Villainess Review: Alex (Dhar Mann Studios)

You know, I've been watching Dhar Mann's films for just over two years now, which is about right because it was right when the pandemic was at its highest height, and those vids (among others) got a lot of attention. I have enjoyed a lot of Dhar Mann's vids, but in recent months, I've had the same thought: "You know, some of these vids need the Lifetime approach." Dhar Mann's vids have the family friendly approach, but other platforms who have "borrowed" from that same diagram have told darker stories and featured some immensely heinous villains.

Then, a couple of months ago, I see this as an upcoming Dhar Mann title: Evil Nanny Kidnaps the Child, What Happens Will Shock You. It finally happened. Dhar Mann gave us a mini-Lifetime film! So the short starts, innocently enough, with Raina and Walter Smith interviewing their potential new nanny, Alex, who displays quite the warm and charming demeanor, as well as a lot of praise from her past employers. The couple hired Alex to care for their infant daughter, Lana, but a conversation between Raina and Alex regarding the former's fears of someone else being attached to Lana...well...that's when the red flags start showing up. Raina mentioning Alex not being a mother draws some subdued anger from the latter, who also becomes triggered over Raina learning that she is unable to breastfeed Lana.

So what follows? Alex notices Lana's rose-covered dress, and then starts calling Lana "Rose," and she later changes the dress, unplugs the nanny cam, and actually breast-feeds Lana. Even crazier, Raina starts noticing these little things (including the completely full bottle of formula), though Alex claimed that Lana was full from the last feeding, but she slips up and calls her "Rose." It's enough for Raina to want Alex fired, but Walter accuses his wife of jumping to conclusions. This really is a Lifetime film! We have a crazed nanny, a wife who is immensely (and accurately) suspicious, and a husband who has cobwebs where his brains should be.

As for Alex, she overheard Raina's rant, and afterwards, she returned to her home and informed her husband, Mark, that they had to make their move now! So yeah, Alex was planning to abduct Lana, revealing herself as the villainous mastermind in response to Mark's asking his wife if he was sure about the plan. The following day comes, and Raina was set on firing Alex, only to see that both Alex and Lana were gone. Alex had taken Lana to her house, where she and Mark planned their getaway with the baby, but they ended up confronted by the Smiths; a confrontation that saw Raina reveal that she knew everything that Alex had done. Alex attempted to claim that she was having a "family emergency," while accusing Raina of being paranoid, though Raina had evidence. Not only had she seen everything on video, Raina revealed that Alex's "references" were typed by the villainess herself.

It's at this moment that Alex reveals her backstory; a rare, yet recently habitual, occurrence where the villain (or in this case, the villainess) tells the standard "So you see" story. As it turned out, Alex and Mark had spent many years trying to have children to no avail, but a few months prior, they finally succeed. Their happiness came to an abrupt end when Alex developed labor pains much earlier than expected, and as a result, their baby was born 28 weeks premature. 28 weeks! That's seven months! This means that the baby (a girl) was born after just two months in the womb, and sadly, she was alive for only two hours after birth. Of course, the couple was heartbroken, but in Alex's case, her heartbreak developed into insanity, and she devised this elaborate abduction scheme to fill the void.

Raina gives Alex her sympathy, but of course, the madwoman's not having it. She goes into typical maniacal mode; ranting that it wasn't fair that she wasn't a mother but Raina was, while accusing Raina of not caring for Lana--even using Raina being unable to breast-feed Lana as part of her rhetoric (seriously, why do all baby-crazed villainesses go that route?). The completion of Alex's rant saw her repeatedly proclaim that Raina didn't deserve Lana, right before she lunged at Raina with a knife, but it's at that moment that the police arrived and arrested Alex. Just before she was set to be taken into custody, Alex asked Raina how she found her. Raina revealed that Lana's bracelet was also a GPS, and afterwards, Alex was left seething over her scheme failing.

Evil Nanny Kidnaps the Child, What Happens Will Shock You was released by Dhar Mann Studios on October 20, 2022, and featured Madhulika Krishnan as psychotic villainess Alex. Dhar Mann featured the right actress to play this role; Madhulika Krishnan (like most of this film's cast) is a regular in Dhar Mann vids, and she is often cast in the heel role--similar to Mair Mulroney. Krishnan's villainous characters are often bullies, spoiled brats, and even lackeys to high school "queen bees," and while they are quite deliciously wicked, the role of Alex is a huge villainous boost. It's clear that Dhar Mann was inspired by Lifetime films, and regarding this film, we received a huge treat with Alex, who was crazed, cunning, ruthless, and immensely maniacal. Unsurprisingly, Krishnan played every facet of Alex's personality very well; from her feigned charm to her insane demeanor throughout the film.

Before I finish this review, I have to mention this. There are a lot of little things I absolutely relish regarding these Lifetime-esque villainesses. When it comes to Alex, it's her expressions. For a vast majority of this short film, we see Alex display a number of deranged facial expressions, with the last taste of this coming in the final moments, as Alex gives a crazed snarl after she's arrested. That expression, alone, covered Alex's unstable personalty to perfection, and Krishnan delivered all of those expressions (including the last one) in spectacular fashion. I'm serious. Madhulika Krishnan needs to play an actual Lifetime film villainess. She can do it. Technically, with this, she's already done it. Now we need it again on the actual networks.

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Check out Alex's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!