House of Deadly Lies

Truth be told, then I wasn't exactly harboring a whole lot of expectations to this 2023 thriller given the fact that it was a Lifetime TV movie. But still, I opted to give the movie a fair chance and the benefit of the doubt, since it was a movie that I hadn't already seen, much less even heard about.

Director Penelope Buitenhuis actually surprised me with this 2023 thriller titled "House of Deadly Lies", because the movie turned out to be rather enjoyable and entertaining. Sure, this was a Lifetime movie, but it didn't feel like the usual overly predictable movies that they tend to produce. So I was genuinely surprised with the storyline in the movie and how entertaining it actually was.

Sure, some of the plot in the storyline was predictable, but it worked out well enough, because the movie, as a whole, was enjoyable and entertaining. And isn't that what a movie is all about?

The acting performances in the movie were good. I wasn't familiar with leading actress Katy Breier (playing Paige) and leading actor Jon McLaren (playing Michael), but they carried the movie quite well. It was a shame that actor Justin Nurse (playing Detective Anderson) wasn't given more on-screen time, because I think he could have spruced up the movie a notch.

If you enjoy a thriller, then perhaps give "House of Deadly Lies" a chance. I did and I was pleasantly surprised and genuinely entertained throughout the 97 minutes that the movie ran for.

My rating of "House of Deadly Lies" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Housewife Paige Johnson (Katy Breier) has a boy and is concerned about the changes in her husband Michael Johnson (Jon McLaren) especially after inviting her troubled pregnant best friend Joslyn (Leah Jane McKenney) to stay with them since Joslyn has nowhere else to go.

This is a Lifetime movie. It is what it is. It is another Lifetime movie with another toxic guy. Jon McLaren is doing some overacting. It does take some interesting if somewhat unlikely turns. This needs to set up Joslyn more. All the setups are a little thin. There are little holes where things are not explained. I wouldn't call them plot holes as much as plot skips. It's Lifetime.

So stay at home mother takes in her strugling stay at home friend to help her through a tough time which takes many many months. They both don't work, just stay at home all day and do nothing. But they both are victims. Neither of them tries to get a job and contribute to the household expenses. The friend is having a baby at some point and still lives in the house where only husband works, whatever his work is, it puts the food on the table.

But hey, let's make the husband the bad guy, let's make him a crook, yeah, why not. He want the friend to be gone but noooo, the wife wants her to stay and do nothing.

Btw, I would like to know who pays for her hospital bills covering costs of delivering the baby.

Well, it was a really bad movie, a horrible and ridiculeous story.

And I am not even getting into the actig skills.

And one more thing, IMDb requires 600 characters for one reason only, to discourage people from commenting.

Paige Johnson takes in her pregnant friend Joslyn. The two have known each other since high school and Joslyn is going through a rough patch. Paige is married to Michael and together they have a son. Then secrets come to light, which could potentially tear the family apart.

A solid lifetime thriller that is less corny than its kind. It's simply plotted yet gripping and has effective acting especially by Katy Brier who realises her husband isn't what he seems. He's controlling, a rapist and isn't a real estate employee but runs with drug dealers. This type of story is well treaded but this is a strong example.

The actors really struggle with the dialogue as it's all short sentences and put together in short bursts. It reminds me of a high school play where everyone has their lines written on the backs of their hands for the current scene.

Predictable story line, and fast forwarding ended up getting me to the expected ending in under 30 minutes, which is entirely too long to spend watching this thing.

All minor actors with a few first timers. I'm sure the director/writer is a novice as well as he/she isn't even listed on this page.

That's probably a good thing actually. Deny, deny deny. Not much else to say. 1/10. Not even good practice for first time students out of film school.