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Lifetime Review: 'Home Abduction'

A mother and daughter move into a new house harboring a terrible secret in this intense thriller helmed by a strong villainess.

By Trevor WellsPublished 5 years ago Updated 2 years ago 4 min read
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After her separation from her husband, Maggie Richards (Angie Patterson) decided to make her house flipping side job a permanent gig to make ends meet, moving herself and her young daughter Ava (Violet Hicks) into her latest project. While Maggie is quick to befriend her elderly neighbor Sylvia (Patty McCormack), strange events around the house leave Maggie unnerved—especially after learning that a young girl who lived in the house was mysteriously kidnapped.

As things around the house become more alarming, Maggie finds Sylvia to be a great source of comfort. But unbeknownst to Maggie, Sylvia has a deeper history with her house than she realizes—and she has become hellbent on getting Maggie out of the house, and getting rid of anyone else who stands in her way.

This is a Lifetime film that had an interesting journey to the channel. Originally released to Netflix under the much snappier title House of Deadly Secrets, Lifetime decided to give the film an official Lifetime premiere; fitting, given its ties to frequent Lifetime company Johnson Production Group. While the film already had a personal strike against it for me with its generic and less than accurate new title, Home Abduction remains a strong thriller thanks in part both to a well-crafted story and a spectacular cast.

While IMDB categorizes Home Abduction as a mystery, the film rather early on reveals the source of Maggie's troubles regarding her new home: Sylvia. From her first scene, it's clear that something sinister lurks behind Sylvia's "sweet old lady" image, and Home Abduction takes the smart route of letting the audience know for certain, rather than attempt to haphazardly play it like a shocking twist. The film paces itself in the best way for a "howcatchem" type story; allowing suspense and character depth to build, while making sure not to stretch things into padding.

The heart of Home Abduction, however, lies with its excellent cast—more specifically, Party McCormack as the twisted Sylvia Holmes. McCormack is widely known for playing child sociopath Rhoda Penmark in the 1956 film adaptation of The Bad Seed, and Home Abduction shows that McCormack has not lost the flair that made Rhoda such a memorable villain. As Sylvia, McCormack goes all in, and plays her character for all the intensity she's worth, from her almost comedically exaggerated facade of an always-eager-to-help old lady to the looks of disgust, she gives any obstacle in her plan to the rambling delusional rants that show the true malice hiding behind Sylvia's innocuous mask. McCormack makes sure, however, to keep Sylvia grounded a bit through her more emotional scenes, which allows for a tragic side to emerge from Sylvia—especially when her past comes to light.

Angie Patterson makes for an empathetic, and easily likable protagonist who develops an incredible fierceness for the final act, and she shares strong mother-daughter chemistry with Violet Hicks; a shining example coming in a scene where they bond over a bedtime story. Angie's strongest chemistry in the film is with budding Lifetime regular, Philip Boyd, as Maggie's ex-husband Zeke, with the pair selling their strained relationship dynamic strongly to where you root for them to make up, as you can believe in their love, and see how deep down, both Maggie and Zeke care for each other deeply and want to be together again. Diane Robin brings some comedy to the proceedings as Maggie's over-the-top harping former mother-in-law Helen, and George T. Woods is quietly tragic as victimized neighbor Gene.

For all its strengths, Home Abduction has a few hang-ups for me. The film's initial attempts to build itself up as a haunted house film feel weird and unnecessary in hindsight, and the film's ultimate ending unfortunately cheapens the emotional impact made by the film's powerful climax. SPOILER ALERT: I also personally feel Sylvia would've come across as a more unique and compelling villain had her obsession been squarely with reclaiming her old house to be (in her mind) reunited with her daughter rather than viewing Ava as a reincarnation of Cindy. The film appeared to be going for the former interpretation, only to end up going the more standard route in the end. SPOILERS OVER

Aside from those complaints, Home Abduction stands up as a strong Lifetime thriller with all the qualities needed for a good Lifetime flick: a well-structured story, strong and likable characters, an alternately menacing and entertaining villain, and a general sense of emotion and depth that reaches a peak in the climax. With a little of everything that's present in the best films of Lifetime's repertoire, Home Abduction comes as an easy recommendation.

Score: 9 out of 10 wooden spoons.

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About the Creator

Trevor Wells

Aspiring writer and film lover: Lifetime, Hallmark, indie, and anything else that strikes my interest. He/him.

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Twitter: @TrevorWells98

Instagram: @trevorwells_16

Email: [email protected]

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