempts to tell Rob about his deranged parents falls on deaf ears, as (surprise, surprise) he's in on it. We see Grace dressed up in child-like clothes and forced to play up the role, with Miriam threatening to kill her if she didn't comply. Oh, and before I forget, Grace isn't the first victim--there have been others, the latest one being a young woman named Tricia, who Miriam killed in the film's opening. As for May, she did finally find the Whitbys' location, and was on her way there, while Grace did manage to escape, and received some help from the family's housekeeper, Penelope.

That didn't go well, sadly. May attacked Penelope thinking that she was harming Grace, who was recaptured. Penelope was bludgeoned to death by Miriam, who later ordered Grace to continue acting as Jenny under the threat of killing May of she didn't comply. So Grace acquiesces, a bit thicker than she started, and the family's very happy...well, not all of them. One thing I quickly noticed--Rob appeared to be quite irritated with his parents gushing over Jenny, which led me to have a little theory about him, and I had to wait and see if that theory was true.

Grace tells her story to Stephen about May helping her after her parents died, with Stephen voicing his regret over not being able to say goodbye to Jenny, and he actually tips his hand and allows Grace to see May, who is captured in the salon. Grace is later encountered by Rob, who wanted one last tryst with Grace before she becomes Jenny, but once they hit the hot tub, the theory I had about Rob ended up being true: Rob killed Jenny all those years ago. Though I wasn't expecting Rob to reveal that Miriam was the mastermind, and as Rob was set on killing Grace, Stephen saved Grace and later attacked Rob after finding out the truth. Miriam's arrival increased Stephen's anger, as it was revealed that Miriam and Rob despised Jenny and wanted her gone.

Miriam tried to deny everything, but Stephen wasn't having it, and he actually wrapped his hands around his deranged wife's throat before he was attacked by Rob. The confrontation allowed Grace to escape to the salon, only for Miriam to appear and attempt to kill Grace. May managed to free herself, and the two of them tied up the villainess, with Grace turning on the eye-gouger--on full blast. So that took care of Miriam, but there was still Rob, who attempted to attack both girls, but with Stephen's help, Rob ended up trapped in the hot tub and drowned, with the latter being a taste of his own medicine, as he drowned Jenny in a pond a decade prior.

So all is well, right? Well, don't tie up that pretty bow quite yet.

Earlier, Stephen told Grace that he would give everything back for Jenny to return to him, and after Rob's death, Grace asked Stephen if he meant it, and he did. Once May found her phone and was set on calling the police, Grace attempted to talk May out of it due to her sympathy for Stephen, but when May was persistent, Grace snatched the phone from May and told her that she "wasn't going to ruin this for her." The two young women fought over the phone, and we see one of them grab a smal glass encasing of a butterfly and a dragonfly, which is quickly covered in blood. In the final moments, we see a young woman walking out dressed to the nine in a pantsuit and high heels, and it's unsurprisingly revealed as Grace, who hosted the re-opening of the Whitby Fine Arts Center. So Grace killed May and is now living as Jenny Whitby, and after she embraces her "father" Stephen, we get an extreme close up of Grace's new green eyes, the final piece of her transformation, with Grace now enjoying her new wealthy life.

Oh, I loved this film so much! It moved fast, it was twisted, and that swerve in the end! Let's get to the real reason for this review, though.

Miriam Whitby

Meet the Killer Parents hit Tubi on July 14, 2023, and the film featured Kate Vernon as the insanely evil Miriam Whitby. I knew Miriam was going to be evil, but I never thought that her depths would be so massive. So basically, Miriam enlisted Rob (her favorite child) to kill Jenny all those years ago, and because of this, it led to this murderous and obsessive quest to replace Jenny, though Miriam killed those girls as well. Miriam was more than your typical self-obsessed rich mother; this woman was a Grade-A narcissistic sociopath, and Kate Vernon totally nailed this role. She played up Miriam's charm very well in the early scenes, but once her true colors are exposed, the rest of the film sees Vernon go all in on Miriam's psychotic, depraved, and bloodthirsty persona, and it was just so epic to watch!

Seeing Kate Vernon as a villainess was my main reason for tuning in, because she plays one so very well! Her villainous roles include an appearance on Bones, as well as playing a murderess in not one, but two episodes of the original CSI. Vernon's most recent TV appearance came in the short-lived True Lies reboot as the estranged wife of Tom Arnold's series character.

Check out Miriam Whitby's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!

Grace Perkins

Oh man! I am still beaming from that big swerve from the film's protagonist, Grace Perkins, who was played by Katelyn McCulloch. When we are introduced to Grace, she's warm and friendly, and she's happy to have May in her life, especially after losing her parents. We spend nearly an hour watching Grace being forced to act as Jenny Whitby after her boyfriend and her family drug and torture her, and at first, she does it out of fear for her own life. I mentioned earlier that I had a theory about Rob as I watched this, and that turned out to be true. I also had a feeling about Grace as well. Something in the back of my mind told me that Grace was actually enjoying the ruse, and not for fear of her own safety.

I was right about that, but I was not expecting to be.

Grace's heel turn in the final moments was the absolute highlight of the film. May referred to Grace's feelings about Stephen as Stockholm Syndrome. Stockholm Syndrome is mostly centered on brainwashing and manipulation, just ask Patty Hearst. Grace chose this path willingly. She chose it the moment she snatched that phone from May and saw her best friend as an obstacle to a better life for herself, and it was further cemented when she killed May. The last moments when Grace dives into being Jenny were absolutely delicious, especially that close up of her new green eyes, as well as that smirk. Grace's expression said it all, she started out as an innocent victim of a deranged plot, but ended up as an opportunistic villainess who was willing to deceive and even kill her way to a better life. McCulloch was brilliant in this role; she played Grace's innocence and her panic very well, but she shined when she became a villainess during the tail end of the climax, and really dove in to Grace's new heel persona during her appearance as Jenny Whitby.

As I watched, I was thinking, "Katelyn McCulloch's amazing in this; I hope she plays a villainess someday." She fulfilled my hope when Grace turned heel in the climax, though I could see her doing this villainess thing again in a future film. McCulloch has also directed and written a few short films, and she has appeared in episodes of Mary Kills People and Pretty Hard Cases.

Check out Grace Perkins' profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!

Now, I have to say this. I'm hoping for a sequel to this. One has to believe that the evil Grace Perkins can't be done yet. One has to figure that someone with a connection to May has to be looking into her disappearance, and that may lead back to Grace. Grace's new cushy life as Jenny Whitby could be in jeopardy because of this, and we could see Grace take on the main villainess role and kill to keep her new world from being destroyed. I really hope Marvista and Tubi get together on a sequel to this, because it would be awesome to really see Katelyn McCulloch take on a central villainess role in the form of Grace Perkins/Jenny Whitby.

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