Lifetime Review: 'Killer Mom'

With her husband's arrest for investment fraud leaving her broke and without a home, Jessica Calders (Karen Cliche) finds herself desperate to reclaim the wealthy lifestyle she adores. Just when it seems she has nowhere to turn, Jessica remembers a secret from her past: she had given birth to a daughter years prior who was a result of a dalliance with her married boss, who has recently died in a tragic plane crash.

Determined to get herself back into her daughter's good graces, Jessica meets up with the now 14-year-old Allison Timmons (Maddy Martin) and begins worming her way into her daughter's life, intent on getting her hands on Allison's lucrative inheritance. However, Jessica quickly earns the distrust of Allison's sister Syndi (Kirby Bliss Blanton) and lawyer Aaron Martin (Brad Long), leading Jessica to scheme to make sure her plan goes off without a hitch. It will soon become apparent to everyone, however, that Jessica is even more twisted than meets the eye—and will resort to any means to reclaim the life she believes she deserves.

Killer Mom wastes no time in introducing its audience to the star attraction of itself: Jessica Calders, played to precision by Karen Cliche. In her hands, Jessica is a villain to marvel at as she swiftly and effortlessly manipulates and schemes to get the wealth she desires. Her unapologetic greed and callousness is handled well by Cliche, as she gives just enough to make her "love to hate" evil, while making sure not to bury the needle and bring her to unlikability. Her effectiveness as a manipulative villainess also greatly benefits the story and her supporting characters; the audience will marvel at her deceptiveness, and at the same time, understand why many around her (particularly Allison) remain in the dark about the depths of her evil nature for so long.

Joining Jessica on the dark side is Richard Roy Sutton as her lover and henchman Cole Flannery. While most of his previous appearances on Lifetime have him in smaller roles, Killer Mom puts Sutton in the role of secondary antagonist, where he proves himself worthy of standing alongside Cliche as a strong villain in his own right. Just as greedy and callous as Jessica, Cole carries out much of the heavy lifting for Jessica, with Sutton playing Cole with a ruthless vigor that allows him to shine as strongly as Cliche.

On the opposite side of the morality coin, Kirby Bliss Blanton and Maddy Martin are excellently handled protagonist. Martin, in particular, is achingly sympathetic as Allison from the moment she appears on screen, and maintains this sympathy throughout the film. Even as she is shown pushing Sydni away as Jessica worms her way into getting her hands on Allison's inheritance, one can understand why and even sympathize with Allison more for it. Fresh off the loss of two of the closest people in her life, Allison is in the ideal position to be taken advantage of by her greedy biological mother, aided by the disconnection between Allison and Sydni leaving the latter disbelieving Sydni's attempts to warn her of the truth. Martin and Cliche also share a strong chemistry between each other during Jessica's feigned heartfelt moments with Allison, making viewers gush as Allison bonds with her long-lost mother, while cringing at the fact that the love Allison has developed is for a cold and greedy woman incapable of caring for anyone but herself.

Blanton, meanwhile, does well as the film's primary protagonist as Sydni fights to protect her sister and redeem herself for the estrangement between them that she allowed to develop in the wake of their mother's passing. Brad Long brings his A-game as the Timmons family lawyer Aaron Martin, being quick to realize Jessica is likely to have ulterior motives to reunite with Allison and working with Sydni as best he can to take her down. And in his first IMDB-credited role, James Hicks breaths life and charm into what could've been a cliche role as he plays Sydni's boyfriend Tommy, with the script additionally giving him more to do and more time to shine than most "heroine's love interest" characters. Kyria Ossa (another relatively new actor) also brings charm to her role as Alison's loyal and supportive best friend Erica, with the chemistry between her and Martin making their scenes together—particularly an emotional Skype call between them early in the film—heartwarming to watch.

Killer Mom could almost serve as a case study on what needs to be brought to the table to make a strong Lifetime film. A well-written and paced story, strong characters, exceptional casting, and emotional beats to give some depth to the goings on of the story, this is one Lifetime film that can not go unseen, especially by more hardened Lifetime fans as myself.

Score: 10 out of 10 posthumous infidelity confessions.