Villainess Review: Vera Chenoweth (Beware the Night Nurse)

Out of all of July's Lifetime films, the one I was the most excited for (that wasn't in the VC Andrews universe), was this one: Beware the Night Nurse. It looked like it would be quite delicious, and it didn't disappoint. After we see a scene of a woman chasing a cloaked villainess who had taken her baby, we go back a month and are introduced to the main players in this tale: Claire and Zach Mitchell, who are the proud parents of baby Owen, who was born via a surrogate, Liz Chenoweth. The couple had taken in Liz, who was working as a paralegal, with her backstory only revealing that she had quite a troubled upbringing.

In a sudden instant, Claire visits Liz and sees her bags packed; she is in a hurry to leave. Liz didn't give any details, only stating that she had to leave to protect Owen. Both Claire and Zach were left stunned by Liz's abrupt and panicked departure, but the news that they received would make things worse for them emotionally: Liz, apparently, committed suicide. The couple was heartbroken by the news, with Claire carrying guilt over not being able to help Liz, despite not truly knowing what was plaguing her. So Liz was gone, and the couple seemed to have problems getting Owen to stop crying.

Enter Vera, a woman who appeared outside Zach and Claire's car. She offers to help with Owen, and within seconds of being placed in her arms, he's suddenly quiet and giggling. This random and chance meeting is enough for Claire to consider Vera as their nanny, and after receiving a glowing review on the phone, Vera ended up being officially hired, and upon holding Owen, she voiced her happiness that Claire had a baby boy, which was followed by talk about Owen being an "heir to the throne." She also claimed that she also performed her same duties for Liz in the past.

As Vera continued her duties, Claire was hit with an unexpected surprise: her mother-in-law, Judy Mitchell. Within moments, Judy acts like she owns the place, and even orders Claire to hide the fact that she needed a surrogate. This also includes clashing with Vera and disapproving of her presence in the house, which increased when the two women actually fought over Owen's baby bottle. Both women are ordered to apologize and make things work, but Judy still maintained her mistrust in Vera. While Judy was a bit on the controlling side, she had a point, as suddenly, Claire saw both Vera and Owen were gone. She found both of them in Vera's car, and it led to an argument that turned a bit physical, as Vera actually scratched Claire.

Here's where Lifetime 101 comes in. Clearly, that's grounds for termination, but Claire actually decides to call Vera and talk things out. Lifetime 101 clearly states that you should never give a villainess the benefit of the doubt; it's basically similar to the rule in horror films that states that you should never invite a vampire into your house. Once that benefit of the doubt is given, that's it, you're stuck. That's pretty much what happened here. Vera used this to basically rant that she and Owen were close together, and that led to Claire lowering the boom by telling Vera to stay away from their house...for a few days. Yeah, that's telling her. Even worse, Claire's lackadaisical approach came after Vera used a spare key to enter her house, so...yeah.

So the couple finds out that Vera's "reference" was actually Vera herself, and after the police don't do much of anything (which we see too much in Lifetime films), the family acts on their own. Claire's visit to Liz's house actually sees her learn that Vera is actually Liz's mother, and she believes that Vera actually killed her own daughter and stalked Owen. Later that evening, we see a cloaked Vera (much more on this later) sneaking into the house with intent on abducting Owen, but as she would learn, it was a trap. A doll was in the crib, Zach busted her and called the cops, who arrested Vera. As for Owen, he was with Judy and Claire at a cottage that Liz once resided, and speaking of Liz, it turns out that she's alive and well, as she appeared to Claire.

So Liz had quite a story to tell. For starters, Vera was her mother, and it was a very abusive and traumatic relationship. Vera had wanted a boy very badly, and when Liz was born, Vera raised her as a boy and forbade her to act and dress "girly"; she would be punished if she did. Liz mentioned an incident from her teenage years where she was locked in her room for wearing a dress to a school gathering, and after nine days, Liz was released, and later ran away from home. In addition, Liz revealed that Vera was neglected by her parents as a child, as they focused all of their attention to their sons under their backwards belief that boys would amount to more than girls. Yeesh. And in spite of that, Vera decided to subject Liz to that same abuse.

Zach called and informed Claire that Vera had been arrested, though Liz still felt that she wasn't safe. Her fears would be justified, as Vera ended up released on her own recognizance. I'm serious, I don't know who's more unreliable: the Edmonton Oilers in playoff situations, or Lifetime cops when it comes to containing villains. Anyway, Vera makes a beeline for that cottage, and after drugging the ladies' drinks, she nabs Owen and runs off. This leads us where the film began, with Claire chasing Vera and attempting to regain her son, and once Vera's cornered at a bridge by Claire and Vera, the madwoman rants and accuses Claire of being an absentee mother, and lashed out at Liz for hiding from her and keeping her "grandson" from her mother. Any attempts to get through to Vera fell on deaf ears, she was convinced that Owen was the son she had longed for, and that she was the only one who should raise him. At that moment, Zach appeared and rescued Owen from Vera's insane clutches, and it's followed by a struggle that ends with Vera falling over the bridge and to her death.

Beware the Night Nurse aired on Lifetime Movie Network on July 27, 2023, and featured Maeve Quinlan as the insane Vera Chenoweth (aka Vera Ivanov). Maeve Quinlan has done her share of Lifetime films, including Personal Indiscretions and Teenage Bank Heist (amomg many others), as well as playing villainess Carol Morrison in 2018's The Sinister Surrogate. However, I feel that Quinlan outshined her last evil role with this film, as Vera was absolutely unhinged and maniacal in her delusional quest. It still amazes me. According to Vera's backstory, she was raised to feel like she's less than because she's a girl, and usually, that backstory would lead women to rise up and show their immense worth as women. Sadly, that was not the case with Vera, who took her misogynistic upbringing as some sort of gospel and used it to mentally abuse Liz, as well as plan to abduct Owen feeling that she was the son that she wanted for years.

I said I was going to get back to this. For her second Lifetime villainess role, Quinlan decides to spend the rest of the film donning the "cloak of evil" as Vera made her attempts to abduct Owen. I do love the standard evil hoodie, but there's something about the cloak--it's much more sinister. It's basically a hooded cape, if you will, and it truly fits the most evil and maniacal of baddies, and that is definitely the case with Vera Chenoweth. Vera was insane, unstable, and fiendish, and Quinlan played this villainess so brilliantly. She truly dominated this film!

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Check out Vera Chenoweth's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!