Twisted Sister

Were it not for fan-favorite Mena Suvari, this Lifetime thriller would be dead on arrival. But with Suvari I was willing to give it a chance. There are so many ill-conceived plot holes, the movie can't move past them.

Emily (Suvari) takes in long lost sister Lily, and as is typical in Lifetime movies, the sister is given essentially full access to her house and work.

Emily is roughed up at a storage facility and apparently NONE of the security cameras are working. Anyone who has been to a storage facility knows there are tons of cameras in every inch of the facility - so that's totally preposterous.

Lily does not come up on any cursory background check yet Emily doesn't bother to resolve this - ostensibly her long lost sister. AND she's given a job at her PR firm. What HR department would let that that slide?

When the DNA report, by the way produced by estranged husband Kyle, shows no match, why doesn't Lily immediately dispute it and insist the report be double checked at the lab. She just casually accepts it.

Longtime employee Cassie sends in a proposal to a client based on an "okay" from day-old newbie Lily rather than get an ok directly from her boss. Who does that?

It turns out both Kyle and Lily are inexplicably egregious liars. So much so, I'm not even sure we really even know the truth. Notwithstanding, the "truth" was about as convoluted and as incredulous as I've ever seen in a Lifetime movie - and that's saying a lot.

This was officially a stupid unsatisfying movie.

Whomever Lilly was begging for food went overboard when it came to giving. Mena Suvari and especially Mark Famiglietti are two of the worst actors I've ever seen. And why did Viator even get invited to her weak BD party? The LMN actor's cameo role was pointless. And let's bring my 1/2 sister right on board to a meeting with a potentially high profile customer when the 1/2 sister is clueless about the business? This movie made no sense, especially the ending. The ending was not predictable at all, but it was truly ridiculous. I'm glad I record these movies so I won't waste 2 hrs. Of my time. 50% are watchable. This one is at the lower percentile of unwatchable. UGH.

It's not a coincidence using a real accredited actor, like Mena Suvari, helped.

Emily (Suvari) is the CEO of a PR firm that she inherited from her deceased parents. She's married to Kyle, though their marriage is on the rocks.

Emily advertises for a babysitter for their daughter, and Lily shows up to interview. Only Lily admits early on that she is Emily's sister, and that her parents sent her away at a young age.

Basic Lifetime plot: strange and dangerous things start happening, Kyle seems suspicious, Emily doesn't know what to believe ... Is Lily really a twisted sister or is Kyle behind the trouble?

This movie entertained me and even the other actors aside from Mena Suvari held their own. To me, the difference is actually notable compared to LMN/Lifetime usual fare. Also notable is the casting of a larger sized woman to play the role of the sister and not the "funny fat friend", which is not something you see often. Overall not a bad way to pass an hour and a half.

This ranks right in with the average Lifetime production- not particularly cheap, not particularly exceptional in any way. The high-level plot here is we have a woman that has inherited money, a large business, and a CEO position from her deceased parents, however, she is generally unhappy or depressed working through an apparent damaged marriage and feeling Under the Blade. The husband seems picture perfect, minus some glossed over past transgression, but he's Still Hungry to make things work. Soon she discovers she has an older sister when a woman that looks absolutely nothing like her shows up out of the blue to meet her and gives her a daughter a chance to Come Out and Play. This is making her happy to have family, but of course we are waiting for the Big Hits and Nasty Cuts. The plot mystifies a bit from here and there are some twists and turns... however when we get to the climax, it's a convoluted 5-10 second clumsy explanation of a motivation reveal. Seriously, Lifetime: We're Not Gonna Take It. Pros: Mena Suvari- although, she plays a vapid character in this one. Cons: The sister is a kick-in-the-groin miscast. Also, the mystery-man griefer scenes were flat out corny and should have been cut from the film completely.

Emily owns and runs Caldwell PR and they have a 30th anniversary party coming up so she is extra busy at the company and she needs a nanny to look after Nina, her and Kyle's daughter who are separated. Enter Lily who shows up for the position but it is really a cover because she claims to be Emily's long lost older half- sister. She says she was shipped off by their deceased parents when they were young which is why Emily doesn't remember her. Kyle thinks Lily is a fake and goes out of his way to make her look like a fraud. But why and is he the one behind everything when thing starts to go wrong for Emily both at work and at home OR are his instincts about Lily right and he's just trying to protect Emily from an impostor who's after the family fortune? You will have to tune in. The 3 lead actors were strong in this but the script they were given was disappointingly weak. Still, it is entertaining and worth a watch if you're bored.