Her Deadly Groom Review: A Twisty, Thrilling Cautionary Tale!
Jasmine Blu
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Throw all the dating apps away!
Unfortunately, in these times it's a person's best bet at meeting the love of their life, but the odds of meeting someone like Vincent are way too high for comfort.
If Her Deadly Groom wasn't anything else, it's a cautionary tale about online dating, or better yet, dating in general.
Allison should've celebrated her divorce by focusing on her peanut butter business and taking a girls' trip to an island somewhere with Brenna and Nicky. It would've saved her a lot of heartbreak, losses, and near-death experiences with handsome new hubbies.
Lifetime is known for its romantic thrillers, and to some degree, frustratingly naive protagonists. Is it even a classic Lifetime flick if you aren't on the edge of your seat yelling at the screen for some character or another to open their eyes and see what's right in front of them as plain as day?
Yes, some of us watch these films the same way we do sports games. But in the case of Allison, she was more sympathetic than the norm.
She wasn't so abysmally naive that you wanted to shake some sense into her. It's understandable how she was duped. Vincent was very good at what he did.
He caught her eye on the street, but she allowed work to guide her away and never got his number. It's too bad the universe couldn't have left it at that, or better yet, Brenna.
Like most friends, Brenna meant well, but maybe she should reserve the dating adventures for herself instead. It is the absolute worst when another single friend decides that you should get out there and join them in the suck that is the dating pool, especially online.
Allison didn't need a new guy; she needed to get their peanut butter business thriving instead. She had her priorities in order but peer pressure is a pain in the ass.
If you can fault the women with anything, it's not looking into Vincent to find out more about him. Not that they would've found out much anyway since he was using an alias.
But as awful as Vincent was, and he's a villain through and through, it was refreshing that there were no sob stories, or excuses, or an attempt to redeem him at any point in this movie.
We knew who and what this man was five minutes into the movie, and he killed people indiscriminately all throughout.
Allison is going to inherit all of your money when you die, and I'm going to inherit all of her money when she dies.
Vincent
I'm not even sure he came remotely close to caring about Allison, her daughter, or anything else outside of what he wanted.
He had an agenda, and nothing and no one was going to interfere with that. From taking out policies on Allison's business to doing the same with her life, he wasted no time orchestrating this romance and how it would benefit him in the end.
Their relationship fast-forwarded to marriage within six months.
Allison was so put off by her ex-husband, played by the fantastic Eric Roberts, that she probably expediated her relationship with Vincent when she would have typically been more cautious.
Her ex was a tool, though.
Not only did he lack remorse about cheating on her, but he had no faith in her business, and when he hit financial difficulties of his own, he was willing to renege on their housing arrangments and more.
Nevertheless, it was a hell of a twist to discover that he's the one who was behind Vincent invading their lives. He was so selfish and short-sighted that he didn't recognize that he made a deal with the devil.
We expected Vincent to prey on Allison, but who expected her ex-husband to have a role in it?
Bless her heart; Allison's taste in men is questionable.
The problem with striking a deal with an unpredictable, opportunistic sociopath is that they're only in it for themselves.
Vincent had no problem taking out the drunken man who hired him. He was too deep into his long con to call the whole thing off and walk away like nothing happened.
And what's another dead body to add to all the others? Seriously, Vincent was racking up the bodies from whomever he killed in the beginning, to the real estate agent, to Allison's ex.
It's one of the great mysteries of life. You never know quite what's going to happen next.
Vincent
And if he had been as successful as he planned, he would have killed Brenna, Jake, and Allison too.
The hero of this move was Jake, who saw through Vincent from the very beginning. When we chatted with Michael DeVorzon about his killer role, he mentioned the importance of following your instincts.
And if anyone was following his gut in this movie, it was Jake. But part of it was because of his position as a reformed bad boy.
Game recognizes game, and Nicky's boyfriend had a checkered past of his own.
I appreciated that Jake, who was a product of a certain environment and got himself together, played such a vital role in Allison and Nicky's life.
For the most part, they didn't judge him for his former substance abuse problem or that he had got into some trouble in the past. It never seemed to be an issue until Vincent could weaponize it to his benefit.
Jake knew something was off even if he couldn't explain why that was, and it was what made him a favorite character out of the bunch.
He and Nicky looked into Vincent as best as they could, but neither of them could anticipate her father thwarting their actions because of his involvement.
It left Jake on an island by himself with his suspicion, and he didn't do the best job at hiding it either. Maybe if he had some more finesse or didn't underestimate how dangerous Vincent was, then he wouldn't have been on the receiving end of Vincent's plotting and wrath.
After snapping the realtor's neck and pushing Brenna down a flight of stairs, nothing should come as a surprise, but drugging Jake and using his previous issues with addiction against him was low, and then framing him in a potential murder-suicide was next-level.
Looking back, maybe all these terrible events happening within a short time frame since Vincent appeared should have been a warning sign, or a million.
I almost wish we got to see more of Vincent's conning and antics. We had a loose connection to Jake's father and the revelation that he was using an alias, but was anyone else kind of interested in how he operated for years?
Real Estate Agent: Between you and me, this is the first time I've shown this place in a month. So you can get this place for a steal.
Vincent: My favorite way of getting things.
His most enthralling and outlandish con was seducing the real estate agent and sneaking keys to that gorgeous house so he could pass it as his own.
It's the type of thing you can only pull off if you're an attractive white guy, honestly. It was ingenious, and it's the necessary bold streak required for a successful career grifter.
It's something about him that had you wanting to see more. It was satisfying when Allison got the upper hand on him and fought back before he could kill her.
An electrifying act of self-defense is always a treat. And we got our happy ending with Allison, Brenna, and Jake all living to tell the tale.
It's more than you can say for Vincent's other victims.
But that tease at the end of Vincent charming his correctional guard and running more game on another mark while wearing a prison jumpsuit behind bars was enough to make you chuckle in disbelief and resignation.
Even prison won't keep him down and out for long. It's the perfect opening for a sequel, and damn if I'm not here for it.
Over to you, Lifetime Fanatics!
What would you rate this one? Would you like a sequel? What were your favorite moments from the film? Hit the comments below.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
