A Surrogate's Nightmare

Shelley (Emily Tennant) is devastated when someone pushes her mother off a cliff although she and everyone believes that she accidentally fell. Her older sister novelist Angela (Poppy Montgomery) visits from New York. Shelley and David cannot have children. Angela volunteers to be the surrogate and reconnects with Curt.

I would think that the surrogate should be the younger sister. That seems to make more sense as a medical issue. Mostly, this movie struggles to gain any tension. The mystery of the killer seems to be a matter of writer's choice. There are two obvious suspects. One is logical. The other needs a whole lot of exposition at the end of the movie to explain. Neither is that compelling. This is a Lifetime thriller of average quality.

Why can't I turn away from these movies? So predictable with so many head scratching moments. But I was surprised by the reveal! Didn't really expect that!

* why does everything have to be "it's complicated"? I get it now (with the reveal at the ending) why it was complicated that she left but why was it complicated to tell her ex that she was carrying a baby for her sister and brother in law?

* they think he was on his phone when the accident happened? They didn't notice the fresh damage to the back and side of the car?

* Her husband is waking up and she decides to leave the hospital?

I was impressed by Emily Tennant when she finally received the opportunity to play an adult. I loved her portraying a teenager in such films as "Triple Dog", "Text to Kill" and "Driven Underground", and later "Daughter for Sale", which came out a few months after this one. Given the chance to play a character closer to her real-life age, Emily comes through with a strong, heartfelt performance.

We don't see enough of Poppy Montgomery these days. Of course she was great in "Without a Trace", and I thought highly of her performance in "Murder in the Hamptons", which has been shown on Lifetime networks quite a bit in the last 12 years. She was superb playing Angela, the titular surrogate who is mercilessly stalked by her creepy ex (Ty Olsson).

Great plot. Even greater performances by Ms. Tennant and Ms. Montgomery.

The lead actors in this are all capable of much more than this. It's poorly written, with gaping plot flaws. Poor Ty Olssen, a handsome enigmatic actor reduced to this tripe. The two lead females have done so much better and are worth so much more.

Paul Anka wrote and sang this song back in 1974 and this Lifetime story tells about the highs and the lows about the difficulties and the pure joy of how a pregnancy can affect not just the mother and father's lives, but other people's lives as well. Poppy Montgomery plays the big sister and surrogate mom for her little sister's infertility problems and the husband who is trying to climb the corporate ladder and have a baby at the same time. No doubt a pregnancy can be a blessing and/or a curse and we have all heard the stories from both ends of the spectrums by which some women try in vain to get pregnant and other girls just have to open the top button of their blouse and "Voila'" they are pregnant.

This is an above average Lifetime movie that is worth watching. I give it a 6 out of 10 IMDb rating.