Fatal Memories

Off to visit her mother's spectacular mansion, young lawyer Italia Ricci (as Sutton Parker) is about to receive the shock of her life. Out by the stately pool, Ms. Ricci discovers her mother has been knifed to death. Even worse, Ricci's 18-year-old little sister Magda Apanowicz (as April Parker) is kneeling over the body, with a bloody knife. For unfathomable reasons, the deceased professor's servants are all absent at the same time. Life can be tough, on a teacher's salary. White-haired stepfather Kevin McNulty (as Orly Chambers) isn't home, either. One year later, Ms. Apanowicz is released from the psychiatric hospital, in her big sister's custody, ready to stand trial. Of course, Ricci is going to be her sister's attorney...

The graphic "One Year Later" should probably read "Three Years Later" as Apanowicz celebrates becoming a "fully fledged adult" after about 20 minutes of running time and later states, "I'm 21." Apparently, she's in a hospital which ages patients three years for each year they are committed. This must be an incentive to get well quickly. Apanowicz' hair is always colored differently than Ricci's, possibly so the long-haired sister isn't confused with the short-haired sister. Nosey videographer Ryan Beil (as Luke Conner) has the best role in this confusing crime mystery, arguably. He explains it all at the end and states the murder occurred "Two Years Ago." First it's one, then it's three, and finally it's two. It's that kind of movie.

** Fatal Memories (2015-03-05) Farhad Mann ~ Italia Ricci, Magda Apanowicz, Kevin McNulty, Zak Santiago

The usual stereotypical TV movie where white people live in a multi-million dollar homes with million dollar furnishings and they are all wealthy professionals. The plot is predictable and of standard fare. I watch these types of movies when doing housework and I do not need to focus my full attention. The writing is sub par and has gross grammatical errors-"on Glen and I"- English please. I cannot believe no one edits these "writings". There is the usual nonsensical attempt to get away from danger. but not really. "Why don't we just get in the running car" bit. I laugh at places where they are trying to be serious, but it gets ridiculous at times. I always DVR the films, otherwise the commercials would be intolerable and I lose interest forgetting I am watching at all. If you realize you are viewing mindless fluff and nothing more, than you will not be disappointed.

This was a very inexpensive movie with just a few sets. I thought it was interesting when they arrived at the sister's house it looked small on the outside and then the kitchen alone was Hugh! The script was very predictable and you spot the killer very early in the movie. My favorite was the male police officer who never said a line until the end of the movie yet he was one of the two detectives investigating the crime.! Parts of the story lines were very vague. Such as the dislike between the female officer and the lawyer. I must confess I watched the entire movie because I knew the ending had to be unrealistic and I wasn't disappointed!

This movie is in barely different from the typical Lifetime film: bland, unimaginative writing, boilerplate plot, uninteresting sets, boring directorial choices and mediocre acting. What "distinguished" this movie was the uncommonly obvious indications as to who the real perp is. You will know whodunit 15 minutes into this movie.

What keeps Lifetime movies so consistently bad? Are there no competent writers, directors and actors in Canada? That seems unlikely. Is it budget constraints? Maybe a movie a week makes higher budgets for individual films prohibitive. Beats me, but this movie is an excellent example of a film that did not have to be this bad.... or did it?

April Parker (Magda Apanowicz) is found over her dead mother holding a knife. She is put in an asylum and claims to have no memory of the incident. One year later, she is released to live with her lawyer sister Sutton (Italia Ricci) and her husband Glenn Roberts. Detective Whitaker continues her prosecution of April with an impending trial. Orly Chambers wants to sell the family mansion.

There is a lack of tension in this mystery thriller. Honestly, it's a 50/50 proposition whether April is actually guilty or not. It's strictly the writer's prerogative and the ending follows the formula handbook. I'm not sure if the ending makes any sense anyways. It takes half of the movie to get any tension. It's not until April starts acting up that the movie starts to move. There are some bad one-dimensional characterization from the hard-up detective to the weird surprisingly tech savvy paparazzi. It can never escape from its Lifetime TV movie look and its mediocre writing. There are way too many of these types of TV movies.