Lifetime Review: 'Nightmare Best Friend'

In high school, Katy Griggs (Rosslyn Luke) idealized her best friend Gina Mancetti (Jackie Moore). Despite her troubled home life that led her to be held back a year, Katy always found herself envious of her seemingly fearless and opinionated friend. So when Katy finds herself suffering from cabin fever as a hard-working wife and mother and Gina suddenly pays her a surprise visit after so many years, Katy is quick to join her for an impromptu road trip together to relive old memories.

But shortly afterwards, Katy learns that not only does Gina have a new boyfriend in Ray (Brandon Howell), her visit with Katy wasn't as random as it seems. Turns out, Ray and his brother Tommy (Juston Street) have become involved in a robbery at Katy's workplace, and is now working with Gina to retrieve evidence pointing to them. With Gina unable to coerce Katy to help willingly, Ray turns to more extreme measures by having Tommy hold Katy's family hostage, promising to have them killed if Katy doesn't do as they say. Desperate to protect her husband and children, Katy agrees to the plan. Now at the mercy of the increasingly unstable brothers and her treacherous friend, Katy must do what she has to to save her family—while Gina goes through her own struggles.

Right off the bat, Nightmare Best Friend does what all the best crime thrillers do: it gets the tension cranking quick after spending a good amount of screen time setting up its' players. By the middle of the first act, Gina's true intentions are revealed and Katy is taken captive by her and Ray. Even before we learn that the rest of the Griggs family has been taken hostage, the tension resulting from Katy's abduction and Gina's betrayal is enough to get Nightmare Best Friend off to the best of starts. The tension only builds from there, leaving viewers on the edge of their seats as the situation grows more dire and unstable.

As for casting, Rosslyn Luke manages to make Katy both a sympathetic protagonist while also allowing her to grow over the course of the film. Seeing Katy go from tear-eyed victim to competent survivor is a satisfying transformation, allowing us to truly root for her and empathize with the emotional turmoil she goes through during the course of the film. Howell and Street also make for terrifying antagonists, thanks in part to how truly cold and apathetic they are in every decision they make regarding the Griggs. It's not enough to take them hostage; the brothers waste no time establishing their sinister dominance over them--allowing the tension to become achingly real for both them and the audience.

By far, though, the most surprising performance is Jackie Moore's portrayal of the film's titular antagonist, Gina. It would've been easy simply to have Gina turn out to be a toxic friend who was just as ruthless as Ray, but instead, Nightmare Best Friend allows for Gina to develop into something deeper than the film's title for her suggests. While Gina's defense of Ray will no doubt strike a nerve in many viewers, it's quickly displayed that Gina has as little control over the situation as Katy does. From his very scene with Gina, it's clear that for all of her bravado and tough talk, Ray is the one calling the shots. As the situation becomes more dangerous and Ray more unpredictable, Gina becomes as much of a hostage as the Griggs. Gina's story arc is ultimately a slow build-up to Gina finally deciding to break free of Ray's mental hold over her, and Moore sells this redemption story naturally and authentically.

Another redemption arc is present with Nightmare Best Friend, but doesn't fare as well as Gina's due to it coming abruptly and not correlating with the character's earlier callousness. But aside from that misstep, as well as the grating nature of the antagonists that might turn off some viewers, Nightmare Best Friend is an intense and entertaining hostage thriller, with the arc of its titular villainess adding depth to what could've been a generic crime drama. While not perfect, Nightmare Best Friend is the ideal film for anyone looking for a Lifetime-ian dose of suspense.

Score: 7 out of 10 fuchsias.