Ty Trumbo | Through the Shattered Lens

The music industry! It’s murder!

And if you have any doubt about whether or not that statement is true, just consider the recent Lifetime film, Murder In Music City.

Jimmy Stone (Ty Trumbo) is a handsome young singer/songwriter who is trying to make it big in Nashville. When we first see him, he’s taking a shower because this is a movie that knows what its audience wants. Jimmy then sits down and works on a song that he’s been writing about a woman named Stephanie. It sounds …. well, actually it sounds terrible. But it’s terrible in that way that gets stuck in your head, kind of like that “Take Me To Church” song by Hozier. Hey, Jimmy might have a hit on his hands! Unfortunately, Jimmy is then beaten death with a guitar.

Because Jimmy was a guest of country superstar Aiblene Tucker (Deena Dill), she is arrested for his murder. Abilene’s estranged daughter, Caroline (Madison Crawford), comes to Nashville to try to prove that her mother is innocent. Caroline’s investigation leads her to everyone from one of Abilene’s ex-husbands to the president of Abilene’s fan club. It turns out that Abilene always had a lot of people around her and they all had a motive for killing Jimmy. Working with Abilene is Jimmy’s brother, Kyle (Brigdon York). Abilene starts to fall for Kyle but it turns out that Kyle has some secrets of his own.

This film features an unusual twist on the typical Lifetime plot by having someone get arrested for the murder about halfway through the film. With the real murderer apparently in jail, Abilene is free to resume her life and prepare for her comeback special. However, Caroline comes to suspect that perhaps the wrong person was arrested and that the real murderer is still out there. It all leads to secrets being revealed and songs being sung. There’s a lot of songs sung in this film. Perhaps too many, to be absolutely honest.

Despite not being a country music fan, I have to say that I absolutely loved Murder In Music City. It was a film that cheerfully embraced the melodrama and celebrated all the excess that went along with it. It was the type of fun, “I don’t believe that just happened” film that used to dominate the Lifetime airwaves. This is one of those films where you don’t really worry too much about narrative logic or whether or not all of the clues really add up. Instead, you just enjoy the ride. And it is a very enjoyable ride. There’s nothing more fun that watching someone have to both solve a murder mystery and deal with an egocentric parent.

In the role of the self-absorbed Abilene, Deena Dill gives a wonderful performance. She’s not going to let a little thing like being accused of murder get in the way of her lavish lifestyle and her upcoming show. Deena Dill plays Abilene as a force of nature and she brings a lot of humor to the role. Also giving a good performance is Madison Crawford, who is very likable and relatable as Caroline. You can see how having a mother like Abilene has shaped her but you also see the inner strength that has allowed Caroline to build a life of her own.

A terrifically entertaining film, Murder In Music City is what Lifetime should be all about!

In 2025’s My Amish Double Life, Lexi Minetree plays Emma, a young Amish woman who suspects that her father was murdered and who starts sneaking into the city so that she can see for herself what life is like amongst the English.

While hanging out at the club with her friend Rebecca (Rebecca Coopes), Emma meets the handsome and charming Heath (Ty Trumbo). When Emma, much like Cinderella at midnight, announces that she has to go home, Heath asks her to meet with him the next day. He says he really likes her. Even though it goes against her way of life, Emma does so. In fact, Emma even ends up at Heath’s large and beautiful home. Unfortunately, when another woman is murdered by a scythe-wielding assailant, Emma finds herself trapped in a web of deception and danger!

Oh, the Amish! I feel kind of bad for them. For the most part, they just want to be left alone but, over the past few years, Lifetime and Hallmark have become obsessed with them. As a result, we’ve gotten several movies about life amongst the Amish. On Hallmark, Amish men and woman are falling in love with the English. On Lifetime, young Amish women are having to solve murders and stand up to condescending male elders. For the most part, most of these films present the Amish as just being a bunch of people who wear old timey clothes and work on farms. And certainly, I imagine that the farms and the clothes are an important part of Amish life but it’s still hard not to feel that most of these movies are simplifying things a bit. If nothing else, they tend to ignore the huge role that both religion and pacifism play in the Amish community. There’s also a tendency to assume that every Amish person secretly yearns to sneak off to the big city. In the movies, the Amish obsess about life amongst “the English.” In reality, it seems to be the other way around.

(I should mention that there’s a fascinating documentary called Devil’s Playground, which follows a group of Amish teenagers on Rumspringa. I recommend it for anyone who is curious about the Amish.)

But what about My Amish Double Life? Is it an entertaining film? Heck yeah, it’s an entertaining film. I mean, let’s set aside the question of accuracy. This is a Lifetime film. You’re not watching it for accuracy. You’re watching it for the melodrama. You’re watching it for the mystery. You’re watching it for the clothes and the houses. That’s why we watch Lifetime films. My Amish Double Life had a good mystery, one that features several viable suspects. Clothes? Not only did we get old timey Amish clothes but we also got sneaking off to the club in the middle of the night clothes! Houses? Heath lives in a mansion and the Amish farmhouses were pretty cozy too! And melodrama? This film totally embraced the melodrama! Lexi Minetree was a sympathetic lead, Lesa Wilson did a good job as her overprotective mother, and Rachel Coopes was a force of chaos as the Amish girl who liked to break the rules. It was an entertaining film, which is the main thing that a Lifetime film should be.

Seriously, though — if you’re in Pennsylvania and you see a horse-drawn buggy on the road, be polite when you pass and don’t gawk. The Amish are just living their lives.