Villainess Review: Morgan Smith (For Love or Murder)

I had known about this movie, For Love or Murder, a month or so prior when it was originally titled, Murder & Matrimony, and was featured among Marvista's collection of upcoming Lifetime films. I was elated to finally see this film, which began with a tragedy befalling the film's main protagonist, Angie Porter: the sudden deaths of her parents. It was at the funeral that she reunited with her older brother, Michael Porter, as they had been estranged since Michael's teenage years, as he had a falling out with their parents.

The reunion sees Michael introduce his fiancée, Olivia Tilden, and Angie is later introduced to Olivia's bridesmaids: Morgan Smith, Brenda Rose, and Dani. We see Angie enlisted as the wedding planner, though Olivia isn't too happy with the news, but the early progression sees Olivia and Angie bond--though it also sees Olivia continuously ask about the Porters' will. In a sudden shocker, Howard Rose, Michael's business partner and Brenda's husband, dies suddenly, though later on, Brenda angrily confronted Olivia and stated that her husband's medication was tampered with--and even accused Olivia of killing Howard.

Brenda ends up killed afterwards, and all suspicion points to Olivia, especially when it was revealed that she had a wealthy older husband, but he died after falling down the stairs. In addition, we see Olivia and Angie learn that the latter got everything in her parents' inheritance, while Michael was cut out, though Angie covered it up and stated that she would give half of her share to Michael. Even so, the cloud of suspicion continued to hover over Olivia, and it grew once Angie's friend, Mia, was killed as she was in Michael and Olivia's home.

Olivia denied everything, but even Morgan and Dani directly cut ties with her, with Morgan voicing her belief that Olivia was a murderess. We later see Olivia angrily confront Angie--who had been the most vocal about Olivia--and attack her, but after letting go of Angie, Olivia is suddenly stabbed by Michael, who apparently did so to save his sister. So Olivia's dead, Angie's saved, and Michael's suddenly dating Morgan. So all is well, right? Not quite.

Angie plays messages from an answering machine that unveils (among other things) an angry message from Michael to their parents, leaving Angie wondering about her brother. Though Michael appeared and played innocent, he later revealed the entire truth: he had been behind all of the murders. Olivia was purely innocent of everything, and in a huge shocker, Michael had caused the deaths of his and Angie's parents, blaming his evil actions on being cut off. He had set up the encounter between Olivia and Angie on the expectation that Angie would be killed by an angry Olivia, but when Olivia let go, Michael killed Olivia, as he needed the insurance money. The siblings scuffle and end up falling down the stairs, with Morgan hearing everything and checking on Michael.

Angie informed Morgan that Michael was behind everything, but in a surprise twist, Morgan lashed out at Angie and accused her of "ruining everything." Whoa! Realizing that Morgan was evil as well, Angie attempted to escape, only for Morgan to catch her and reveal that she was Michael's accomplice, with a flashback scene revealing that they had been together prior to Olivia's murder, and she had colluded in (at least) Mia's murder as well. Clearly a share in Michael's wealth was a motive, but Morgan ended up knocked out by Angie, and the final scenes revealed that both halves of the villainous couple were arrested.

For Love or Murder (aka Murder & Matrimony) aired on Lifetime Movie Network on October 22, 2021. While the trailer teased that Olivia would be the villainess, she ended up being a red herring that gave us an amazing villainess in Morgan Smith, played by the immensely talented Triana Browne. Here's why I was elated: a couple of months ago, I wrote a story on Vocal listing five Lifetime film actresses who need to finally play a villainess (click here for the story), and one of the actresses on the list was Triana Browne. At the time, Browne, a former Miss Oklahoma, had done four Lifetime movies in 2021 alone, with this one being her fifth. The fifth time was definitely the charm, as Browne finally turned heel and unleashed a deliciously wicked performance as hidden villainess Morgan Smith.

Morgan's heel turn in the film's climax was a very delicious twist, as we see Morgan transform into a vicious and ruthless woman who was hellbent on getting what she wanted, and was willing to destroy anyone who got in her way. Browne acted out Morgan's true evil colors to absolute perfection, and her scenes prior to her reveal saw more of Browne's phenomenal acting chops, especially the scene where she and Dani flat out abandon Olivia. Browne's four other Lifetime films: Deadly Dating Game, The Single Mom Conspiracy, Tracking a Killer, and Sorority Sister Killer. Here's hoping that we get more villainous roles from Triana Browne; this one was delicious, and I can definitely see her playing a ruthless main villainess and shining in that role.

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Click here for Morgan Smith's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!