Villainess Review: Valeria Brant (Deadly Estate)

When I learned about this film hitting Tubi, I was excited. When I saw the cast and saw who was in it, I was even more excited. I have my reasons. You will see as I continue. So Tubi continued hitting it out of the proverbial park with Deadly Estate, which centers on a lavish hotel known as The Magnate, and its manager, Zakiya Carter, who is encountered by wealthy hotel owner Ron Brant. Ron is accompanied by his new wife, Valeria, as he is set to purchase The Magnate. As for Valeria, she's beaming over her new marriage, but as we see, there's problems in the wind.

The main problem is Ron's son, Astor Brant, who is shown to be in a clear abusive relationship, if you will, with a young woman named Phoenix. Things escalate when a gun is involved, but thankfully not fired, as Zakiya diffuses the situation. However, the news breaks that Astor is found dead, and as for Zakiya, she's accused of killing him. Any mention of Phoenix is met with loads of disbelief, as well as Valeria suggesting that the hotel's staff is covering their tracks, but Zakiya does find Phoenix...also dead. Even worse, Zakiya ends up arrested by detective George Finn; she is freed due to lack of evidence, only to find out that one close friend, Harry Belfort, has been murdered, and another good friend, Alexis, later betrayed her to get Phoenix's phone for a payout.

As for Valeria, she's shown consoling Ron regarding the loss of his son, with Valeria stating that Astor committed suicide. We later see Zakiya and George bond, with George telling Zakiya about his past serving in Afghanistan, and mentioning his daughter, before he's suddenly visited by his brother-in-arms, Daniel Denton, who was the mysterious man Zakiya saw earlier, and who was shown killing Harry. An argument ended with George taking down Daniel, though Zakiya started to wonder if George could be trusted. By this point, Zakiya figured out what was really going on at the hotel: someone was running an escort service at that very place.

Zakiya believed that her boss, Steve Weissner, was behind it, though Steve denied it. It was George who ended up revealing the true boss: none other than Valeria herself, and he also revealed that Phoenix was an escort, as well as a woman named Morgan, who was also killed by Astor. As for George, he was sent by Valeria to get the phone, as Phoenix had taken pictures of not only herself and other escorts, but Valeria as well. Meanwhile, as Valeria is preparing for her next move, George and Zakiya make one of their own.

The plan: Zakiya would appear to Valeria and portray herself as wanting to join forces with her, with George as her right hand man. Despite Zakiya's very elegant persona, Valeria isn't buying it, as she tells George that she's tricking both of them. Finally, Zakiya makes a very convincing argument for an alliance, so convincing that Valeria decides to tip her hand...big time. She had smashed Phoenix's phone, but she admitted to everything: running the escort service under Ron's nose, and sending her girls to Astor in exchange for his silence regarding his stepmother's criminal secret--doing so while having full knowledge of Astor's violent and murderous personality. Oh, and Astor's death? Valeria was behind that as well.

The arrogant Valeria boasted that she had always intended on having Astor killed, sending Daniel to eliminate him as well as Harry, but at that very moment, Ron entered with a replayed recording of his wife's admission, as George's glasses actually served as a recording device. Ron now knew everything about Valeria, including the fact that she had Astor killed, and despite Valeria's pleas, Ron ejected his wicked wife from the hotel. Game, set, and match.

Deadly Estate hit Tubi on March 3, 2023, and the film featured Karen Cliche as the evil Valeria Brant. This is exactly what I talked about earlier; when I saw Karen Cliche listed in the film's cast, I knew she had to be the film's villainess, because...well, she's done it before. That, plus Cliche has what I call the "natural heel" look, and we saw it in true form in this film. Valeria was cunning, deceptive, and manipulative, but also ruthless. She was willing to lie, cheat, and kill to cover her villainous tracks, and the targets were quite personal--Zakiya's long time friend, and even Valeria's own stepson! Cliche (pronounced "kleesh," not "klee-shay" despite being born in Quebec) absolutely nailed it as Valeria! She portrayed Valeria's deceptive personality immensely well, and truly shined in the climax when she admitted all of her crimes to George and Zakiya.

I've been a Karen Cliche fan since Big Wolf on Campus and Mutant X; playing Lexa Pierce on the latter, and appearing in two episodes of the former (one as a member of an evil witch sorority and another as a kind-hearted werewolf princess). She's done the villainess thing a lot, including doing so twice on Lifetime--as Jessica Calders in 2017's Killer Mom, and as Shannon Collins in 2020's Black Widow Killer, but I truly think that Valeria Brant is Cliche's best villainous role by far. Cliche has also appeared in episodes of Lost Girl, Republic of Doyle, and Beauty and the Beast.

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Check out Valeria Brant's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!