'Pool Boy Nightmare' (2020)
When will Lifetime stop mixing people talking with loud music? Apparently they don't want the viewers to hear the dialogue. Even in the scenes without music, the audio was bad quality. Some of the lines were unintelligible or sounded like they were spoken in a vacuum.
Casting left a lot to be desired: Jessica Morris has been the lead actress in too many Lifetime flicks already, just like several other actresses in other movies. You'd think there were only 5 or 6 actresses in the world the way they keep using the same ones over and over. And the daughter was sorely miscast - I don't mean to sound shallow but they surely could have found someone more attractive and likeable.
Speaking of unattractive: the pool boy actor wasn't bad-looking, but he was oddly out of proportion; with a bigger head, neck, and upper body than his lower half.
I've mentioned this in previous reviews but I must repeat it here: WHY does every lead character and their daughter/son in Lifetime flicks live in huge ornate mansions?? SO unrealistic, especially when the mother either doesn't even work or complains about not being able to make ends meet and pay the bills on time. Just once I'd like to see them live in a middle class ranch-style house with only 2 bedrooms and no pool, like most people do.
Continuity errors: Adam's beard growth fluctuated from clean-shaven to several days growth in the same 8-minute scene, and when he beat himself up to blame it on the dad, he sent photos of his bruised, beaten torso to Becca. But the next day or so when they went to a random house to the pool and he took off his shirt, there were no bruises at all - just perfectly normal uninjured skin. Even if he had used makeup to paint the bruises on, and washed it off before the date with Becca, she should've noticed his flawless skin and asked him where all those bruises went.
As for another reviewer here saying the ending couldn't have happened - I don't see why not. It looked possible to me, and for once it was different than most other Lifetime endings with the same basic plotline and premise of psycho stalker making their victim's life miserable for 2 hours until the climax.
Nothing about this one made it stand out from all the other formulaic LMN stuff. Same basic story with new guy playing the psycho.
2 out of 10 / Grade D.
When will Lifetime stop mixing people talking with loud music? Apparently they don't want the viewers to hear the dialogue. Even in the scenes without music, the audio was bad quality. Some of the lines were unintelligible or sounded like they were spoken in a vacuum.
Casting left a lot to be desired: Jessica Morris has been the lead actress in too many Lifetime flicks already, just like several other actresses in other movies. You'd think there were only 5 or 6 actresses in the world the way they keep using the same ones over and over. And the daughter was sorely miscast - I don't mean to sound shallow but they surely could have found someone more attractive and likeable.
Speaking of unattractive: the pool boy actor wasn't bad-looking, but he was oddly out of proportion; with a bigger head, neck, and upper body than his lower half.
I've mentioned this in previous reviews but I must repeat it here: WHY does every lead character and their daughter/son in Lifetime flicks live in huge ornate mansions?? SO unrealistic, especially when the mother either doesn't even work or complains about not being able to make ends meet and pay the bills on time. Just once I'd like to see them live in a middle class ranch-style house with only 2 bedrooms and no pool, like most people do.
Continuity errors: Adam's beard growth fluctuated from clean-shaven to several days growth in the same 8-minute scene, and when he beat himself up to blame it on the dad, he sent photos of his bruised, beaten torso to Becca. But the next day or so when they went to a random house to the pool and he took off his shirt, there were no bruises at all - just perfectly normal uninjured skin. Even if he had used makeup to paint the bruises on, and washed it off before the date with Becca, she should've noticed his flawless skin and asked him where all those bruises went.
As for another reviewer here saying the ending couldn't have happened - I don't see why not. It looked possible to me, and for once it was different than most other Lifetime endings with the same basic plotline and premise of psycho stalker making their victim's life miserable for 2 hours until the climax.
Nothing about this one made it stand out from all the other formulaic LMN stuff. Same basic story with new guy playing the psycho.
2 out of 10 / Grade D.