Villainess Review: Melissa (Illumeably)

Valentine's Day. A day to celebrate love with your significant other. A day to honor one's better half. Also, it's a day where couples become, well, spontaneous (that's the clean way of looking at it). I hope the readers of this story have a wonderful Valentine's Day, but even the ultimate holiday for love isn't safe from villainesses. Just ask Illumeably.

Illumeably is one of several "life lesson video" pages out there, and in celebration of Valentine's Day, they have been releasing a number of vids centered on the holiday. One of them was the interestingly titled, Prisoner Escapes Jail for Valentine, What Happens Next is Shocking, which kicks off with the first half of that title: a prisoner--Dom--escapes from jail after spending two years behind bars, and he does so with one objective in mind: reuniting with his girlfriend, Melissa. As for Melissa, her introduction reveals that she has moved on with a new boyfriend, Jacob, and they are preparing for Valentine's Day when Jacob informed Melissa that Dom escaped from prison.

Melissa voiced trepidation over the news, as well as the fact that she cut all ties with Dom following the arrest. As for Dom, he enters Melissa's house and sees her in bed with Jacob, leaving him heartbroken and shocked that his girlfriend has moved on. Once Melissa is up and heading to the kitchen, she finds Dom, leading to a confrontation that revealed that Dom was actually sentenced to life in prison for stabbing someone. Dom proclaimed his innocence and pleaded with Melissa to meet him at a nearby park so he can explain his side of the story. Melissa does so, but warns Dom that she has her phone ready to call the police on him. Nevertheless, Dom tells his story.

Dom revealed to Melissa that he was out buying flowers for Melissa, but at the store's parking lot, he ended up bumping into a masked robber who was getting away with a huge haul. Other than the ski mask, the robber also donned high-heeled combat boots and wielded a knife, and regarding Dom, his struggle with the robber would include a bystander appearing to help out, only for the bystander to end up stabbed to death. Dom was left with the knife while tending to the victim, and he ended up arrested as a result. Regarding Dom's question about similar crimes in the area since his incarceration, Melissa only stated that a series of petty thefts have been committed, but it was followed by Jacob appearing and beginning the process of calling 911, only to be suddenly attacked by Melissa.

Dom attempted to help Jacob, while Melissa only stood with a blank and ominous stare, saying nothing. Jacob was taken back home, where Dom noticed a stack of money set aside and asked Melissa about it, with Melissa stating that Jacob made some sort of withdrawal. Melissa left for Panda Express, but after Dom finds more money in the house, he comes to the conclusion that Jacob set him up to have Melissa, but the confrontation sees Jacob deny everything. Jacob gives his phone to Dom, and it's followed by Dom reading a report about an attack at Panda Express, with Dom accused of that crime, which left two people in critical condition. Both men voiced their worry about Melissa, as she was at that very restaurant.

Yeah, about that:

Melissa returns home, and she is donning those same boots that Dom described, while responding to Dom's confirmed innocence by stating that she was heading to bed due to exhaustion. Even so, the proof was in the fashionable footwear: Melissa was the villainess. She committed the robbery and murder that led to Dom being locked up, she had continued her crimes in the time that passed since Dom's conviction, and after the trio returned to the house, Melissa reverted to her heel persona again and committed the attack and robbery on Panda Express. All of this left Dom stunned; he was shocked over the revelation that the woman he loved and carried a torch for was a criminal. A lot of things went through Dom's mind when it came to Melissa, but Dom decided not to overthink things and tried to get some sleep.

Dom's slumber was interrupted by Melissa, who appeared in her evil masked disguise and attempted to kill Dom with a knife. Dom called for Jacob, who held Melissa at bay, allowing Dom to remove the mask and unveil the villainess--who had that same blank, ominous glare that she had before. Any and all attempts to talk to Melissa fell flat; she maintained that dark expression. As Dom pointed out, clearly something was off with Melissa, and the film's fast forward (a year later) revealed what it was: split personality disorder. It was Jacob who made that revelation, with Melissa having no idea about her villainous alter-ego. The ending also revealed that Melissa had spent the year that passed in a psychiatric hospital, and as for Jacob and Dom, they plan on treading lightly when it comes to relationships.

Despite the Valentine's Day theme, Prisoner Escapes Jail for Valentine, What Happens Next is Shocking was actually released on a day that supersedes Valentine's Day: Super Bowl Sunday, February 12, 2023. Raquel Basco portrayed the short film's hidden main villainess, Melissa, and out of all of the villainesses I've seen from Illumeably, Melissa has to be the best one. As we see throughout the film, Melissa is quite the sweetheart to Jacob and Dom, even in spite of her reluctance to believe in Dom's innocence. However, as a villainess, Melissa is ruthless, greedy, and failure intolerant, with all traits shown on more than one occasion in this film. I can't help but love that even Melissa's fashion styles are polar opposite; she has a "girl next door" look as herself, but of course, she dons quite a killer outfit as a criminal. I wasn't expecting the whole "split personalty disorder" route; I thought we'd see Melissa revealed as a truly scheming villainess who was intentionally using both of the men in her life.

As for Raquel Basco, she truly delivered with this performance as Melissa. She shined when it came to Melissa's genial nature, as well as her trepidation in the film's progression, but she was absolutely fabulous and excellent in regards to Melissa's heel persona. What I saw from Basco was just tremendous method acting when she played out Melissa's evil side in the film, especially those ominous expressions. I hope to see Melissa Basco in more of these vids, and she would absolutely kill it on Lifetime!

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Check out Melissa's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!