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Lifetime Review: 'Suburban Swingers Club'

A night of passion leads to terror and murder in this Lifetime mystery drama.

By Trevor WellsPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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Despite their recent move into a gorgeous new house, Lori and Grant Mallick (Dana Davis and Jesse Ruda) find their marriage strained and at risk of falling apart. With Lori having recently suffered a miscarriage, the sense of loss still hangs over the Mallicks and they aren't sure how to get themselves back to where they once were. Shortly after arriving, however, Lori and Grant are surprised to learn that their neighbors hold regular parties where they each swap partners for the night.

Grant suggests they try the party for the sake of their marriage and, while Lori is initially put off by the idea, is convinced to give it a try. It's there that Lori sleeps with her handsome neighbor Noah Cranor (James William O'Halloran), with Lori and Grant initially feeling that their night of passion did their marriage a world of good. But soon after, Lori finds herself being stalked and harassed by Noah, who is intent on keeping his affair with Lori going—whether she likes it or not. Then Noah disappears after Lori faints one night, left with a fuzzy memory of what transpired, and Lori finds herself pulled into a nightmare. Can she find the truth before her indiscretion costs her everything?

With its suggestive premise and a title that sounds like it should be for a porno rather than a made-for-TV film, Suburban Swingers Club sounds like the kind of Lifetime film to deliver high-octane sensuality and steamy drama. Unfortunately, while there are a few steamy scenes, Suburban Swingers Club falls into a Deadly Match-style trap of using a promising concept as a segue into a run-of-the-mill murder mystery plot. While the film remains an enjoyable watch even after the plot shifts focus away from the titular club, you can't help but wish that the movie would make more mileage out of its alluring, riff-for-drama starting concept.

The cast helps to make up for the film's departure from its starting concept, with Dana Davis making for a likable and proactive protagonist. Whether she's combating Noah's unwanted advances or fighting to find the truth about what occurred during the night she can't remember, Lori doesn't take anything lying down and fights to stop her mistake from wrecking her life. Jesse Ruda plays well off her as the well-intentioned but flawed Grant, with one scene in which he makes a tearful apology to Lori striking an emotional chord thanks to Ruda's delivery. James William O'Hallaran also plays Noah with vigor, making his transformation from charming hunk to sleazy villain effortless and unnerving, while Leigh-Ann Rose makes a small impact as Lori's sister Kat, almost serving as an audience surrogate for regular Lifetime viewers. The film's ultimate villain is also played with some nuance, leaving you wondering how things might have turned out for them if it had not been for Noah's misdeeds.

Suburban Swingers Club also borrows from the Who's Stalking Me? playbook by delivering an ending unlike most employed by Lifetime. Rather than a typical ending with Lori and Grant living happily ever after, Suburban Swingers Club takes a more realistic direction given all that transpires between them throughout the film. In the same fashion as the ending to Who's Stalking Me?, this ending will take regular and new viewers alike by surprise, and in a small way, gives the film an edge above similar Lifetime thrillers.

Suburban Swingers Club may disappoint viewers looking for sensuality with their thrillers and the murder mystery might not work for everyone, but the compelling cast, well-paced plot, and strong conclusion will make for an entertaining weekend viewing. It might not be the sort of film you'll come back to often, but Suburban Swingers Club is far from worthy of a skip.

Score: 6 out of 10 handmade handcuffs.

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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.

Link to Facebook

Twitter: @TrevorWells98

Instagram: @trevorwells_16

Email: [email protected]

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