We caught this on a Friday night and was intrigued by the storyline. However, the lead (played by Brooke Butler) really overacted in this film and her singing voice couldn't save her in the role. Still, the other leads played by foreigners Ryan Cooper and Teressa Liane supported the film. My wife enjoyed the film but I found it over the top and be billed as a thriller, I wasn't thrilled!
10 Reviews
Nicely done thriller
kyleallencole94 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Very surprised this was a tv movie instead of one released in theaters. This could of easily have been a Sony screen gems thriller that was released in theaters.
Great acting and suspense all around!
Brooke Butler played an excellent villain also!
She plays a singer who is obsessed with a hot young musician and goes insane when her best friend who is practically her sister is swwpt off of her feet by him. She then decides that if she can't have him, then she won't let him live. She also tries to take her best friend out towards the end in a nicely done attack scene.
Great acting and suspense all around!
Brooke Butler played an excellent villain also!
She plays a singer who is obsessed with a hot young musician and goes insane when her best friend who is practically her sister is swwpt off of her feet by him. She then decides that if she can't have him, then she won't let him live. She also tries to take her best friend out towards the end in a nicely done attack scene.
"I Called Dibs on Him!"
Stoshie20 February 2021
That has to be one of the greatest lines ever from a Lifetime movie. Runner-up is: "You don't deserve him. You don't even know any of his singles!"
As I write this, the movie isn't listed here as a TV movie. But I can't imagine it isn't. It has all the formulas that make up a typical Lifetime movie: an obsessed person, the best friend who doesn't see it until it is too late, a reveal about a past tragedy, a girl fight ending, and more.
I'm used to that by now, but this movie is just laughably bad. Worse than most of these movies. The only reason to watch it is to make fun of the over-the-top acting by the villain and the ridiculous hole-ridden plot line. Oh, and to learn that stairways can be dangerous.
As I write this, the movie isn't listed here as a TV movie. But I can't imagine it isn't. It has all the formulas that make up a typical Lifetime movie: an obsessed person, the best friend who doesn't see it until it is too late, a reveal about a past tragedy, a girl fight ending, and more.
I'm used to that by now, but this movie is just laughably bad. Worse than most of these movies. The only reason to watch it is to make fun of the over-the-top acting by the villain and the ridiculous hole-ridden plot line. Oh, and to learn that stairways can be dangerous.
Bad singing all around
uMerder5 March 2021
The main actress could not sing whatsoever, she was always off key, screeching. And there were so many singing scenes omg.
I didn't understand why they sang so much until I realized they marketed the movie as a "musical". This is no "A star is born". Predictable, boring and too long. The couple was cute though their relationship was rushed and side eye worthy, in true lifetime movie fashion. But the two actors did have chemistry and were the stronger actors.
I didn't understand why they sang so much until I realized they marketed the movie as a "musical". This is no "A star is born". Predictable, boring and too long. The couple was cute though their relationship was rushed and side eye worthy, in true lifetime movie fashion. But the two actors did have chemistry and were the stronger actors.
Maybe the movie should have been a comedy?
Sillsyl7 March 2021
I see some comments here must be written by the cast/crew because this movie is not theatre quality whatsoever LOL.
Typical LMN with an obsessed character who should just go to therapy. The whole story is in the title. They tried to add a backstory and more context to make the movie different from other lifetime movies or stg, but the lead's acting wasn't good enough for it. The Ari character was overreacting every scene which didn't match with the rest of the cast who did a rather decent job. There's a scene where she screams in a dark alley and cries next to a trash bag. Very cartoonish acting. For a thriller, the story was slow and the climax came in so late I had mostly checked out. So maybe the movie should have been a comedy lol
None of the actors could sing except the actress who played young Ari in the flashback, justice for her! Honestly the singing was so cringe I started to wonder if it was on purpose. Maybe it was I don't know.
Teressa Liane was good, I already knew her from Vampire Diaries and she was too good for lifetime (she deserves better roles!). Obviously the POC characters were only used as supporting characters who get two lines. Do better Atlanta casting directors! But anyway..
Typical LMN with an obsessed character who should just go to therapy. The whole story is in the title. They tried to add a backstory and more context to make the movie different from other lifetime movies or stg, but the lead's acting wasn't good enough for it. The Ari character was overreacting every scene which didn't match with the rest of the cast who did a rather decent job. There's a scene where she screams in a dark alley and cries next to a trash bag. Very cartoonish acting. For a thriller, the story was slow and the climax came in so late I had mostly checked out. So maybe the movie should have been a comedy lol
None of the actors could sing except the actress who played young Ari in the flashback, justice for her! Honestly the singing was so cringe I started to wonder if it was on purpose. Maybe it was I don't know.
Teressa Liane was good, I already knew her from Vampire Diaries and she was too good for lifetime (she deserves better roles!). Obviously the POC characters were only used as supporting characters who get two lines. Do better Atlanta casting directors! But anyway..
One of the betters ones this year. Josh and Kay are cute
CranberriAppl22 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I'm 20 minutes into it at the start of this review. How did Kaylee not see this coming? Some stuff is too obvious and this friendship should not have survived elementary school. The opening scene at Josh's concert where A literally shoves Kaylee out of the way and then lies about her taste in music plus making her seem "loose,"...Kaylee never calls her on it. They're "sisters" and Ari's clearly been enabled to turn into the person she is. Did none of Kaylee's clothes get torn to shreds or none of her pets end up "missing" or injured? Those are clearly the qualities Ari is working with. This friendship is inexcusable. Kaylee seems to know, even if she doesn't accept, the type of person her friend is, so when things start happening, she should have suspected Ari from jump.
Why would the producer guy let someone in his studio that he doesn't know with all of that expensive equipment?! Why does that place not have cameras? An incredibly idiotic moment was Mom, who is in a wheelchair after an accident in the girls' youth, tells Ari that she discovered her diary and wants to talk. WHY would you not wait until your daughter returned home? I don't think the movie explained where Ari's parents are. We learn that Ari is responsible for Tina's accident. WHO stands at the top of the stairs to do anything?
Everything is as expected for an obsessed fan who's also jealous of her best friend kind of movie. It's actually hilarious to see how Josh shows zero interest in Ari. It's not even ambiguous and she imagines the whole thing. I think a different but good choice would have been to allow Ari to sing and set herself up to have a music career. I've never seen the newest version of A Star is Born so the homage was lost on me. I've only seen the Janet Gaynor and Judy Garland versions. It sounds like the actress can (maybe) sing, but was obviously directed to sing awful and hammish. They could have written it so that her obsessive ways ruined her chance at something of her own. Instead of just making her stabby and push-down-stairs-y (Buffyspeak). It would have given the villain depth so the question would have been "how could she wreck her life?" Instead of "wow she's psychotic AND her singing sucks." For this reason, I think killing **** was the weakest part of the movie. That character was ultimately irrelevant to the story (and J/K's side plot) and it was already established that Ari was nuts. I feel Lifetime kills characters for the sake of it and doesn't always add to the story.
Nevertheless, I'm glad she got her comeuppance and not the all too often on Lifetime, easy out of disappearing and showing up in a cap and bad wig to foist herself on some other victim. (Edit: I hope that ending was Kay's imagination. SMH). The actors did a decent job. I believed J/K's attraction and I believed Ariana's jealousy of them. Can a person be a psychopath and a sociopath? If so, she had tendencies of both. The actress did a decent portrayal of being both cringe and unhinged.
Edit (Oct '21): I've watched this movie again since my review and it improves a bit with each watch. The dialogue is actually solid and some of the lines are funny. This came on this week and...it's absolutely hilarious to watch kind of the reactions to Ari's dramatic singing and to watch her realization that Josh is clearly into her friend and not her among the other awkward things she does to get his attention. You almost feel sorry for her. It still doesn't quite jive that this friendship lasted into adulthood, but the movie does show her morph into the villain (the flashback reveals notwithstanding) fairly seamlessly.
Why would the producer guy let someone in his studio that he doesn't know with all of that expensive equipment?! Why does that place not have cameras? An incredibly idiotic moment was Mom, who is in a wheelchair after an accident in the girls' youth, tells Ari that she discovered her diary and wants to talk. WHY would you not wait until your daughter returned home? I don't think the movie explained where Ari's parents are. We learn that Ari is responsible for Tina's accident. WHO stands at the top of the stairs to do anything?
Everything is as expected for an obsessed fan who's also jealous of her best friend kind of movie. It's actually hilarious to see how Josh shows zero interest in Ari. It's not even ambiguous and she imagines the whole thing. I think a different but good choice would have been to allow Ari to sing and set herself up to have a music career. I've never seen the newest version of A Star is Born so the homage was lost on me. I've only seen the Janet Gaynor and Judy Garland versions. It sounds like the actress can (maybe) sing, but was obviously directed to sing awful and hammish. They could have written it so that her obsessive ways ruined her chance at something of her own. Instead of just making her stabby and push-down-stairs-y (Buffyspeak). It would have given the villain depth so the question would have been "how could she wreck her life?" Instead of "wow she's psychotic AND her singing sucks." For this reason, I think killing **** was the weakest part of the movie. That character was ultimately irrelevant to the story (and J/K's side plot) and it was already established that Ari was nuts. I feel Lifetime kills characters for the sake of it and doesn't always add to the story.
Nevertheless, I'm glad she got her comeuppance and not the all too often on Lifetime, easy out of disappearing and showing up in a cap and bad wig to foist herself on some other victim. (Edit: I hope that ending was Kay's imagination. SMH). The actors did a decent job. I believed J/K's attraction and I believed Ariana's jealousy of them. Can a person be a psychopath and a sociopath? If so, she had tendencies of both. The actress did a decent portrayal of being both cringe and unhinged.
Edit (Oct '21): I've watched this movie again since my review and it improves a bit with each watch. The dialogue is actually solid and some of the lines are funny. This came on this week and...it's absolutely hilarious to watch kind of the reactions to Ari's dramatic singing and to watch her realization that Josh is clearly into her friend and not her among the other awkward things she does to get his attention. You almost feel sorry for her. It still doesn't quite jive that this friendship lasted into adulthood, but the movie does show her morph into the villain (the flashback reveals notwithstanding) fairly seamlessly.
I Sussed That Josh Didn't Like Her!
audio_until2 June 2021
He liked Ari's friend whose dad died. I could tell by his manner when they met. The other girl is quite stable so that would be attractive to Josh; while Ari is of course the opposite. I'm no expert at writing reviews so I will just leave this short lol. Ari is very severely mentally ill to say the least, very unstable. In real life, she would really need psychiatric help that's for sure. I hope she gets it.
Great Movie!!
timdavidkelly20 February 2021
Loved The Music!!
candacenva22 February 2021
While in many ways, it's a typical lifetime movie. I absolutely loved the music!! I was actually Googling it to see if I could find the duet song anywhere but I can't! I hope lifetime releases it! It totally reminded me of a Star is Born! I actually liked this ending better than that one! A Star Is Born was just too sad!
Theatre Quality
kcarls0820 February 2021
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