Lifetime Review: "Deadly Exchange"

After the disaster that was Ex-Wife Killer (which is thankfully already fading from memory), Lifetime redeemed itself with this memorably melodramatic tale about an exchange student with some serious Mommy issues.

It's been a tough time for high school student Blake Winters (Victoria Konefal), who is still reeling from the deaths of her father and sister. But with the support of her mother Samantha (Lindsay Hartley) and boyfriend Jack (Rhys Matthew Bond), Blake is on the road to recovery. She also has a new friend and houseguest to help in the process in the form of British exchange student Chloe Miller (Valentina Novakovic)!

At first glance, Chloe appears to be a thoroughly sweet girl who wants to help Blake move on from her past trauma and improve herself in school. Hell, no sooner has Chloe entered her life does Blake get accepted on the cheer squad and has a pool party afterwards! But then, Chloe begins pressuring Blake to stop seeing Jack and things spiral downhill quickly....

As you can probably guess by now, Chloe isn't exactly the pinnacle of mental stability. She's the kind of person who will shove someone into a pool two minutes after learning they can't swim and who carries a bottle of chloroform in her backpack. But as played by Novakovic (who previously starred in another Lifetime film about a psychotic home visitor, Unwanted Guest), Chloe is a lot more complex than your average Lifetime villain.

As shown through Chloe's nightmares, she witnessed her mother's death at the hands of her abusive boyfriend, and as a result has become obsessed with having a mother again. While her methods are no doubt over the line, it is shown that Chloe is capable of empathy and doesn't take much pleasure out of the fact that her actions hurt the people she wants to be close to. During the film's climax, you might be finding yourself sympathizing with Chloe as her pain finally bursts through to the surface.

On the opposite side of the morality spectrum, Blake and Samantha are excellently played and are fully likable protagonists. Besides the fact that Konefal and Hartley (both ladies with experience in Lifetime, Hartley especially so) realistically look like mother and daughter, both give authentic performances and are truly believable as a woman and her child trying to make it through a tough past. Even before Chloe's evil antics threaten their lives, Blake and Samantha have a close bond and you'll want them to make it out of the film alive.

Deadly Exchange is an example of the best kind of Lifetime movie: one that mixes melodramatic entertainment with true, authentic moments of emotion. Added with great acting and unexpected character depth, and you've got a memorable Lifetime movie that you'll want to come back to. Hopefully, Lifetime has decided to make a "Deadly Resolution" to make more movies like this.

Score: 10 out of 10 swimming pools.