The Stepdaughter

This is an enjoyable thriller with plenty of good action.

A distressed daughter is taken in by her father's new wife and when everything starts to go wrong suspicion falls on the adopted girl.

I thought the acting was often very much full throttle and this picture had my attention throughout.

Decent direction and amongst the pluses the make-up and hair styles deserve merit.

Also the house interior is eye catching.

Plenty of decent performances from all the performers though maybe the one as the stepdaughter just about wins for being the best.

All the players give decent performances and seems to me this film deserves a part 2.

6 and a half rounded up= 7/10.

Another "step" movie. It was setup to have a sequel. The house is beautiful that is a must see. The plot? Typiical story. Kid shows up at fathers door and of course she is welcomed. The obligatory "protective" sister and friend. The acting? Well, the 2 boys are not only believe but very easy on the eyes. THe step daughter is pretty, but her acting is not very good. The father is the only one that tries to carry the story, but he really is not in the movie for very long. Telling the step mother why, is laughable. I wanted to like this one, but the ending was a joke. You have this movie and you are engaged and then it just ends If you are bored watch it otherwise click past this one.

I'm pretty sure I saw this when it was first broadcast on Lifetime. But there were references to scenes that were not shown. That is not normal for any kind of movie, though Lifetime does sometimes cut scenes from movies on subsequent airings. Just not as obviously as was done here.

At one point "Joanna" says she accidentally dropped the stepmother's urn; that is never shown. Then she says the family had an uncomfortable dinner that night. That was not shown either. I even went back and scanned the movie on my DVR to see if I missed those scenes. Nope; they weren't there.

This was a Tubi original movie; maybe those scenes were cut for broadcast on Lifetime to fit the time requirements. If so, they should have been more careful with the continuity when choosing what to cut.

As for the movie itself, we've seen it all before. It is one of the formulas Lifetime (and I guess Tubi) uses often. A long-lost daughter or son appears, ingratiates themselves into their new family, and then tries to disrupt the family they just joined for one reason or another. Details may differ, but the premise is basically the same. Even the twist at the end, while unexpected, is not surprising. This has been done before, too.

So, if you are looking for something original, you won't find it here. But then, if you are looking for something original, you wouldn't be watching a movie on Lifetime, would you?

I did record the sequel, "The Stepdaughter 2", and I will watch it. My expectations will be low, and I'm sure the movie will match my expectations. Which begs the question, why do I watch these movies?