The 2025 Lifetime film Taste of His Own Poison opens with nerdy high school student Dylan (Nolen Dubuc) being attacked in the school bathroom by his nemesis, Sawyer (Dylan Kingwell). Sawyer, who comes from a broken home and looks up to his delinquent older brother, has a bizarre obsession with harassing Dylan. For some reason, he likes to eat half of Dylan’s lunch before tossing it on the floor and forcing Dylan to eat what’s left. This time, Dylan is saved by his best friend, Meredith (Juliette Hawk). Meredith tells Sawyer to leave Dylan alone, and Sawyer backs off. Later, in their chemistry class, Dylan attacks Sawyer.
Dylan’s mother, Courtenay (Rhonda Dent), is stunned to hear that Dylan has been getting into fights at school. Like all Lifetime mothers, Courtenay owns her own restaurant and has tried to raise her son to know better than to try to solve his problems with his fists. Her husband, Ben (Jonathan Purvis), is impressed that Dylan stood up for himself. As Ben explains it, he would do anything to protect his son. Courtenay doesn’t believe in rewarding violent behavior, even if father and son both claim that it was justified. Perhaps that explains why she and Ben are in the process of separating.
The next day, Sawyer once again grabs Dylan’s sandwich and eats it. Sawyer then has a seizure and promptly dies in the middle of the cafeteria. When it becomes apparent that someone poisoned Dylan’s sandwich, Courtenay finds herself considering what she would have previously thought to be impossible. Did Dylan murder Sawyer? Or was it Ben, who has already said that he would literally kill to protect his son? Both Dylan and Ben deny having anything to do with murdering Sawyer, but Sawyer’s violent older brother disagrees and wants revenge…
I really enjoyed Taste of His Own Poison, which felt like a throwback to the days when Lifetime was all about embracing the melodrama and seeing how many implausible twists could be pushed into one 90-minute story. This Lifetime film actually featured convincing high school students, as opposed to the 20-something actors who usually roam the halls. (I always notice that Lifetime high schools only seem to have about 20 students enrolled. I always have to laugh when I see the sparsely populated hallways of a Lifetime high school.) I have to admit that Taste of His Own Poison had a few plot developments that took me by surprise. A lot of that was because they often didn’t seem to make much sense, but with a film like this, it’s a bit pointless to get caught up in whether or not the story itself is realistic or if everyone is acting in a logical way. There are so many false leads and red herrings that I lost count. This is one of those films where you just follow the story to wherever it leads you. It’s the type of film that is designed to make you shake your head and say, “Oh my God,” every few minutes or so. It’s a fun movie. Just go with it.
