Il gioco dell'illusione

I have to say that I was a little cynical even before i watched this movie. Having said that I found myself getting into it , and a little intrigued.

But really , Haylie Duff for the part? Not only can she not act, but she should seriously invest in some acting classes with regard to facial expressions . I could not bear to watch as she trundled along, looking pathetic and weak , and completely overreacting to everything!

At times, I just wanted to scream at her !!!

I did see it through to the end though, it was just ok, not blown away or surprised.

I have seen worse!

I don't even know what to say. I can't believe I finished this movie. I've rated a lot of movies on here but I think this is my first written review. The story/premise of the movie is promising and it could've turned out better, but the main character overacted too much. It just made it so unbelievable that a guy would be sticking it out with her when she can barely go outside without looking like a dog whose owner is holding a rolled newspaper over its head. That is what she looks like throughout the whole movie. Cringing and wide eyed and flighty or crying and breaking down for the whole movie. It was too much. Most people would try and act more normal than this in real life even if they thought they were delusional. I get it's a lifetime movie and I don't expect much usually as the storylines and acting are not up to par with most films - but go ahead and skip this one.

I think this movie could have worked if they had gone with a better actress. Or just any other actress. Haylie Duff is so bad that she´s in a category all on her own. From the first moments when she is on screen every facial expression she makes is awful and made me wish for something extremely terrible to happen to her. Yes, she was playing a character who looked like a horse with the worst personality you could imagine. It´s impossible to have any sympathy for such a person when the actress is this bad.

I would have given this movie a 10 if it wasn't for the ending. Great plot and, in my POV, Haylie Duff delivered a powerful performance- one of the best. We had the boyfriend and real estate guy figured out early but never would have guessed the reason they were gaslighting her until near the end. In this computer age, a setup like that is very imaginable.

Haylie played the victim nicely- almost falling apart at times but holding it together at some important times. Guts and grit.

The ending let down everything the film had created. When the cops got the real estate guy and the boss and found all the computers and wiring and cameras in the house, they would have thoroughly investigated all the players, including the doctor (who we figured out was evil at her very first appearance.) Oh, but that's right, Lifetime always makes the cops into bumbling idiots, so the ring continues even though the bosses are gone and the doctor would have at least gotten spooked by the arrests and breaking up of the ring. Sad.

A good plot twist is one you don't see coming but when it happens you find yourself thinking "oh, so that's why..." In other words, the pieces of the puzzle should be introduced over the course of the movie, but then be assembled in an unexpected way.

With this movie, we have nothing to go on until the final twenty minutes when they introduce a completely absurd premise out of left field. They may as well have blamed everything on space aliens or vampires.

The acting and production quality of the film are pretty good. Nonetheless, when you get to the end you will feel cheated. Don't watch it.