Villainess Review: Bridget Stone (Death Down the Aisle)
A wedding abruptly ends with a cold blooded murder in this thrilling 2024 Lifetime film
I've watched these amazing Lifetime thrillers for over twenty years, and while I have marveled over how they've evolved over the years, there's one thing I learned a number of years ago: when it comes to villainesses, the best ones come during playoff time. By that, I mean, Lifetime films that air during the playoffs of any sport seem to deliver the most amazing villainesses, and in my recent experiences, the real good ones come between April and June (Stanley Cup and NBA Playoff time). Even the month of March (the month before it all starts) gives us some good ones.
This instance is no different. We were treated to an amazing film titled, Death Down the Aisle, and in this film, a wedding takes place at the very beginning. Malorie Banks and Jon Stone are the happy couple set to tie the knot, and during the festivities, we see Jon greeted by his daughter, Bridget, but afterwards, we see a somewhat chilly encounter between Jon and Pamela Stone, the latter being not only Malorie's mother, but also Jon's former business partner. The split wasn't that amicable. Hmmm.
As for Malorie, she's encountered by her ex-husband, Ryan Newton, who is begging her to take him back. Methinks that split was also rocky. Hmmm. Jon toasts to his upcoming nuptials, and the wedding takes place. However, just as the "I do"s are about to be said, tragedy happens. Jon collapses, and leaves this world. Of course, this is Lifetime, and there's always a proverbial polecat in the henhouse. And in this case, it's a murderous one: strychnine was found in Jon's system.
Jon's body isn't the only one that drops, sadly. Malorie's close friend, Francesca Morris, is also murdered; we see an abrupt break after a hooded figure threatens Francesca in her home with a knife, but it's later confirmed that Francesca's gone. Regarding suspects, there's Amy Lewis, who worked at Jon's firm and was promoted, but the main one seems to be Pamela, not only because of the acrimonious business breakup between her and Jon, but also because--out of nowhere--strychnine is found in Pamela's office.
Regarding Malorie, the film actually reveals that the wedding was a formality--they had actually eloped at some point prior to the events, and as we also see, Malorie's pregnant. Unfortunately, that doesn't prevent the aforementioned culprit from actually shoving Malorie down a flight of stairs in a murderous attempt. Even after this, the veil of suspicion was covering Pamela quite a bit, and it increased with a scene of Pamela actually heading to Bridget's house (doing so after checking to see if Malorie was asleep), donning black gloves and a seemingly sinister demeanor. Lifetime can deliver a good tease, can they?
As we see, all Pamela wanted to do was discuss Jon's funeral with Bridget, but shortly afterwards, Pamela sees something shocking in Bridget's jewelry box: Malorie's phone. Pamela is later confronted by Bridget, who attempts Pamela from leaving, which resulted in the conclusion that Bridget was behind the attack on Malorie. Once Malorie was at the door, Bridget warned Pamela to keep quiet, and she approached her stepmother and attempted to get her to leave, but Pamela's cries for help prevented things. Malorie entered and checked on her mother, only to end up dealing with a knife-wielding Bridget right after that.
So everything was revealed: Bridget actually killed her own father, but her true target was Malorie. She voiced her immense hatred of Malorie, blaming her for coming between father and daughter, so on the day of the wedding, Bridget ordered the champagne and poisoned Malorie's intended glass with strychnine. Jon took the glass himself because Malorie was pregnant, resulting in his demise, and as for Francesca, that was also Bridget's doing. As the madwoman revealed, Francesca was seen with the housekeeper near Bridget's location, and Bridget couldn't take any chances; she feared that Francesca had known about Bridget's evil actions. Bridget made her attempt to kill Malorie, only for Ryan to arrive and stop her, leading to a scuffle that saw Bridget stabbed with her own knife. Bridget again stated that she hated Malorie and wanted Jon, but as the film's ending revealed, she did survive and was in jail, all while the remaining family had their latest get-together, which included Malorie's new baby.
Death Down the Aisle aired on Lifetime on June 13, 2024 (the same day as Game Three of the Stanley Cup Final), and featured Anna Kopacek as the maniacal and evil Bridget Stone. This film was Kopacek's very first acting role, and she really nailed it in this villainous role. I learned about this movie months prior and when I saw that Jayne Heitmeyer was in it, I was pulling for her to be the main villainess, but she ended up being a fantastic red herring in this film. I was immensely impressed with Bridget, because we don't really see a lot of evil stepdaughters in these stories, and even though I adore seeing evil stepmothers, this was a nice and welcome twist.
The film doesn't really reveal the complete depths of Bridget's mental state, but one has to believe that she was spoiled by Jon for pretty much all of her life. Then Malorie ends the picture, and that leads to Bridget going off the rails. Bridget was absolutely insane and drunk on her own psychotic rage. She wanted to destroy anyone who played a role in what she saw was a wedge driven between herself and Jon, and she didn't care who she hurt. In the process, Bridget killed her own father in her maniacal quest, and all that did was increase her reasons to fire misplaced blame at Malorie. The moment when Bridget snarled over the fact that she got away from her was Bridget as her most deranged, and regarding Kopacek, she portrayed Bridget's insanity to absolute perfection. I loved Bridget and I loved Kopacek's performance. Lifetime, please cast her in more movies.
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About the Creator
Clyde E. Dawkins
I'm a big sports fan, especially hockey, and I've been a fan of villainesses since I was eight! My favorite shows are The Simpsons and Family Guy, etc.
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Comments (2)
LOVE THIS!
Bridget Stone is one absolutely insane villainess, which you successfully nailed down well. I too hope that her actress, Anna Kopacek, does more Lifetime movies.