Poison Pen Pal

I enjoyed it but couldn't help notice the plot is exactly like SWF from the 90s. The only difference is the opening scenes and the fact SWF is more of a thriller. But I actually enjoyed this a bit more so good job with the production.

Lily Anderson (Elise Gatien) has been a pen pal to Molly since childhood. For unknown reason, Molly disappears offline for a short while. Suddenly, Molly Cumberland (Natalie Dreyfuss) shows up in real life. She's a little different. Lily invites her into her home.

It's a Lifetime movie and another woman-in-danger movie. With the opening, there is simply no mystery and therefore no tension. It's Single White Female without any character revelation. As a thriller, there is no thrill. It's rather flat. The girls are fine in their roles but it's all color-by-numbers.

I total aggree with dasanimet's review. This movie make me remember the 90´s thriller "SWF". Then I guessed who was the villain at first quarter of film length. Aside from this It´s a enjoyable and suspenseful movie. Dreyfuss and Gatien make great role both. Lifetime movies have it's own way. This movies don't disappoint.

Just like westerns, Lifetime movies are their own genre. You can do whatever you want but you have to play between the lines. "Dying to Be You" knows the rules. It plays by those rules and it delivers a solid, suspenseful movie. The entire cast does a nice job. Natalie Dreyfuss is very good. Elise Gatien is even better. Gatien gives a knockout performance. This is a good example of why I'm watching Lifetime every Saturday night.

Which I was too young to see in the 90s and it freaked me out. This is not as intense as SWF, but it's pretty high quality for Lifetime. Whenever Lifetime hits it out of the park with a movie like this, I always wonder why they only break out the good writers every few movies.

I don't want to rehash the plot, but it all follows through. What I liked is that this wasn't a new friendship where Lily was trusting someone she just met which is one of the worst Lifetime tropes. Even though she was still probably more trusting than she should have been since they'd never met, at least they'd known each other since they were kids. I had a penpal as a kid in the 90s, so this was a nice bit of nostalgia.

There were some terrifying (for Lifetime) and suspenseful moments. I was really afraid for the neighbor. I watched this movie during the day, and you know it's good when it has you on edge in the daylight lol. There is a twist that I didn't see coming that I will say is appreciated. It doesn't overly complicate the movie, but it adds a bit more depth to it.

If you've seen SWF, you know the framework for this movie, so just watch to see how they adapt it for the small screen. It's worth watching and Lifetime should air it more often.