Top 10 Lifetime Villainesses of 2025 (Part 2: The Top 5)

2025 was kind of a special year for Lifetime movies. I mentioned in Part 1 that we saw angles that were very new to the Lifetime film scene, but we also saw a good amount of star power as well in thrillers. In thrillers! Lifetime usually saves the big guns for holiday films and true crime retellings, but we saw some interesting names appear for Lifetime this year. Some of them even played villainesses. The casting in some films has given this fan hope for future films, but that's another few stories.

Here we have the latter half of the year-end top 10 list, also known as the top five. This was pretty easy to put together; the entire list was, but I had my top five pretty much pegged, and here it is:

5. Piper Reynaud (Wife Stalker)

Once upon a time, there was a show on Fox known as Empire, and that show was my religion on Wednesdays back then. So imagine my happiness when I see a Lifetime movie with not one, but two actors from that show. The film introduced us to lawyer Leo Drake, his two children, and Joanna Doyle, who filled the void left by the loss of Leo's wife (the mother of his children). All is well until Piper Reynaud enters the picture,and Leo is smitten with her. This does not please Joanna, as she feels that Piper's destroying their family with her presence.

Joanna looks into Piper, and it turns out that her real name was Pamela Rayfield, and she had been married twice--one husband died mysteriously, and another is comatose due to a hiking accident. So Joanna had the evidence she needed to prove how dangerous Piper is, and she actually snuck into Leo's home to "rescue" the kids. This is where the twist comes. Joanna is not Leo's wife. She never was his second wife. She was a crazed woman who was obsessed with Leo. I mentioned the death of Leo's first wife. Joanna caused that; drowned her in the tub. It all came out after she was arrested. But that wasn't the only twist.

Piper received a call from Joanna, who informed Piper about what she had discovered. In a huge twist, Piper turned heel and shockingly revealed that she had plans to actually kill Leo's son, Aaron, until they made peace with each other, though she stated that she would kill Aaron if he ever crossed her again. Wife Stalker aired on March 29, and the film featured Grace Byers as the evil Piper Reynaud, and Piper's 11th hour heel turn has me badly wanting a sequel, especially after that wham scene where a horrified Leo heard everything. Oh, and regarding Leo, he was played by Grace Byers' real life husband, Trai Byers, with that relationship blossoming when they were on Empire together. Grace Byers was amazing in this, and that last moment where she reveals herself as a deadly psychopath was truly epic! Again, we need a sequel!

4. Sheryl Anderson (My Sister's Double Life)

On June 29, Lifetime aired My Sister's Double Life, which centered on reporter Chelsy Ellis, whose younger sister, Hayley Ellis, is missing. We see Hayley being held prisoner somewhere, but we don't know where quite yet. Meanwhile, Chelsy's quest sees her briefly encounter Sheryl, a park ranger, who only claims that Hayley had "loose morals" and was messing around with married men. Chelsy finds a photo of her sister with Tim Anderson, and that leads to a confrontation where Tim is revealed to be Hayley's lover. The affair resulted in a pregnancy, and it was Tim who abducted Hayley, but it's clear he didn't work alone.

To the surprise of no one, the culprit holding Hayley prisoner is none other than Sheryl, who is revealed to be Tim's wife. Turns out, they had trouble having children, but Tim was able to knock up Hayley. Sheryl sent harassing messages to Hayley upon finding out, and the abduction was so Sheryl could have the child she wanted. Sheryl was wonderfully played by Anna Hopkins, who has done Lifetime films before, but this was her first evil role. Loved Sheryl's reveal, and I truly loved how well Hopkins acted out Sheryl's insanity, rage, and her demented demeanor. A truly maniacal villainess played out in such grand fashion!

3. Elizabeth Fenwick (Killing the Competition)

When I learned about this movie, I literally beamed with joy. Melissa Joan Hart, who will always be Sabrina Spellman to me, finally playing a Lifetime film villainess after appearing in several holiday and true crime films for the channel. It was on March 1 that we were treated to Killing the Competition, which starred Hart as Elizabeth Fenwick, a former high school cheerleader who pretty much forces her daughter, Grace, to follow in her footsteps. We quickly see what Elizabeth's all about. She attempts to sabotage Grace's relationship with her boyfriend, Tyler, on numerous occasions, which actually included trying to run Tyler off the road, and even trying to convince Grace that Tyler is seeing Hannah (one of Grace's squad teammates) behind her back.

Tyler and Hannah were actually working to Grace a solo spot, but when Grace tells Elizabeth this, Elizabeth claims that Grace is being set up for failure and reminds her of her mistakes. Grace tells Elizabeth not to attend the game, leading to Elizabeth actually plotting to kill Tyler. She finds Hannah instead and abducts her, and we see Elizabeth repeating her delusions and ranting about how her life didn't turn out how she wanted. Here's the telling part. Elizabeth says Grace is all she has. Hannah reminds Elizabeth she has a son. Elizabeth totally dismisses this. Hart absolutely nailed this role so much; she portrayed Elizabeth's narcissism and insanity to perfection. However, I do have one thing to say: MJH did her part, she took on the villainous Lifetime role. It's Jenna Leigh Green's (Libby from Sabrina) turn; she needs to do the same.

2. Melody Cambridge (The Perfect Killer)

On February 28, one day before Melissa Joan Hart's villainous turn on Lifetime, The Perfect Killer aired on LMN, and centered on Charlie Gibson, whose father, Jack Gibson, was shot to death after he and his wife, Mila, received a distress call. She's consoled by Melody Cambridge; Charlie's godmother, and she later meets her birth mother, Alyssa Price. We later see an investigation that sees a lot of suspects, but the culprit is close to home for Charlie.

Mila (Charlie's stepmother) did face some suspicion, but Tim Robinson's look into things found himself stabbed to death by the true killer, his own ex-wife, Melody. The climax revealed that Melody and Jack were seeing each other, and while Melody divorced Tim to be with Jack, there was yet to be a reciprocation from Jack, as he was still with Mila. Melody shot and killed Jack, and she killed Tim because he found the gun used in the murder. It all came out in a thrilling climax, which saw Melody threaten to harm Mila, only to be arrested, all while claiming innocence that never existed.

Lora Burke played madwoman Melody Cambridge in this film, and she was absolutely epic! This isn't Burke's first villainous role, but it's her first time playing one who is truly evil, and Melody was pure evil. She kills her lover in cold blood out of scorn, then she knocks off her ex-husband, and attempts to set up Mila, all will playing the doting and caring godmother. Holy Toledo! Burke nailed this so well, I really enjoyed Melody's unhinged demeanor.

1. Liz Tassone (Dancing With a Murderer)

Proof that the playoffs and amazing villainesses go hand-in-hand; on October 24, the World Series began, and all the while, Lifetime Movie Network aired Dancing With a Murderer, which gave us 2025's best villainess in the form of Liz Tassone. Liz is the childhood best friend of Nora Evans, and a gala event that Liz hosted saw another woman, Angela Thornton, murdered. Despite this, Liz decided to host another gala, which saw Nora's mother being attacked.

Liz voices remorse for hosting another event, but as we see later on, it's an act. Liz had harbored intense jealousy of Nora, and while it was revealed that Liz killed Angela, her true target was Nora. It continued when she attacked Margaret, and with Daniel, Nora's ex, being suspected, Liz visited Daniel, drugged him and eliminated him. Lauren Pike played the absolute hell out of evil murderess Liz Tassone, and she really shined when Liz put on those sinister black gloves as part of her heel turn. Liz was maniacal, bloodthirsty, and flat out fiendish, and Pike absolutely showed out in this role. Pike also played villainess Kristen Robins in 2024's Blackmail, Lies, and Murder, but she outshined that role big time in this film. Liz Tassone was truly 2025's best Lifetime villainess by far!

* * *

2025's crop of Lifetime villainesses was iconic! It was a great year for Lifetime villainesses, and I truly hope that 2026 somehow tops this! What a year! Thank you for reading my list! Click the heart if you liked it, and click subscribe if you want more of my stories! Tips and pledges are also welcomed, but only if you want to do so!

Check out the links below!