Villainess Review: Marissa (Deadly Mom Retreat)

I learned about this movie from Marvista's website, and upon seeing the who's who of stars in this, I was just eagerly waiting for Lifetime to snag it. That day finally came: August 5, 2021, and I tuned in with bated breath! So this film centers on Jules, who is mulling over whether or not to end her marriage to Tom, which resulted in the birth of their daughter, Rosalie. It seems like she's willing to stay with Tom--until she finds out that Tom had been seeing his former flame, Claire. Even with that, Jules is still at a crossroads, and she believes that a retreat could provide a welcome distraction.

Jules joins friends Karen and Marissa on the retreat, and it's there that she meets Zack, who is going through a divorce of his own. She has already had to deal with a mysterious online stalker sending threatening emails, but her troubles seem to be in the back of the mind as her time at the retreat (and with Zack) progresses. However, a thief breaks in and takes her allergy pen, Jules suddenly feels the effects of her drink being drugged, and she also notices that one of her tires has been punctured. She at least has Marissa with her as a means of support, though things become intense when Jules voices the possibility of remaining with Tom, with Marissa referring to her indecision as "pathetic."

The last straw comes when Jules receives her cupcake, which she learns has peanuts in it--she has a severe peanut allergy. With her pen missing, Jules rushes to Karen and Marissa for help, and after a search for an additional pen turns up empty, someone provided one to Karen, who used it on Jules. Regarding Zack, it turns out that his divorce hasn't really been finalized; a fact uncovered by his date, Georgia, who lashed out at Zack for this revelation. Jules adds up all of the mishaps that had befallen her and informs Marissa that she thinks someone is after her. After finding a piece of Georgia's necklace, Jules begins to wonder if Georgia had been behind everything, and her suspicions (as well as Marissa's) increased with the discovery of Jules' allergy pen and necklace inside Georgia's room.

Jules then comes to another possibility: what if Georgia is actually Claire, Tom's former flame? She contacted Rosalie about Claire, with Rosalie stating that she wasn't at home, claiming to be away for the weekend. As for Georgia, she ended up confronted by Marissa and Jules, who accused her of targeting the latter, only for Georgia to deny everything and even reveal that she was the one who handed the allergy pen that saved Jules, who later checked her phone and saw a text from Rosalie, doing so during Marissa's maniacal interrogation. Included was a photo of Marissa (which Jules sent her), with Rosalie asking her mother why she was with Claire, leading to Marissa suddenly clocking Jules with a rock.

So "Marissa" was Claire all along, and she admitted everything to a tied up Jules, while also revealing that she and Tom attempted to have children, only for Claire to be infertile (confirming that she lied about having two kids of her own earlier in the film). In true villainess fashion, Claire blamed Jules for taking Tom from her, and stated that she attempted to push her in Zack's direction to force her to move on, but after that failed, Claire realized that the only way she could ever have Tom was to kill Jules; hence the peanut cupcake earlier. Jules' pleas to Claire fell on deaf ears, as Claire was determined to fulfill her murderous goal, leading to Jules breaking free and jabbing Claire with her allergy pen before escaping. Claire chased Jules to the lodge, which was empty due to everyone being at a party, but despite this, Jules managed to eliminate her villainous foe once and for all, when she tossed her over a rail and to her death.

The who's who of casting happened to include, among other notable names, the legendary Christina Cox as villainess Marissa (aka Claire). Cox is a household name to not only Lifetime movie fans, but to fans of villainesses such as myself. I have counted at least twelve villainous roles that Cox has played, with Marissa/Claire being Cox's fourth Lifetime villainess. The other three: Jeanette Grayson from 2017's Deadly Dance Mom (has still yet to air on Lifetime, but it's a Lifetime movie nonetheless), Heather Davies from the 2017 filmed/2020 aired Deadly Double Cross (originally titled, Precious Things), and Rhonda Chalmers from 2018's Lethal Soccer Mom (which, like this film, also featured Tanya Clarke). So it's pretty safe to say that Christina Cox is a master of playing evil, and that she enjoys it as well.

Regarding Marissa, Cox masterfully played her friendly nature to Jules during the film's progression, though following Marissa's heel turn and reveal as the dangerously unstable Claire, Cox truly portrayed her character's jealous and insane demeanor very well during her reveal and admissions to Jules. This was another brilliant and terrific performance from Cox, and performances like this are why she's always on TV and starring in thrilling films such as this one. Christina Cox's other villainous appearances: Castle, Dexter, Cold Case, Elementary, Motive, and Bones, as well as a pair of Hallmark Mystery films. Other than heeling it up in those roles, Cox also appeared on all three NCIS shows, and recurred as Celia Castle (the mayor of Star City) on Arrow, while also being known for starring on Blood Ties as Vicki Nelson.

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