Lifetime Review: 'My Husband's Deadly Past'

Life for accountant Karen Croft (Sarah Butler) took a sudden turn after she became haunted by visions of a young woman who she saw being murdered in a dream. After seeing a Missing Person poster for Gina Navarro (Kimi Alexander) and recognizing her as the woman from her visions, Karen asks her psychiatrist husband Otto (Peter Benson) to hypnotize her to find out if she had any role in Gina's disappearance.

Soon after being put under hypnosis by Otto, however, Karen comes back to reality to find herself in a nightmarish situation: Gina has been found dead on her property and, with her DNA on the body, Karen is arrested as the prime suspect. Now facing life in prison, Karen comes to the alarming revelation that she's been set up by her husband--and now will have to evade the law while trying to prove her innocence as Otto resorts to sinister means to cover his tracks.

The last time Sarah Butler appeared as the protagonist of a Lifetime movie, it was Revenge for Daddy--a film that was marred by a hackneyed script, bad pacing, and a sense of mystery that was left obliterated by its spoiler-ridden synopsis and title. Try as Butler might, there was only so much she could do to counteract so many flaws. Thankfully, My Husband's Deadly Past proves to be just what Butler needed after such a catastrophe, being a well-written thriller that delivers all the delectable drama that Revenge for Daddy gravely lacked.

Plot-wise, My Husband's Deadly Past is similar to Revenge for Daddy, with both films featuring Sarah Butler as a woman framed for murder struggling to prove her innocence. But whereas Revenge for Daddy tried and failed to be a compellingly slow-paced mystery thriller, My Husband's Deadly Past wisely avoids wasting too much time before throwing the audience into its The Fugitive-esque main plot; a plot that proves far more interesting than Butler's previous film's non-existent murder mystery. While the film's action could've been boilerplate, the script infuses that action with emotional resonance--namely in the form of Karen and Otto's caught-in-the-crossfire daughter Jordan (played by Madelyn Grace) and the nightmarish methods Otto employs to protect himself.

The opening scenes of the movie (apart from the questionably acted murder sequence we see in Karen's dream) does a great job at putting us in Karen's mindset. Through a combination of well-shot nightmares/hallucinations and Butler's strong performance, we feel Karen's panic and terror as she begins having visions of Gina Navarro and pondering the possibility that she could've killed her. Karen's situation only becomes more harrowing as the film progresses, with Butler bringing a lot of emotion Karen's dismay before delivering that same energy to her character's drive to uncover the truth and expose her treacherous husband.

Speaking of, despite being primarily known for lighthearted Hallmark features, Peter Benson proves excellent as sinister psychiatrist Otto Croft, who becomes far more twisted than your average Lifetime baddie. Initially, Benson skirts the line of being too on-the-nose about handling the audience's early knowledge of Otto's true nature, playing his early scenes with Karen with just a bit too much veiled malice for my taste. But once the film hits its plot stride and Otto begins scheming to cover his tracks, Benson perfectly delivers as a ruthless sociopath willing to do absolutely everything necessary to avoid the consequences of his actions. SPOILER ALERT In addition to his psychotherapy brainwashing of Karen and Jordan being disturbing for all the obvious reasons, there's also this unspoken question: has Otto done this before? It's an unsettling and all-too-believable possibility, one that Benson's chilling performance--apart from a brief humanizing moment that feels fairly out of place with the rest of Benson's portrayal of Otto--brings to life with vigor. Spoilers Over

Despite having a disadvantage in the form of being needlessly introduced as the standard "Bratty Teenage Daughter" trope, Madelyn Grace makes up for this by throwing herself into Jordan's emotions as we see this young girl get put through just about the most horrific situation you can imagine. Brendon Zub makes for a charming supporting character as Hugh Gossett, striking up solid chemistry (along with some nice snarky banter) with Butler as Hugh becomes unexpectedly entangled with Karen's predicament. Deborah Finkel also makes an impact as Karen's boss Doreen, who can best be described as an amplified version of the "Boss From Hell" trope, and Kimi Alexander is effective as the ill-fated Gina Navarro: sympathetic as the real Gina, and understatedly creepy as her hallucinatory counterpart.

On the lower end of the supporting cast totem pole, however, we have Lucia Walters' Detective Chandra and Karis Cameron's Ruth. Neither actress gives a bad performance, but are playing roles that aren't written or utilized as well as they could've been. Having seen Walters play a refreshingly mold-breaking detective character in 2017's Secrets of My Stepdaughter, seeing her fall right into the "Cluless Cop" mold with Detective Chandra is disheartening--especially when SPOILER ALERT her final moments give the impression that she's still hasn't completely realized what Otto has done and will need Hugh to fill her in on the parts she should've already figured out herself thanks to contacting Otto's former work colleague. Cameron, on the other hand, had a more interesting character in the form of Jordan's best friend, and Otto's implied lover. This adds another layer of sleazy to Otto's character, and Cameron does well in Ruth's one big moment in which she holds Otto at gunpoint in an attempt to rescue Jordan from his brainwashing. But following this moment, all Ruth gets to do is be knocked out, rescued by Karen, and then disappear from the movie to phone the police. All of this, along with some awkward deliveries from Cameron and the fact that Ruth receives much of the film's cringey bits of dialogue, upend Ruth's potential as a character and adds another underdeveloped character to Cameron's Lifetime playbook. Spoilers Over

(Another character who was surprisingly not used to any effect is Rebecca Davis's Joy Augustine, the lawyer hired to represent Karen. Despite her sole scene giving the indication Joy will become a compassionate ally for Karen, she inexplicably disappears after Karen makes her escape)

In the last of the film's weaker elements, in addition to the aforementioned moments of cringey dialogue, we have the ultimate conclusion. SPOILER ALERT The climax proves exactly what I clamoring for, with Karen and Jordan thoroughly blasting Otto for the hell he put them through and the latter giving her father a well-deserved but sadly all-too-brief beatdown before he's arrested. But in place of a strong finale that allows for Karen and Jordan to have cathartic closure regarding Otto and his despicable deeds, we instead get a romantic interlude between Karen and Hugh. In addition to robbing us of a conclusion that allows us to savor Otto's defeat and gives Karen and Jordan the chance to firmly condemn him for his actions, it ties into the rushed and superfluous romance that develops between Karen and Hugh. While the chemistry between Butler and Zub is strong, it's much better suited for a fire-forged friendship, and the way Hugh first voices his attraction to Karen is equal parts cringey and tactless, given how Hugh believed Karen to be suicidal when he first met her.

(My idea for a better conclusion for My Husband's Deadly Past: have the final scene be Karen, Jordan, and Ruth visiting Otto in prison, thoroughly chewing him out for everything he put them through before leaving him to rot in prison. That would've made for a stellar conclusion, allowing for all three of the women Otto used and abused throughout the film to have a moment of triumph over their shared tormentor)

Spoilers Over

While there are a few things about My Husband's Deadly Past that could've used some tweaking, the film is overall an engaging Lifetime thriller that keeps you glued to your seat once the action kicks into high gear. The film also boasts strong pacing and performances, particularly in regards to Peter Benson's spectacular portrayal of a memorably disgusting villain. Coming off the flop that was Revenge for Daddy, My Husband's Deadly Past is a Lifetime thriller worthy of Sarah Butler's talent and that of her co-stars.

Score: 8 out of 10 strobe lights.