Reviewing a Hat Trick of Villainesses from "Don't Let Him Find You"

2024 has been quite an interesting and delicious year for Lifetime thrillers. I'll definitely delve more into that in my annual year end top 10 list, which I've been writing since 2021. I've enjoyed a lot of these thrillers and the villainesses that have come with them, and that collection does include this movie that aired on Black Friday: Don't Let Him Find You.

We see our central protagonist, Alex McDowell, celebrating her birthday with her husband, Robert McDowell, and their daughter Charlie. A wonderful moment, but later on, Alex rushes to save a woman who was experiencing cardiac arrest, and that moment resulted in some attention to Alex, though she was looking to get away from what would have been an on-screen interview with reporter Jane Chance. All of a sudden, Alex is encountered by another reporter, Stuart Cooper Thomas, and this one has information about Alex's real name and a damning incident from her past: the murder of her sister.

Alex states that the real story was not know, but that doesn't stop Mr. Scumbucket from blackmailing her; demanding an interview and cash under the threat of revealing her location. As someone who has watched Lifetime movies since my high school years, I knew where this was going, and sure enough, Mr. Scumbucket ends up knocked off by a mysterious culprit with a gun. Regarding Alex, we see her struggling to deal with her past slowly leaking out, and it's noticed by Robert, who is there for her but still doesn't know the whole story. Alex is later contacted by Jane, who also learned about her past and wanted to talk. And of course, she's off the board later on as well.

So finally, Alex decides to tell the full story about the night of her sister's death. A flashback placed the originally named Rose Forster in her car and on the phone with Justin, who was gushing over her and saying that they could be together. Who's Justin, you ask? As Rose herself revealed in the flashback, Justin was married to Rose's sister, Ashley Forster, but as Rose added, Justin was in love with Rose the whole time, and he only married Ashley to get to Rose. Yeesh. So Rose hangs up and returns home to see Ashley waiting for her, and at that moment, Ashley decides to lash out at her sister and accuse her of sleeping with Justin, while ignoring her sister's denials. To make matters even crazier, Ashley's wielding a knife and has her sights set on killing her sister, but as Rose tried to disarm her insane sister, Ashley ended up accidentally stabbed to death.

Rose left town, and left her mother (who Stuart stated had her own shady past, but always avoided consequences), after Ashley's death, but everything was coming back to her. The suspicion is that Justin's the one who had been tracking Alex after she was discovered saving that woman, and it increases after the same killer attempted to go after Robert, only to be run off by a gun wielding Alex. As police do get involved, we see someone take Charlie, and as Alex is making a withdrawal, we see the revelation of Charlie's abductor, and it is Justin. However, Justin's only a passenger in this whole scheme, as he brings Charlie to the home of the real driver of this villainous vehicle: Marnie Forster.

So we finally see Mommy Dearest, though she's also Grandmommy Dearest, and she introduced herself to Charlie and informed her that Justin would be her father. Justin was later sent to get Alex, and it was during that ride that Justin was officially revealed as the person who killed the two reporters, doing so under Marnie's orders. The twisted plan centered on Marnie's obsession of keeping their family together, though her idea was having Charlie, Alex, and Justin with her, with Justin as Charlie's father. Alex's "reunion" with her mother saw her on the receiving end of scolding and blame, but also twisted forgiveness (even though Ashley was the crazy one and Alex did nothing wrong).

As for Robert, he arrived to the rescue to get Charlie out, but what neither of them counted on was an alarm on the front door. Justin, Marnie, and Alex raced out of the house, and it was at that moment that Robert held Justin at gunpoint. Marnie decided to point her own gun at her own daughter and order Robert to lower his weapon. Robert does, only for Alex to fight off her deranged mother, and Robert to take down Justin. In the end, both villains were arrested, with Alex revealing that Marnie would be brought to trial, while Alex revealed that she herself received a sentence for Ashley's death, but no jail time.

This was quite the rollercoaster ride, and now, the villainesses:

Ashley Forster

As I stated before, Don't Let Him Find You aired on Lifetime Movie Network on Black Friday, November 29, 2024, taking us fans back to when LMN premieres used to hit Fridays. The film featured, among others, Ella Frazee as the insane Ashley Forster, who we only see in flashbacks, of course. The main scene that revealed everything was short and sweet, but even so, it told us all about Ashley's true demeanor. Ashley was absolutely insane, and to be honest, she had to be a bit on the misogynistic side. She finds out about Justin being in love with Alex/Rose, and Ashley's response is to believe that they were sleeping together without any proof, and later try to kill her own sister, while not having any anger at Justin. Yikes.

Frazee played out Ashley's madwoman persona perfectly in that brief scene; it was absolutely delightful to watch for sure. I wouldn't mind seeing Ella Frazee as a Lifetime villainess again, this time in a larger spotlight. This was not Ella Frazee's first Lifetime film; her overall film debut was in 2020's Mile High Escorts, and she'll be in another Lifetime film, Snatched from the Crib, along side one of her co-stars from this film, Brittney Q. Hill.

Check out Ashley Forster's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!

Marnie Forster

One of the main reasons why I was looking forward to this movie was Sallie Glaner as Marnie Forster. I knew from the poster that she would be evil, and she totally delivered in that climax for sure. Another villainous matriarch role for Glaner, whose delicious performance as the evil Mrs. Tubbs in last year's The Hand that Robs the Cradle is the stuff of legends. Marnie was pretty much established as a privileged and entitled villainess before she made her climactic appearance, and we see that in spades as she pretty much rules everyone around her. The intimidating presence that Marnie gave was just amazing.

Unsurprisingly, Sallie Glaner hit this out of the park. I don't have to hope that she'll play villainesses on Lifetime, because she will. I can see her doing this evil thing at least once or twice more on Lifetime, because she nails it so well. Performances like this are why she's been in five Lifetime movies, and we will definitely see her in more to come.

Check out Marnie Forster's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!

So those two are the only actual villainesses in this film, but remember, I said "Hat Trick" in my title:

Alex McDowell

I have to mention this dream sequence in the film. So early in the film, Alex is shown telling Charlie that she couldn't go to a sleepover because of the publicity she was getting for saving that woman, adding that she wanted to remain hidden. She added that she brought scary things to Charlie's life and that the whole family could be followed, but all of that results in Robert arguing with Alex, while Charlie pleaded with her parents to stop fighting. In a shocking moment, Alex picked up a knife and raised it with intent on killing Robert, with Charlie witnessing Alex's heel turn before Alex wakes up from her harrowing nightmare.

In the film, Brianna Cohen played central protagonist Alex McDowell (aka Rose Forster), but this sequence was a huge treat. Even though the sequence was an alternate setting, this marked the first time that Brianna Cohen was playing a Lifetime villainess in any capacity. It was brief, but delicious. Alex's crazed expression in the capture was a clear indication that she was on the verge of snapping in that dream sequence, and when Alex turned heel and wielded that knife, it was absolutely golden! Cohen's done so many Lifetime films, but she has yet to play a villainess in one. This is a start; here's hoping it leads to actual evil roles.

Check out Alex McDowell's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki, and click here for the clip of the sequence!

If you like this story and review, click the heart and the subscribe button, and feel free to comment below! Tips and pledges would be greatly appreciated, but only if you want to do so!