Sierra Pond | Through the Shattered Lens

Last night, I watched The Wrong Daughter on the Lifetime Movie Network!

Why Was I Watching It?

I think I must have missed The Wrong Daughter when it originally premiered on Lifetime. Maybe I was out spying on the neighbors or something. Who knows? Fortunately, Lifetime always shows their movies about a hundred different times during the year so, last night, I got a chance to catch up!

What Was It About?

Kate (Cindy Busby) has a lot to deal with! Not only is she trying to open up her own restaurant but she and Joe (Jon Prescott) are desperate to start a family. In the aftermath of another failed IVF treatment, Kate promptly starts repainting the nursery and talking about how she could turn the room into an office. (Interestingly, they live in a pretty big house so I’m kind of surprised she didn’t have an office already.) However, Joe has a solution! Maybe Kate could try to track down the girl that she gave up for adoption 17 years ago!

Meanwhile, 18 year-old Samantha (Sydney Sweeney) is just about to get kicked out of her group home. Abandoned by her mother when she was born, Samantha has never been adopted. Why not? Well, it might have something to do with Samantha being slightly psychotic. And while you may be thinking that Samantha is probably Kate’s long lost daughter, she’s not! However, her roommate is! When Samantha runs away and steals Danica’s (Sierra Pond) laptop, she discovers a message from Kate, announcing that she’s Danica’s mother and inviting Danica to come see her.

Soon, Samantha is at Kate’s restaurant, dressed demurely, claiming to be Danica, and working her way into Kate and Joe’s life. Meanwhile, the real Danica just wants her laptop back. Samantha, however, is happy being Danica and is willing to do anything — from bribing an old homeless woman to pretend to be the head of the group home when Kate calls to murdering anyone who turns their back on her — to remains so.

What Worked?

This was a pretty good example of the “killer imposter” genre of Lifetime films. Movies like this pretty much live and die based on the performance of the imposter and Sydney Sweeney did a good job playing the duplicitous Samantha. It was especially fun to watch her switch back and forth between being demure Danica and murderous Samantha.

What Did Not Work?

How naive can one person be? That’s kind of the question that I had to ask about Kate, who was both a savvy businesswoman and yet somehow was easily fooled by even the most obvious of Samantha’s lies. As much fun as it was to watch Kate get fooled over the phone by a crazy homeless woman, it was still hard not to wonder how that could have possibly happened in the first place.

“OMG! Just like me!” Moments

From the minute Samantha first climbed through the window of her group home, I started having flashbacks. That’s the same way that I used to sneak out of the house. When you’re growing up in the suburbs, it helps to be a good climber.

Lessons Learned

Protect your laptop with you life.

On Friday night, I watched the latest Lifetime premiere, Mommy Be Mine!

Why Was I Watching It?

Finally, I’m healthy again! After spending two freaking weeks getting my ass kicked by allergy season, I finally feel as if I can start writing about and reviewing movies again. Obviously, after being knocked out for two weeks, I’ve got a lot to get caught up on so I decided what better way to start than to watch the Friday premiere of the latest Lifetime film, Mommy Be Mine?

What Was It About?

It’s Cara’s (Sierra Pond) first day at school and she already has a friend! In fact, Cara has decided that Summer (Ava Locklear) is her best friend, despite the fact that 1) Cara has only known her for a day and 2) Summer already has a best friend, the wonderfully sarcastic Tori (Megan McGown).

Still, Cara is determined to not only make Summer like her but to also become a surrogate daughter to Cara’s mother, Lianne (Arianne Zucker). In fact, Cara even starts to call Lianne “mom.” Everyone agrees that’s kind of creepy but Cara seems like such a nice girl. I mean, it’s not like she’s actually a psychotic killer who has killed in the past and who is planning on killing again…

Or is she!?

What Worked?

Sierra Pond did a good job as the scheming psycho. It was obvious that she was having fun playing the role and, as a result, it was fun to watch her perform. As well, Arianne Zucker was sympathetic as the overprotective mother. When she finally snapped and told off Cara, it was a great moment.

What Did Not Work?

Usually, I have little trouble suspending my disbelief when it comes to a Lifetime film. Lifetime films are specifically designed to be melodramatic and just a little bit silly. That’s what makes them so much fun. If the characters didn’t always do the stupidest possible thing, the viewer would miss out on the fun of yelling, “Oh my God, you’re so stupid!”

That said, even by the standards of Lifetime, Cara was a bit too obviously insane. That’s not to say that Seirra Pond didn’t do a good job playing the role. She appeared to be having a lot of fun with the role. But, as a character, Cara was so obviously messed up that it was hard to sympathize with anyone who would actually be stupid enough to allow her into their house. The minute she started calling Lianne “mom” should have been the minute that both Lianne and Summer announced, “Okay, time for you to go away now!”

As good as the rest of the cast was, Ava Locklear sometimes seemed to be lost in the role of Summer. This was her first leading role and, in some scenes, her inexperience definitely showed.

“Oh my God! Just like me!” Moments

As always, I totally related to the sarcastic (if obviously doomed) best friend. From the minute that she first met Cara, Tori not only knew that she was up to no good but she had no hesitation about sharing that opinion. Unfortunately, characters in Lifetime films never seem to listen to their sarcastic best friend until it’s too late. Sarcastic best friends always end up dying a little after the one hour mark and it’s a shame.

Lessons Learned

Seriously, if your oldest friend in the world says your newest friend is a psycho bitch, don’t question the conclusion. Trust the voice of experience.