This dicey film unfolds in the style of high camp with two inseparable friends, Jess and Katie. The pair have bonded on the common ground of the misery of their failed romantic experiences, and their relationship is an ongoing support team for each other.
Their special connection is challenged with the arrival of a best-selling mystery writer who sweeps Jess off of her feet. Katie attempts to rein in her friend and convince her to proceed with great caution before committing to a writer whose forte is violence in his works of fiction.
The small-town ambience of Kirkwood Falls plays a major role in the narrative. The mystery writer, Nick Moore, is returning to his roots as a native son, and he falls instantly in love with Jess and wants to settle in permanently.
The man whom Jess is divorcing, known in the community as "Darko" Marco for his violent proclivities, returns and threatens Jess in her own home. But Marco dies a strange death, pushed over a balcony by an assailant in a hoodie. The key to unlocking the mystery of a string of "accidents" in the town is to identify who shoved Marco down the motel stairs.
This well-crafted film builds in suspense as the details and the subplots become increasingly bizarre. The best scene in the film is an unforgettable sequence of events in a bar when Anna, the young assistant of Jess, decides to kiss Jess on the lips. The scene is witnessed by the major suspects in the murder of Marco, each of whom is driven into a jealous frenzy by observing the kiss.
There is a nice directorial touch with the repetitive sound of boiling water to make tea and coffee. The sights and sounds of the sizzling liquid becomes a metaphor for the passions that are bubbling over and culminate in a dazzling final scene. As a potboiler, "Best Friend's Betrayal" has to be one of most spellbinding of any "guilty pleasures" ever concocted by the writers and producers of the Lifetime Channel. Not to be for the outrageous banter between the two soul mates and the light macabre undercurrent in every scene!!!!
Their special connection is challenged with the arrival of a best-selling mystery writer who sweeps Jess off of her feet. Katie attempts to rein in her friend and convince her to proceed with great caution before committing to a writer whose forte is violence in his works of fiction.
The small-town ambience of Kirkwood Falls plays a major role in the narrative. The mystery writer, Nick Moore, is returning to his roots as a native son, and he falls instantly in love with Jess and wants to settle in permanently.
The man whom Jess is divorcing, known in the community as "Darko" Marco for his violent proclivities, returns and threatens Jess in her own home. But Marco dies a strange death, pushed over a balcony by an assailant in a hoodie. The key to unlocking the mystery of a string of "accidents" in the town is to identify who shoved Marco down the motel stairs.
This well-crafted film builds in suspense as the details and the subplots become increasingly bizarre. The best scene in the film is an unforgettable sequence of events in a bar when Anna, the young assistant of Jess, decides to kiss Jess on the lips. The scene is witnessed by the major suspects in the murder of Marco, each of whom is driven into a jealous frenzy by observing the kiss.
There is a nice directorial touch with the repetitive sound of boiling water to make tea and coffee. The sights and sounds of the sizzling liquid becomes a metaphor for the passions that are bubbling over and culminate in a dazzling final scene. As a potboiler, "Best Friend's Betrayal" has to be one of most spellbinding of any "guilty pleasures" ever concocted by the writers and producers of the Lifetime Channel. Not to be for the outrageous banter between the two soul mates and the light macabre undercurrent in every scene!!!!