Film Review: 'The Wrong Babysitter'

Ever since her detective husband Frank was murdered, artist Susan "Sue" Brown (Daphne Zuniga) has been trying to move forward, along with her precocious daughter Christy (Ava Hughes), who at 15 aspires to join law enforcement to honor her father. The two still have Frank's murder on their minds, as his killers—suspected to have been the perpetrators of a string of abductions Frank was investigating—were never caught.

When a sudden job opportunity pops up, Susan leaves Christy in the care of Teri Simmons (Lisa Marie Caruk), her neighbor and best friend who has been a shoulder to cry on for Susan and Christy. But during her time away, Susan is horrified to learn that Christy disappeared, with Susan coming to believe her daughter has been kidnapped. As Susan works to find her daughter, she will learn that her daughter's kidnapping is connected to the case that killed her husband—and that her best friend is harboring a dark secret that she'll do anything to keep hidden.

When it comes right down to it, The Wrong Babysitter (another Reel One Entertainment distributed Lifetime-ian film making its premiere on Netflix) takes its plot in exactly the way Lifetime fans will expect. With the film taking the approach of revealing its main villains' identities and motivations fairly early on, rather than leaving them as a twist, being formulaic could've ended up being this film's killing blow. But instead, The Wrong Babysitter—while far from perfect—shows that formulaic does not automatically mean terrible.

A solid cast is often needed to make a "howcatchem" mystery film work, with Daphne Zuniga making for a solid protagonist. She especially shares a strong chemistry with Ava Hughes in their loving and slightly quirky mother-daughter relationship, and later sells Susan's desperation and determination to find Christy following her abduction. Zuniga also shares a few moments of chemistry with Seann Gallagher as he plays her boyfriend and well-connected ally Chad, with Gallagher making Chad an easy-to-like and fiercely supportive rock for Susan. Though in the end, there's little sparks to be felt between Susan and Chad as a romantic pair, and as such, their relationship would've worked better had they been written as close platonic friends rather than as a couple.

(A moment during the climax where Susan abruptly gives appreciation to Chad for waiting for her to find closure regarding Frank comes off less as a moment of relationship/character depth, and more like the film reminding the viewer that Susan and Chad are in fact lovers.)

Another weak spot in the cast is Ava Hughes as plucky aspiring cop turned kidnapping victim Christy. As stated before, Hughes and Zuniga share strong chemistry together, and Hughes has a good deal of scenes alone where she brings a lot of emotion as her abduction leads her to uncovering heartbreaking secrets about her father's murder and the neighbor she once considered a friend; scenes of Christy crying alone in the room where she's being held have Hughes effectively showing that for all her bravado and sarcasm, Christy is still a traumatized young girl in a frightening situation.

Christy also has moments of being a clever and quick-thinking girl as she leaves behind clues for her mother and fights to outsmart her kidnappers, making you root for her and allowing the film's third act to be injected with some suspense. But in some scenes, particularly in the scenes where Christy negotiates with her kidnappers, Hughes' dialogue feels stilted and overly scripted. Of the main cast, Hughes has the least amount of roles under her belt, making her moments of struggle understandable, while her strong scenes show she has the potential to improve on herself going forward.

Elsewhere, Lisa Marie Caruk is strong as Teri Simmons, playing both her friendly neighbor facade and true greedy and cold-hearted self with vigor, particularly as the film reaches its climax (barring a pair of moments when Caruk's dialogue overdoes it). Matt Bellefleur and Britt Irvin play well off each other as partners in crime, and Lifetime superstar Lochlyn Munro brings his usual charm to minor character Detective John Morris. Unfortunately, the film has John act uncharacteristically brusque with Susan and Chad regarding Christy's kidnapping, given how we're introduced to him, in a move that seems to serve solely as justification for Susan and Chad investigating the abduction on their own. It not only comes across as poor characterization, but also contributes to the movie's underutilization of Lochlyn Munro's talent.

As said before, the plot of The Wrong Babysitter holds no surprises, with the mild intrigue built in the opening being resolved once the film's second act reveals all the pieces to the puzzle. There are also the previously mentioned character errors, and there are also moments throughout when characters act uncharacteristically dense in service to plot convenience. In spite of all the errors, however, The Wrong Babysitter remains entertaining thanks to the well-paced story and strong actors that keep the film's mistakes from spoiling everything else. It's a thriller tailor made for a weekend viewing, and one that Lifetimers are sure to have some fun with.

Score: 6 out of 10 pints of mint chocolate ice cream.