Lies Between Friends centers around Ollie and Claire, a wealthy couple with 2 kids. Enter Emily, who is the psychotic daughter of a former college friend of Ollie's who went to jail for a crime he didn't commit and his daughter is out for revenge. What she does is supported by a well-written script and good acting. This is quite a good movie and definitely recommended!
7 Reviews
A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good and vice versa
Ed-Shullivan25 June 2024
This is nothing special other than the film's message which is when you mess with the bull you may just get the horns. An 18 year old girl named Emily Bowser is introduced to a wealthy couple by Emily's single father Stephen, who knew Ollie from their college days together. Claire and Ollie who have two (2) children are both successful and Steve hits on his old friend Ollie for a favor long owed to him by Ollie for Steve's taking responsibility for an accidental death of a girl they both knew while they all were in college.
When Emily discovers accidentally that her father Steve was taken advantage of by his old school chum Ollie who went unscathed by the crime he was actually responsible for and that her own father went to prison for, Emily seeks revenge on the wealthy couple.
The plot may be interesting but the delivery in a Lifetime film of revenge on a wealthy couple by a manipulative 18 year old leaves a lot to be desired in the suspense department.
I give the film just a passable 5 out of 10 IMDb rating.
When Emily discovers accidentally that her father Steve was taken advantage of by his old school chum Ollie who went unscathed by the crime he was actually responsible for and that her own father went to prison for, Emily seeks revenge on the wealthy couple.
The plot may be interesting but the delivery in a Lifetime film of revenge on a wealthy couple by a manipulative 18 year old leaves a lot to be desired in the suspense department.
I give the film just a passable 5 out of 10 IMDb rating.
Lies between Friends
coltras3516 June 2023
Ollie (Peter Benson) and Steve used to be best friends back in their college days. An incident happens which changes the lives of the thickest buddies forever. Fast forward years later, Steve meets Ollie (Peter Benson) and tells him that his daughter Emily (Matreya Scarrwener) got a scholarship to study computer engineering at Seattle Tech but doesn't know anyone there. He explains how she tried searching online but couldn't find any affordable accommodation options in Seattle. He asks Ollie if he and his wife Claire can let his daughter stay in any of their spare rooms or guest house to which Ollie agrees. Ollie and Claire meet Emily next day and decide to let her stay in the guest house. At first they both are happy to let her stay there.
Emily looks at their house and feels envious of them. She then decides to make this couple's lives a hell. Then she drops her innocent girl act and starts creating small misunderstandings in their lives.
Switching effortlessly between feigning innocence and becoming cunning and sinister as the shaded Emily who wants to fulfill her sick revenge on this couple for getting her dad justice, Matreya Scarrwener acts really well. She's well cast and is ably supported by the rest of the cast.
This is an above average "psycho duping a rich family" story - It is suspenseful with the right dose of drama, thriller, emotional backdrop of characters alongside the chilling element of murder, and lies.
Emily looks at their house and feels envious of them. She then decides to make this couple's lives a hell. Then she drops her innocent girl act and starts creating small misunderstandings in their lives.
Switching effortlessly between feigning innocence and becoming cunning and sinister as the shaded Emily who wants to fulfill her sick revenge on this couple for getting her dad justice, Matreya Scarrwener acts really well. She's well cast and is ably supported by the rest of the cast.
This is an above average "psycho duping a rich family" story - It is suspenseful with the right dose of drama, thriller, emotional backdrop of characters alongside the chilling element of murder, and lies.
Mediocre "evil live in person" movie
ztpbrmhw28 July 2024
Warning: Spoilers
This is a much-worn premise. A "long lost" daughter or pen pal shows up unexpectedly and after being the perfect babysitter and companion to the child and being such "a help" they invite her to live with the family - without the least bit of vetting. "Strange things" start happening almost immediately, but invariably the wife or husband are vehemently dismissive of the other spouse's concern. Every "red flag" is acknowledged but never pursued.
The bad girl, the daughter of the dad's old college friend, lives with the family ostensibly so she can attend the local college without having to commute 2 hours from her own home. That said, after seemingly weeks of living there, we find out later she wasn't enrolled there at all. You mean the family didn't catch on that she was never seen doing homework, studying for exams, interacting with classmates, coming home with textbooks, describing any college drama... nothing? Without anything suspicions?
The mom checks her jewelry box after she gets a strange call from a friend. The "bad girl" Emily stole them then put them back, and the mom can't tell they were moved around?
Emily pushes her dad Steve to the floor. He hits his head on the floor and dies. We're never told what the police suspect happened. The daughter or her whereabouts apparently are never questioned. Her fingerprints are all over the crime scene. And most absurdly, there is a large conspicuous VIDEO CAMERA ("cat cam") in the murder kitchen which captured EVERYTHING that was incomprehensibly never checked. Bad Emily had the murder video downloaded onto her personal laptop - again, never checked.
The dad of the house owns a "$100 million" business yet apparently his laptop, general business bank account, and personal bank account all have the same easily guessable all-letters password.
One plot hole after another...
By the end, you are wanting bad Emily to "get hers" sooo badly and get super caught and confronted with all her lies.. yet all she gets his knocked out by a baseball bat before any of that happens.
Also inasmuch as she murdered her dad, "movie justice" should have dictated that she get killed by at least a good "knife-wrestling". She just ended up in a mental facility - without even an obligatory end scene in the facility acting creepy and unremorseful.
This was a below average movie of this genre.
The bad girl, the daughter of the dad's old college friend, lives with the family ostensibly so she can attend the local college without having to commute 2 hours from her own home. That said, after seemingly weeks of living there, we find out later she wasn't enrolled there at all. You mean the family didn't catch on that she was never seen doing homework, studying for exams, interacting with classmates, coming home with textbooks, describing any college drama... nothing? Without anything suspicions?
The mom checks her jewelry box after she gets a strange call from a friend. The "bad girl" Emily stole them then put them back, and the mom can't tell they were moved around?
Emily pushes her dad Steve to the floor. He hits his head on the floor and dies. We're never told what the police suspect happened. The daughter or her whereabouts apparently are never questioned. Her fingerprints are all over the crime scene. And most absurdly, there is a large conspicuous VIDEO CAMERA ("cat cam") in the murder kitchen which captured EVERYTHING that was incomprehensibly never checked. Bad Emily had the murder video downloaded onto her personal laptop - again, never checked.
The dad of the house owns a "$100 million" business yet apparently his laptop, general business bank account, and personal bank account all have the same easily guessable all-letters password.
One plot hole after another...
By the end, you are wanting bad Emily to "get hers" sooo badly and get super caught and confronted with all her lies.. yet all she gets his knocked out by a baseball bat before any of that happens.
Also inasmuch as she murdered her dad, "movie justice" should have dictated that she get killed by at least a good "knife-wrestling". She just ended up in a mental facility - without even an obligatory end scene in the facility acting creepy and unremorseful.
This was a below average movie of this genre.
The Little Orphan
lavatch2 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Emily Bowser is a young woman who has learned how to play the victim card. Her father Steve got a raw deal when he took the blame for the accidental overdose of a friend when it was his buddy Ollie who had supplied the drugs. Now, Emily has her fangs out and is ready to seek revenge on Ollie, who has become a corporate magnate.
Emily worms her way into the magnificent Seattle home and the beautiful family of Ollie and his wife Claire. There is good dramatic tension developed as the unsuspecting couple is duped by their new house guest.
There was a nice touch by the performer playing Emily, as she conveyed the surface level naivety coupled with the deviousness. Even when she accidentally murders her own father, she is able to play the role of the little orphan to a tee, turning on the tears like a spigot.
A strength of the screenplay was in the genuine remorse and guilt felt by Ollie, who had allowed his friend Steve to go to jail and have his life altered by the lapse on the part of Ollie. The actors made Ollie and Claire into extremely decent people.
There was a convincing sense that the elites of the world may unwittingly do a lot of damage to those beneath them on the social ladder. The character of Steve was a kind man who never held a grudge against Ollie. But, growing up in a world of scarcity, the daughter could not tolerate the way she and her dad were slighted. It led her into the vortex of a deranged outlook on life. Through psychiatric care, Emily may finally receive the help that she deserves.
Emily worms her way into the magnificent Seattle home and the beautiful family of Ollie and his wife Claire. There is good dramatic tension developed as the unsuspecting couple is duped by their new house guest.
There was a nice touch by the performer playing Emily, as she conveyed the surface level naivety coupled with the deviousness. Even when she accidentally murders her own father, she is able to play the role of the little orphan to a tee, turning on the tears like a spigot.
A strength of the screenplay was in the genuine remorse and guilt felt by Ollie, who had allowed his friend Steve to go to jail and have his life altered by the lapse on the part of Ollie. The actors made Ollie and Claire into extremely decent people.
There was a convincing sense that the elites of the world may unwittingly do a lot of damage to those beneath them on the social ladder. The character of Steve was a kind man who never held a grudge against Ollie. But, growing up in a world of scarcity, the daughter could not tolerate the way she and her dad were slighted. It led her into the vortex of a deranged outlook on life. Through psychiatric care, Emily may finally receive the help that she deserves.
Different type of plot than usual
innerlooper964 July 2023
I appreciated this movie for the fact that the plot was fairly offbeat. I won't spoil the movie completely, but the premise of the conflict is not the typical "wife against spouse" or "cheating" or even "psycho nanny". The latter was what I thought the movie may entail, but that's definitely not the situation at hand.
Claire and Ollie are a really adorable power couple; Claire initially is seen as a stay-at-home mom, but we soon realize she is an established attorney who opted to stay home with her children. She has talent and skills that are now placed aside for her family, which tells you a lot about her personality - she is kind and caring.
The movie begins with two college students having fun at party, where drugs and booze are available. They opt into using drugs, Ollie being the leader with his very-buzzed girlfriend in tow. Steve is adorably a follower, easily coerced into taking the drugs his buddy just gave him for free. In the process, we see that Ollie is wealthy.
Things get pretty complex; a giant mishap renders both young men potentially damaged for life, but instead of rightfully accepting responsibility, Ollie allows Steve to take the fall.
Years pass, and they move on - one successful, the other not (guess which ones!). As you'll see, the payback takes shape with a bit of time and great persistence - causing havoc in the usually peaceful family life of Ollie and Claire.
I enjoyed Emily's character - it's easy to see that the actress herself loved playing this role, down to the carrot-munching scene toward the end.
Claire is an awesome character; you want to be her friend and it is easy to relate to her. Even Ollie is not what you may think; he has a huge heart and a sense of morality that is promising in this day and age, despite his mistakes.
If you were in this situation, how would you have handled it? It's an interesting question, because a lot of people would have done the same thing at such an immature time in their lives.
I would say there are some unexplored areas that would have been interesting. Why did Steve have such a low sense of self at his young age? Why did Ollie's obvious 'dismissal' from his clearly powerful dad NOT affect him more, as we usually see in the wake of examining our choices as adults?
How was it possible for Claire to just accept that Ollie's transgressions with her friend happened, instead of simply talking to Pam? And there is no way that most of us would look the other way if a house guest we hardly knew was found gazing and fondling our valuables.
There are a lot of other questions one could ask, but instead, just enjoy this movie if you can. It's pretty interesting, captivating, and easy on the eyes. (Their home is beautiful, even the little 'shack' that Emily and her Dad have is cute, and the children in the movie are adorable to boot. Would love to also know if "rude mom" got out of jail...) Kudos to the cast!
Claire and Ollie are a really adorable power couple; Claire initially is seen as a stay-at-home mom, but we soon realize she is an established attorney who opted to stay home with her children. She has talent and skills that are now placed aside for her family, which tells you a lot about her personality - she is kind and caring.
The movie begins with two college students having fun at party, where drugs and booze are available. They opt into using drugs, Ollie being the leader with his very-buzzed girlfriend in tow. Steve is adorably a follower, easily coerced into taking the drugs his buddy just gave him for free. In the process, we see that Ollie is wealthy.
Things get pretty complex; a giant mishap renders both young men potentially damaged for life, but instead of rightfully accepting responsibility, Ollie allows Steve to take the fall.
Years pass, and they move on - one successful, the other not (guess which ones!). As you'll see, the payback takes shape with a bit of time and great persistence - causing havoc in the usually peaceful family life of Ollie and Claire.
I enjoyed Emily's character - it's easy to see that the actress herself loved playing this role, down to the carrot-munching scene toward the end.
Claire is an awesome character; you want to be her friend and it is easy to relate to her. Even Ollie is not what you may think; he has a huge heart and a sense of morality that is promising in this day and age, despite his mistakes.
If you were in this situation, how would you have handled it? It's an interesting question, because a lot of people would have done the same thing at such an immature time in their lives.
I would say there are some unexplored areas that would have been interesting. Why did Steve have such a low sense of self at his young age? Why did Ollie's obvious 'dismissal' from his clearly powerful dad NOT affect him more, as we usually see in the wake of examining our choices as adults?
How was it possible for Claire to just accept that Ollie's transgressions with her friend happened, instead of simply talking to Pam? And there is no way that most of us would look the other way if a house guest we hardly knew was found gazing and fondling our valuables.
There are a lot of other questions one could ask, but instead, just enjoy this movie if you can. It's pretty interesting, captivating, and easy on the eyes. (Their home is beautiful, even the little 'shack' that Emily and her Dad have is cute, and the children in the movie are adorable to boot. Would love to also know if "rude mom" got out of jail...) Kudos to the cast!
Well-written Plot
patticoxxwriter10 January 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Well-written plot that fails to insult the intelligence of fans. Realistic story with well-developed characters with careers. This movie leaves you wanting a sequel or even a series. The former best friends, one happily married with the customary two kids and the unemployed unhappy empty nester-alcoholic father with the vengeful college daughter result in one of the best movies this year, although we are only in the month of January. Run, don't walk, get the remote, a bowl of popcorn and a glass wine (or a cup of coffee and a Danish) and enjoy as the plot thickens and the subject of school bullying is addressed, somewhat, perhaps a different spin to end bullying may have been better but keeping in with the theme, plot to kill, it was perfect?
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