Cynical and Nonsensical

OK, so the acting...the villain, Taran, knows how to put on a show. She's cleverly deceptive. Unfortunately, Chris Klein, Sam, can hardly act for his life. He spends most of his time breathing shallowly or squinting.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Writing Quality/Character Development: Terrible script. Everything is so implausible. A happily married teacher allowing his own student, who just happens to move in across the street, to give him expensive gifts in exchange for some poor handiwork he does for her? Accused of stealing his own car, putting porn on his laptop which syncs to his students' tablets, to letting Taran seduce him, only at the very end, after she tried unsuccessfully multiple times, when he thinks his wife has left him? No. The insurance company accusing him of a "suspicious loss" and then impounding his car? No. The principal firing him because a student accuses him of sexual misconduct? No. Guess who the student is? The list goes on. Such a sorry script with no evidence and a teacher who doesn't even try to defend himself against the atrocious lies.

Scare Factor/Suspense: Not scary. Some suspense when Taran sneaks up behind Kate, Sam's wife. What is shocking is how graphic the kill was as you see Taran bash Kate's head in with a hammer and blood spurts out and then sprays across the room. Especially gruesome for Lifetime.

Values: Not a focus. The movie seems bent on suspending belief about anything.

Content (language, violence & sex): No language. Violence with Kate's murder. And then a ridiculous shootout on Sam after cops tell him to put a gun down. He turns to explain that Taran killed his wife, and the police open fire--aiming right at his chest. Would not happen. A porn site is explicitly shown, another surprise given this is Lifetime material. Also, a flashback to a couple having sex and a vivid sex scene with Sam and Taran.

Merritt Patterson (Taran) plays her role well, but that's the only good thing here.

#Damaged