The Wrong Mother
AKA: Deadly Devotion
2017
The Cast
Parents, Kaylene (Marcil) and Drew (Snedden) were having problems conceiving so they went down the in-vitro fertilization path and were lucky enough to have twins, Zoey (Richardson) and Toby (Dodson). Years later, Kaylene is out biking when she's hit by a car. While in Hospital she meets Vanessa who has been assigned as her nurse. When it comes time to return home, Vanessa informs Kaylene and Drew that it may be hard for them to find a career. But if they want then she can come and care for Kaylene at home as her contract at the hospital is nearly over. Since the two women get along well Vanessa is employed to look after her. However, it soon becomes evident that Vanessa may have a different agenda.
This is a pretty standard thriller that is let down by a few niggling things, which should have been ironed out before filming.
Firstly, there's Kaylene's sister, Samantha (Bond). There are times when this character feels as though she's only there to drive the plot. For example, right from the start, she's very confrontational with Vanessa. This, in itself, isn't a bad idea, and needed to be handled better for it to work. Though Samantha actually challenges the nurse on what her sister is being medicated with, with no expertise on the subject. Samantha reckons washing Kaylene's hair is the best thing you can do to aid her recovery... which really isn't the case if the patient is dealing with a concussion. Then she just happens to have a friend who agrees with her, that she is being overmedicated and that he wouldn't prescribe these drugs. The trouble is, we're not even told if he's a doctor or just a knowledgeable nurse: For all we know, he may have gotten his doctorate as IWannaBADoctor.com (This is TV Movieland anyway!). Besides, what one Doctor prescribes another wouldn't as there are so many drugs to choose from now. Another thing, did Samantha give this person Kaylene's medical history so he could make a professional diagnosis? DAMN! - I really thought about this too much.
Secondly, there's the jump of believability that Kaylene has. She goes from accepting Vanessa is doing right by her and her care to suddenly distrusting her totally. But the trouble with this is that they don't fire Vanessa. Surely, if there was a shadow of a doubt that something wasn't quite right about her you'd fire her arse.
Then there are the kids. I'm sorry, but if you're a close and loving family then the kids will want to see their mother at the earliest opportunity. However, Toby and Zoey, are only all too happy to not bother her. If it had been me, I would have been sneaking in to see her. You don't even see them at the hospital with her. If the writer and director had added a couple of extra scenes with the kids it would have made the story a little more believable and relatable.
What this story really needed was time. Somebody should have taken the time to take a breath and address the errors or inconsistencies of this story being filmed. Both the story and the directing of this movie needed to be tightened up. The acting, on the other hand, is above average, except for Elizabeth Bond who is a little wooden at times, and not totally credible.
I'd recommend this to the thriller fans, though people who like mystery and whodunnit's need not watch as there's no mystery in who the bad guy... or gal... is. This is one of those afternoon movies to watch while you're off work sick.
I give this an in-vitro-average of 5.25 out of 10.
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