When Barbara Weaver (Miranda MacDougall) is found shot to death in her own home, the police have a difficult task ahead of them. It’s not that there’s any real question as to who probably killed Barbara. Everyone seems to know that Barbara’s husband, Eli (Luke Macfarlane), was a serial philanderer and that Barbara was on the verge of revealing all of his sins to the members of their community. The problem comes from the fact that the community in question is the Amish community and no one is willing to work with a bunch of outsider detectives. Only Barbara’s sister, Abigail (Clare Filipow), seems to be willing to help the detectives prove that Eli and his mistress, Barb (Kirsten Vangsness), were responsible for Barbara’s murder. The investigation reveals that, online, Eli Weaver was known as “Amish Stud” and that he had a long history of cheating.
Amish Stud: The Eli Weaver Story originally aired on Lifetime in 2023. Over the past few years, Lifetime has aired several films about the sordid lives of the Amish. It actually started out on a good note, with a film about the 2006 Amish schoolhouse shooting that emphasized the importance of community and also the power of forgiveness. Since then, the films have grown steadily more melodramatic, with the emphasis usually on Amish women who want to hit the clubs and Amish men who turn out to be full-blown stalkers. One has to feel a bit sorry for the Amish, who for the most part seem like they just want to be left alone and who try not to bother anyone. The truth of the matter is that the outside world will always be fascinated by the Amish. Some of it is because it’s hard to imagine a community living without the technology that the rest of us take for granted. In fact, it’s so hard to imagine that a lot of films about the Amish seem to be determined to prove that the Amish really aren’t so old-fashioned. On Lifetime, Amish communities are regularly portrayed as being a hotbed of sex and betrayal, and one often gets the feeling that a lot of that is because they don’t have to worry about the Amish watching the movie and then hopping on social media to discuss how offended they are.
(For the record, I don’t know any Amish people. I live in Texas. We have quite a few Mennonites, but I haven’t spent much time in any of their communities. I do plan on ordering some of their furniture in the future.)
With all that in mind, I should mention that Amish Stud is based on a true story. Luke Macfarlane plays Eli as being someone who is not particularly religious but who sticks with his Amish community because he knows he would probably end up broke and homeless if he tried to live among the English. The film emphasizes that Eli is not just sleazy but he’s also extremely dorky and needy, and that’s not a good combination by any stretch of the imagination. When Barbara goes to the Bishop about Eli’s cheating, she’s told that it’s her fault for not being a good enough wife. Yikes! It’s a well-made true crime story, featuring good performances from Macfarlane, MacDougall, and Kirsten Vangsness. Watching the film, it occurred to me that Eli really wasn’t that much different from all of the other philandering and untrustworthy husbands and boyfriends that have appeared in countless Lifetime films. He just happened to be Amish. If he hadn’t been Amish, it’s doubtful anyone would have paid that much attention to the story.
As for the real Eli Weaver, he’s currently serving 15 years to life in an Ohio prison. He was denied parole in 2024. His next parole hearing will be in 2032.
