Lifetime Review: 'Obsession: Escaping My Ex'

She thought life was finally getting back to normal. Having testified against Blake Collins (Travis Nelson) and ensured he would go to prison for his crimes, Madison Turner (Celeste Desjardins) was certain she and her sister Evie (Kelly Hope Taylor) could wash their hands of him. Now, with their bond reconciled and their careers on track, things are looking up for the Turner sisters.

But those hopes are swiftly dashed when Blake escapes from prison and abducts Madison at gunpoint. Blake takes Madison to a remote cabin to hold her captive, while leaving instructions for Evie to wire him money to flee the country--under threat of killing Madison if she doesn't comply. As Evie scrambles to get the ransom, Madison works to formulate an escape plan as it becomes clear to her that Blake wants to make her fall in love with him again so she'll run away with him. Can she break free of Blake's clutches before it's too late?

With Lifetime putting out plot synopses for all the movies in their "Obsession Thrillogy" ahead of time, they put themselves in a bit of a bind for the first two movies. Thanks to those synopses, many viewers would know ahead of time that Stalked by My Lover would end with Blake arrested, and that Obsession: Escaping My Ex would end with him dead. If you saw certain promos, you would even know how he'd die. But in spite of that advance knowledge, Escaping My Ex proved to be an enthralling abduction thriller thanks to the well-maintained sense of tension and the performances of its returning stars.

Escaping My Ex gets off to a bit of a rough start, lingering on Blake's abduction preparations for longer than necessary. But once Blake has Madison and begins working to make her fall in love with him again while extorting Evie for more money, we get into the attention-grabbing meat of the story. The moment Blake gets Madison back in his clutches, the tension ramps up as we watch Madison fight to escape her psychotic ex-boyfriend and Evie struggle to get the money needed to keep her sister alive. Even if you know how it will all ultimately end like me, the suspense and fear experienced by the Turner sisters will keep you invested as you wait to see how far Blake will go to get what he wants.

The performances of the three returning main players are as strong as they were in Stalked by My Lover, with all three having more opportunity to show their emotional range. Celeste Desjardins and Kelly Hope Taylor shine the brightest, with each pulling us into the terror of their respective situations with Blake. The script allows Madison and Evie to continue the character development they began in the first movie, with Madison showing off her quick wits as she works to win Blake's trust and use his obsession to orchestrate her escape. While I personally would've liked some more cathartic moments of Madison calling Blake out for what he put her through, I can understand how such moments wouldn't fit into the story. Evie, on the other hand, continues her Defrosting Ice Queen transformation as we see her and Madison's rekindled bond, with Desjardins and Taylor's heartfelt chemistry raising the stakes for when Madison's life is in Evie's hands.

Travis Nelson brings the same malice as he did in Stalked by My Lover, even though the greedy side of Blake's personality is drowned out by his obsessive desire to win Madison back--by any means necessary. Nelson plays Blake to where he periodically shifts from delusionally in love to ruthless and vicious--the latter coming forward in spades whenever he speaks to Evie. As I hoped, Escaping My Ex explores the relationship between Blake and his sister Lisa, with Anastasia Phillips bringing the same brand of intense psychosis to Lisa that Nelson brings to Blake's darker moments. The relationship between Blake and Lisa comes with an air of ambiguity: does Blake really care about Lisa? Or will Lisa's inevitable turn to villainy be in the name of a brother who only strung her along to aid his plans for Madison? Either way, Phillips' performance makes me eager to see her take center stage in Her Final Vengeance.

Story-wise, Escaping My Ex requires the usual bit of suspension of disbelief to accept (most notably the circumstances leading up to Madison's kidnapping), and there are the aforementioned moments of sluggish pacing at the beginning as well as a few throughout the film. But overall, Escaping My Ex is more than a worthy follow-up to the first part of this Lifetime trilogy, providing a more emotionally intense plot that gives all its cast more chances to show off their range. Now, with an even crazier villainess picking up where her brother left off, we'll see how this Obsession Thrillogy wraps up.

Score: 8.5 out of 10 realty postcards.