Stranger things have happened in real life. That doesn't make 'Cradle of lies' (aka 'Where's my baby?') any more believable, or less ham-handed.
The writing is very forthright and direly lacking in subtlety - in dialogue, characterizations, and story beats generally - with apparent intent to keep the film moving at a steady pace. The narrative is at least coherent, even as the underlying scheme of the plot spirals out with increasing, unwieldy intricacy. The sheer forcefulness of the editing, on the other hand, threatens the narrative flow, and our engagement with the film.
I think the direction is most at fault here; David Winning's guidance of his cast and crew is less than winsome. I can only speak for Nicole de Boer, having seen much of her elsewhere (especially on 'Star Trek: Deep Space 9'), but I know she's a capable actress. I assume her co-stars are suitably skilled, too. Yet in Winning's vision, the cast is forced into portrayals that are very one-dimensional and robbed of nuance; performances are mostly over the top or wooden, with no room in between. At times it seems as though scenes are filmed without giving the actors the benefit of a screenplay - just a line to repeat, an emotion to express, or an action to carry out. The cast don't have roles to inhabit as much as they have snapshots to relate.
The climax feels reasonably well done, yet still rather preposterous.
And... that's about it. I'd like to have more to say - I feel like I'm failing in my self-assigned task of giving thoughtful ruminations on a picture - but truthfully, this just doesn't inspire voluminous scribing.
While the plot is better than I expected, its realization on film is less convincing. 'Cradle of lies' isn't outright bad, but it's hard to in any way be excited about a feature this middling. My words have imparted more criticism than praise; even so, my overall reaction is neither good nor bad - only unmoved. By the thrust of the narrative and the slant of its construction, there's no question it's a Lifetime original movie. However, it's decidedly less entertaining than some others I've watched - adequate, not appeasing.
To love a movie, or hate it, is better than to feel essentially nothing at all, yet that's just where 'Cradle of lies' leaves me. There are worse films to watch, should you come across it. But it's also very easy to find much better ones.
