Fatal Trust

One of the nice things about Lifetime original movies is how reliable they are - reliably direct, in particular. The plot development zips right along; in no time at all we meet the villain, a romantic element is introduced, we meet the major supporting characters, and character history is provided. The same ethos applies to the scene writing and dialogue, which furthermore are sometimes contrived or ham-handed to brusquely establish specific ideas or inculcate specific feelings. With this said: the network's features tend to fall into one of three categories, being either sincere and well-made, gauche but still worthwhile, or a total B-movie romp. For all the idiosyncrasies that define the construction of this title, by and large it carries itself with the airs of that first category, and achieves it much more than not. It would be wrong to say 'Fatal trust' altogether evokes the desired reactions of its thriller genre, but it's earnestly enjoyable and engaging in its TV movie seriousness, and that's something that not even all its major studio kin can claim.

The surest sign of the slant here is how David Haydn-Jones plays the antagonist completely straight. Whereas Lifetime films commonly allow those playing the killer to overact, chew all the scenery they want, and throw themselves about with wild abandon (see 'My killer client' or 'Wheels of beauty,' two personal favorites of mine), to Haydn-Jones' credit, he portrays the murderer with a searing, cold malice that unquestionably aspires to loftier ends. And the same is true of the rest of the cast - even for any kitsch that presents (primarily in the expository first act), they all do a fine job of bringing the dark tableau to life with all the skill and authenticity they can muster. Amy Jo Johnson demonstrates excellent capability as a leading lady; Carol Alt and Paul Popowich make their supporting characters feel meaningfully real, and more significant than their Second Fiddle status. And so on. It helps that screenwriter Andrew Hilton and director Philippe Gagnon clearly put their best feet forward to make the picture as compelling and worthy as it could be, quite exceeding many of its brethren; the straightforward tack belies softly rich, satisfying characters, and scene and narrative writing. Ultimately the touches of inelegance in the writing and execution feel minor; though overall 'Fatal trust' fits within a formula, there's passion and heart in its craft that feels distinctly different.

One can perhaps readily imagine discrete ways in which the picture could have been altered to further elevate it, and make it more impactful. For example, where the ending is concerned, I'd have more heavily emphasized the zoom out in the closing shot and let it linger a moment longer; if the final lines of text were truly necessary, I'd let the screen fade to black before letting the words appear. Such superficially trivial matters can make a big difference. Yet even if some of the small details in this case are imperfect (for example, the minutiae of how the killer facilitates a car wreck raise a skeptical eyebrow), by and large there's a keen sobriety in how the film is put together. The cast, crew, and writer and director all put in genuinely solid work to assemble the grim tale; even composers Vincent Rehel and Martin Roy contribute an original score that seems uncharacteristically grabbing and piercing. In fairness, I don't think this is so singular that it's apt to change the mind of anyone who doesn't already appreciate what Lifetime TV movies broadly represent - there's no mistaking that it comes from the same mold. In my opinion, however, this is an iteration of the same recipe that strikes all the exact right notes to come out just ever so slightly stronger and more flavorful than others of similar form. Don't go out of your way for it, but this is unexpectedly deserving, and I dare say that those who are on the fence about the network might be pleasantly surprised. Recommended above all for established fans of the style, or of those involved, 'Fatal trust' is a second-tier thriller that shows there's more value to its chosen medium than it often gets credit for. Well done!

Evil is what is up - no pun intended. Of course the movie at hand is not hard to decipher. You will have no trouble at all to see where it is going. So if you are a fan of mysteries in your thrillers ... well this ain't the movie to watch for you. If you have soft spot for movies of the week on the other hand ... well you can guess yourself (you know I love me some puns).

All that being said, it is nice to see Amy Jo Johnson in something again. I had seen her in that canadian cop show - but obviously she has done much more things. Suspend your disbelief and just go with the flow - otherwise you won't have any fun at all with this (no pun intended)

I get the play on words with the title. "Fatal Trust" refers to the fact (as Kate points out in the movie) that we routinely and without a second thought place our lives in the hands of complete strangers who we allow to do all sorts of invasive things to us just because they're doctors. It's a point that gets made in the closing captions of the movie, which share a couple of incidents in which doctors were guilty of murdering their patients. So the point is clear - doctors are humans, and just because they're doctors doesn't mean that they can't kill. Point taken. And I thought the climactic confrontation between Kate and Dr. Lucas was reasonably exciting. But overall the movie was something of a disappointment.

Kate (Amy Jo Johnson - who I'm not at all familiar with) moves from the big city back to the small town where she grew up after her husband is murdered. She gets a job working as assistant to Dr. Lucas (David Haydn-Jones - also not really familiar with him) and over the course of time (a short period of time) she becomes suspicious because several of his elderly patients (including her own mother before Kate moved back) die suddenly.

So it's a kind of murder mystery, and it's honestly nothing special. The acting and writing are both second-rate, and the revelation of how the doctor actually kills his victims actually made me chuckle a little bit because it seemed so silly. It's thankfully fairly short at a little under an hour and a half (it was made for TV and was probably two hours once commercials were inserted) and I'll give it the credit of saying that the story does move along relatively well. Unfortunately, it's just not that good a movie. (3/10)

This is an OK way to spend a little time, but the conclusion really didn't work.

The lead, Kate, is played by Amy Jo Johnson who is best known (to me at least) for her role as Julie on Felicity. Here she plays a young widower with a son that decides to "move back home" after her husband dies in front of a train.

What starts as a drama gradually becomes a murder mystery. The story is very formulaic and predictable but the actors mostly do a decent job. It never really becomes scary because the outcome is so easy to predict, but that would have been OK with me were it not for the conclusion shown after the story is done.

The director, Philippe Gagnon, has some potential but still has a long way to go. The flashbacks used don't add to the story and the romance is not done with any flair. Despite all it's flaws I still thought this was an OK way to spend a sleepless night - just don't go in expecting much.

This film actually surprised me by how good it was. Now I'm not saying it's brilliant, I'm not! Though for a daytime TV movie this is good fare.

Kate (Johnson) and her son have suffered the violent loss of a lover and father so she decides it's time to leave the city and head home, where her sister, Jessica (Alt), runs a diner. As she's pulling into town, she passes an accident where a woman has died of a heart attack while driving. As time passes, Kate begins to learn that this isn't the first heart attack in the small town. Could her new boss, Dr Lucas (Haydn-Jones), be behind the deaths in some way(?) So she sets out to find out the truth.

Here is the first thing I think could have been better. It would have been a stronger storyline had we not been shown the killer at quite an early stage in the film. Had the writer and director decided to make this into a whodunnit with lots of twists and red herrings this would have been a brilliant movie. It wouldn't have been that difficult to do as the person who's playing the killer is so normal it would have been difficult to guess.

The other thing would be her relationship with her son. There's just too little here. At times, you even forget she's a mother. Who know's there may be some of these scene's laying on the cutting room floor. I just think it would have strengthened her character and added a few heartwarming and tearful scenes. This, in turn, could have branched off a story arch where they, as a family, developed more - especially the climax, which was over a little too fast. With an added threat to her son, the director could have ramped up the tension so the audience was on the edge of their seats.

Those are my only quirks as the film is well directed and acted throughout. There is one scene which is especially great. After killing an elderly resident, the killer sits back while sipping tea. It's the exhale of their deep breath, the look of calm satisfaction, and the shudder of utter bliss, which gave me the shivers right down to the bone.

If you love your thrillers without the mystery element then I'd recommend this film to you. It's an engrossing and entertaining way to waste an hour or two.