User Reviews

"Now we're family, all of us". Um, you forgot to add the words dysfunctional and/or imbalanced in that sentence.

Anyway, a mother-in-law who's not who she says she is, moves in with a mentally unstable woman and her protective daughter. From there conflict, murder, trickery, and chaos ensues. That's the gist of 2021's Deceived by My Mother-In-Law. The mother-in-law in question (Maggie played by Dey Young), doesn't really have a reason for being up to no good. We as the audience never quite know her motives or her hidden agendas. Maggie is also ugly on the inside and unlikable to the point where her rancid personality could be just for show.

So yeah, "Mother-In-Law" is directed by Lifetime lifetime-r David DeCoteau. Aside from being in the biz for a good 40 years, this is his 20th or so Lifetime flick in the past four (I'm not kidding). DeCoteau loves having Rib Hillis co-star, he loves having the antagonist get away scot-free, he loves using the phrase "Wrong" in his titles, and he loves his re-gifted shooting locations. I'm not saying the guy's a hack but wait, maybe I am.

Deceived by My Mother-In-Law as suck-you-in swipe, further shows that Lifetime films have been on the decline for the past decade. I mean Lifetime use to enthrall you while letting you revel in its nasty, guilty pleasures. Now with DeCoteau at the helm as Lifetime's veritable Sasikumar, you get a product that's workmanlike, mechanical, and well, nutrition-less (and that's despite a bearable plot twist early on).

The acting in "Mother-In-Law" is below the Mendoza Line, the editing has enough chop to form a tsunami, and the script about divorce lawyers, shrinks, PIs, and halfway houses has enough banalities to power a small country. Yup, I was "deceived" into thinking anything here could work. Rating: 1.5 stars.

Typical LMN fare with the usual twists and the protagonist being mentally unstable and prone to hysteria.

I liked:

1. Seeing Jackee Harry and Michael Pare working - and playing a divorced couple!

2. Dey Young playing a very evil mommy.

3. Rib Hillis and Allison McAtee playing the married couple - it didn't seem like they were acting.

4. Katie Kelly and Jeremy Sry and the protagonist's daughter and her boyfriend.

I didn't like:

1. The apparent ease Rib Hillis' character was able to kill people.

2. Rib Hillis' gratuitous shirtless scenes - you're nice looking, but enough already!

3. The ending - if you watch it you'll know what I mean!!

Have a drink and just waste some time.

A married couple has issues when a sharp tongued Mother-in-law moves in with them. Wife is suddenly being stalked. Of course we know it has to be a set up because it is a Lifetime film.

Watchable but not overly entertaining. Katie Kelly looks like a young Denise Richards.

The story started out OK and kept watching in the hope the story would pan out and develop into a worthwhile film. However fairly early on there were some silly developments...a pointless murder of the hired stalker for the sake of a small payoff, presumably the body was buried in the garden?

Then the police officer killed but no follow up erc etc. However the implausible bit beyond measure was the revelation that the perpetrators were well known to the police but no one bothered to look for them and the next episode continued.

It's a pity because it coukd have been good if they had hired another writer to iron out the implausible bits.

On the surface, this film was about a demented mother-in-law who was possessive of her son. But on a deeper level, it is about the psychology of a fragile mind being pushed over the edge.

There was a strong performance by the leading actress playing Kristen, who is still in recovery from the traumatic experience of a stalker. But a year after the event, she has met James, a caring man who married her after a whirlwind courtship.

Kristen's quick-thinking daughter Mara senses that something is not right, especially when James invites his mother to live with them. From the outset, the cruelty of the mother-in-law Maggie is starting to trouble Kristen. Memories of her previous trauma are revived when she receives strange phone calls and feels that she was being followed.

The actors hit all the right notes with the cagey Maggie, the savvy therapist Jackie, and Jackie's ex-husband Ross, who is a private eye. The only disappointing part of the film was the ending that could have wrapped up the loose ends in a tidier fashion.

The best part of the film was the close bonding of Kristen with her daughter Mara that kept Kristen from being pushed once again over the edge.