Dirty Little Secret

There are just so many problems with this movie! I've always liked Melissa Joan Hart so I thought I'd watch. It was mediocre at best. They barely scratched the surface yet didn't go completely over the top until the end like a lot of these Lifetime movies do. It was about a teenage girl who is embarrassed by her mother who appears to have it all together at work as an intelligent hard working nurse until you see their house and the mom is a hoarder. As it turns out, she was a complete neat freak before the father left because of it and now she's gone the other direction. There are also 2 older siblings that have moved out and don't come around much. Well, in the end this takes a VERY DARK, DISTURBED AND UNDESERVED turn. And I'm saying this about a Lifetime movie mind you!! This is not the way you treat people with mental illness!! I wouldn't recommend this film on that alone.

Shy high school student Lucy (Lizzie Boys) tries to keep to herself. She has one friend and never invites her home. There's a reason. Her highly-skilled nurse and functioning mother Joanna (Melissa Joan Hart) is actually a hoarder. She's always afraid of getting her mother in trouble.

It's Lifetime. It's Melissa Joan Hart. The story lacks drama. I've never considered a child's fear of children services although that would work better for a younger daughter. I don't know where the premise could go. For the drama, Lucy needs to be isolated. She shouldn't have a friend or even siblings. The story could unfold that she starts to open up and that's where the drama comes in. Lizzie looks like a prom queen and it doesn't fit. The last part could be dramatic but some of it seems laughable.

I love Melissa, so I had high hopes for this one. It wasn't terribly written or acted, and the storyline was unlike any other lifetime movie I've ever seen which is good. However, the last 30 minutes of this film are complete garbage. Such missed opportunities for redemption and healing. Just so, so sad and confusing.

This was really decent up until the last 20 min when it went completely off the rails. Missed opportunity for redemption and a better ending. Two stars for great acting by Melissa Joan Hart and Lizzie Boys but this was truly awful. No idea what the writers or producers were thinking here but it doesn't add up.

Melissa Joan Hart as Joanna and Lizzie Boys as her daughter, Lucy, both shine in this Lifetime movie about a woman who is essentially, a pack rat and will not part with anything. It gets so bad that she loses her husband and her 2 older children move out. Lucy and her mom keep her secret well guarded. Their house looks like a wall-to-wall garage sale. I never knew that this was actually a sickness, The movie has an unhappy ending, though. More like this!!!