Lifetime Review: 'The Perfect Mother'

Stella Marshall (Sunny Mabrey) appears to have it all, a thriving career and social following as a blogger specializing in mother/daughter bonding tips. But underneath the veneer of perfection her life seems to cast, Stella's profession has caused a strain on her relationship to her own daughter Shay (Lili Sepe). Adding to the awkwardness is her recent separation from Shay's father, and the fact that her new love interest is Shay's teacher Isaac Feldman (Rusty Joiner).

So when the pretty and chipper Peyton Kelly (Audrey Whitby) moves into town and quickly starts a friendship with Stella, the frustrated mother is more than happy to have a fan of her work to bond with. But under her pristine smile, Peyton proves to be fixated on Stella's image of the "perfect mother," and wants to take Shay's place as her daughter. As Shay becomes more aware of Peyton's deranged intentions and works to stop her from stealing her mother, Peyton proves that she's ready to get her hands dirty—once again—in order to have the perfect life she desires.

In recent years, Lifetime seems to have caught on to the reputation they have for melodramatic and cheesy films, and for the most part, have embraced it. The Perfect Mother shows that aspect of Lifetime's new self-image, as there are moments throughout the film that seem to be winks from Lifetime, to their hardened fans that they know what they're known for—and are not afraid to admit it by being a little tongue and cheek. This comes in the form of the performances of Audrey Whitby and Susie Abromeit, the latter of whom portrays Peyton's boss Harper Pryce. Whitby brings both a fierceness and unabashed brand of crazy to the psychotic Peyton, with the sneers she gives after almost every evil deed and the passive-aggressive remarks she gives to anyone who get in her way being a delight to watch unfold. While her cloying innocent act can become too much at times, Whitby's performance is strong enough to make even those moments tolerable.

Abromeit, however, is much more direct in her comedic role as the impossibly vain and snooty Harper. From her first appearance, Abromeit throws herself into Harper's character, acting as the aggressive to Peyton's passive and (like with Peyton's grander moments of lunacy) allowing The Perfect Mother a few moments not to take itself so seriously. The rest of the cast is fairly down-to-earth, but this does not stop them from holding their own against Whitby and Abromeit. Sunny Mabrey is a strong and likable heroine, with Stella's generosity and fondness for Peyton not going too far to become irritating naivete. Throughout the film, it's also shown subtly that while Stella picks up on Peyton's odd behavior, she doesn't have the heart to point it out because of the daughterly connection she has with her in lieu of her estrangement from Shay. Lili Sepe also does well as Shay, as while her initial spoiled brat antics can become grating, they segue into Shay realizing how poorly she's treated her mother and her fighting to repair that relationship and stop Peyton from stealing it from her.

Overall, The Perfect Mother is a well-performed and well-paced thriller, with the addition of intentional humor and nods to the Lifetime aesthetic serving to make a good movie even better, especially for long-time fans of Lifetime. Mabrey and Abromeit give the strongest performances in regards to this brand of humor, with Mabrey, Sepe, and Rusty Joiner in his role as Shay's teacher and Stella's caring and beleaguered beau Isaac rounding out the cast with nuanced and relatable performances. The Perfect Mother personifies the best aspects of Lifetime, and is a film I feel more than warrants repeated airings and viewings.

Score: 9 out of 10 hand sanitizers that are no match to rocks.