As ridiculous as some Lifetime movies are, they do have some element of relatability. They're often centered around deception and secrets, and I think it's safe to say, we've all had someone in our life who we ended up discovering we couldn't trust, despite them having tried their hardest to make a positive first impression. I won't go into details, but I recently found out someone lied to me, and this was a person who was desperate for a friendship. The lie itself wasn't anything serious, but it's still disappointing when you're lied to. Not like I thought they were all that genuine anyway, because they showered me with compliments when I first met them. Nonetheless, I was still surprised. I'm trying to be more diligent about setting boundaries, so I decided to cease contact with them. People who lie don't bring anything but confusion, and I prefer to keep my life stress-free. I feel like The Perfect Nanny took the concept of developing a close relationship with someone - platonic or romantic - who is untrustworthy, and it could've been captured realistically, but it was just over-the-top and extreme.
I had seen Tracy Nelson in another Lifetime movie, The Perfect Tenant, and I gotta say, she portrays a mentally disturbed individual convincingly. In the Perfect Nanny she plays Andrea McBride, a former psychiatric hospital patient who has an unhealthy obsession with romance novels. She fakes her identity by giving herself the name Nikki Harcourt, and applies for a nanny position for a handsome widower, Dr. James Lewis (Bruce Boxleitner). She immediately hits it off with his kids, Fawn and Ben (Dana Barron and Scott Terra) when he's interviewing her. He wants a nanny who can teach Ben Spanish, due to living in SoCal. Unfortunately, her not being versed in the language is a deal breaker, so he tells her he'll be hiring someone else. Later on that night, she goes to the house of the woman who he planned on hiring and kills her. To be honest, I didn't quite understand that, because it seemed like she let her inside to make a phone call. The film subsequently takes a dark turn, and I felt like most of what happened was stupid.
Reading those idiotic novels fuels Andrea's obsession with James. After moving into the house, she starts acting like they're married. His female colleague, Dr. Julia Bruning (Susan Blakley), comes over for dinner, and Andrea purposely cuts herself when she's alone in the kitchen to get his attention. Knowing Fawn doesn't like Julia, after eavesdropping on their conversation, and hearing Julia tell him about going to Big Bear Lake, she goes to Fawn and tells her what she heard. It was inappropriate for an adult to work in cahoots with a teenager to try and cause a rift in their parent's relationship. It was really neither of their business. James has no knowledge Andrea is having a negative influence on Fawn. If he did, he might've considered letting her go. Knowing this information from Andrea leads Fawn to stalk Julia. She gets in her car and follows her to a restaurant, where she sees her going in with a man. She tells James the next day. He becomes annoyed, tells her the man is gay, and basically says to stop spreading rumors. That's when Fawn starts questioning Andrea's motives, leading her to do investigation of her background. Meanwhile, Andrea's husband Troy (Darren Gray Ward), who she had discovered was cheating at the start of the film, which led her to attempt suicide, hence why she was in the psych hospital, is on her trail.
Most of these Lifetime movies are all the same. A family opens their doors to a complete stranger, just because they seem nice on the outside. The person goes on a killing spree, unbeknownst to the family they're living with. One member of the family thinks the person is an undercover psycho, but none of their other family members will listen to them, instead making it seem like they're the one who has a problem. They start doing their own detective work, and find out information that confirms their suspicions. So the message of the story is, take your time getting to know people. Don't let them jump into your life. Even if a person is charming, you should approach them with at least some weariness. It's a valid lesson, but the way the filmmakers went about presenting it, made it get lost in the absurdity of the story's events. Like are we really supposed to believe a doctor would be dumb enough not to notice that a person is acting weird, especially if they're living under the same roof? In real life, people are not that skilled at hiding they're a liar. More often than not, it's quite easy to pick up on clues that they're not telling the truth. There was a scene where they were eating breakfast, and Fawn catches Andrea in a lie. But James doesn't respond by showing that he's unhappy with Andrea. He chastises Fawn for accusing her of lying. See what I mean? That's just stupid. At one point Lifetime movies were disrupting my sleep schedule, because I was addicted to them. I did come to the realization that they're really not worth staying up late for. Once is all I needed to watch The Perfect Nanny. Give it a try if you want, but it's not worth your time.
