The Wrong Daughter

An unruly 18 years-old orphaned girl (Sydney Sweeney) leaves a group home and worms her way into a young couple's life by pretending to be the long lost daughter given up for adoption by the mother (Cindy Busby).

"The Wrong Daughter" (2018) is a television production that understandably lacks the artistry of Drew Barrymore's "Poison Ivy," yet it works well enough for a family-oriented drama with some crime thrills, prosaic though it may be.

Since it came out, Sweeney's star has risen and most people will consider her the main attraction. She was almost 20 during shooting (or just turned 20), but she's a little too thin here. As far as I'm concerned, Cindy Busby is the real highlight on the feminine front; she was 34 during shooting. (Be sure to check her out in "Behemoth" from seven years earlier, if you haven't already).

The flick is successful in making you root against the manipulations of the troubled young lass with the middle portion causing tedium and frustration. Yet the last act delivers the goods IMHO. She's a psycho, but some sympathy is cultivated for her, even if it's just a little. She executes evil deeds, indeed, yet the writers wisely keep it within plausibility. Less is more.

It runs 1 hour, 30 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles.

GRADE: B-

I saw this movie with the title "The Wrong Daughter" on Lifetime, and it was a stereotypical Lifetime movie, with all the usual elements. I won't go into them now; anyone who watches Lifetime movies knows what I mean.

I thought the way it is listed here is strange, though. They don't list it as a "TV Movie", though I can't believe it wasn't made as one. This is true especially since it is listed as a Lifetime movie under the "Company Credits" section, if you click on "Production Co: See more". They also don't list the running time, which is unusual.

But the strangest part is that they show it as a "Comedy, Thriller", and there are absolutely no comedic elements to the movie. As I said, it is just a standard Lifetime movie, with a crazy person doing improbable things, and with a typically improbable, predictable ending.

I can only suspect that, since the movie just aired the day before I wrote this, IMDB may not have all the facts straight about the movie yet. Hopefully that will be corrected over time.

Anyway, as far as a review goes, what can I say other than what I already did? It's typical Lifetime movie, no better or worse than what is usually produced for them. If you like those kinds of movies, this will please you as much as any other Lifetime movie does. Just don't expect great acting, or a coherent script without gaping holes in it. But you already know that, if you watch Lifetime movies and know the standard structure that is used to make them. I gave it 6 stars. It probably deserves less, but it gave me exactly what I expected from a Lifetime movie, so I was a bit generous.

For one of the many "Wrong" movies, this one got it right. Hardly any complaints about it at all. The acting was fine, particularly the antagonist. Nothing happened that was outrageously stupid. The very end was a little questionable, but still pleasing and entertaining. The only complaint I have is not really a complaint. Every actress looked more or less alike, attractive blondes with long hair. (Except one was a brunette.) Now, since they all looked good, that's really not a complaint.

If you are a guy and are looking for a lolita type to fill your roster, watch it for Sydney Sweeney. At least the writers picked the prettier of the two girls in the foster home to feature for most of the movie. The protagonist was needy, her whining repetitive and her goal too modest to hold my interest. I love LFM movies. These movies are supposed to be fun where the protagonist is so clever that they are on the verge of obtaining their ambitious goal just before their plot suddenly unravels (love how that happens). I am not a snob, this movie was just not fun.

I have to be honest and say that I figured that this 2018 movie was most likely going to be another generic crime thriller since it was a TV movie. Sure, I had never even heard about it prior to watching it, but I still opted to give the movie a fair chance. Maybe it would be a nice surprise of a movie.

Writers Carlee Malemute and Jesenia Ruiz put together a fair script. Sure, one can argue for it being a bit generic and predictable, but it still proved to be an entertaining enough movie.

I wasn't familiar with a single actress or actor on the cast list. But I will say that the acting performances were actually good, and they had a good cast ensemble put together for the movie.

"The Wrong Daughter" was actually a fairly enough entertaining movie. Sure, you know the outcome of the movie from the very beginning, but it was still an enjoyable movie to watch.

My rating of director Ben Meyerson's 2018 movie "The Wrong Daughter" lands on a five out of ten stars.