Villainess Review: Megan Everett (Malicious Mind Games)

Lifetime Movie Club is amazing on its own, but what makes it even more epic is the release of their original films. It started in the late spring of 2021 with Dead in the Water, and in the year that has passed, LMC has released four other original films, with the latest one being Malicious Mind Games. This film centers on Isabel Richardson, who works security at night at the Regent Theater, and is often visited by her acquaintance--a woman who often brings coffee for Isabel. Isabel meets the woman again, and we get a name for her: Megan Everett, with the meeting being due to the fact that their children---Megan's son, Jonathan, and Isabel's daughter, Rosaline--are not only schoolmates, they're also dating.

Isabel notices that Megan was acting differently towards her, but didn't think much of it. While working at night, she suddenly sees Megan being attacked and murdered in her apartment, but when Isabel contacts the police, they head to the apartment to see...Megan...alive and well. Megan continued to serve as a friend for Isabel, who continues to notice odd behavior from her, as she is immensely different from the woman who she frequently talked to. Isabel later witnessed Megan arguing with Cameron (Isabel's boss), but she is later knocked out afterwards, though she continued to sense something was off about Megan.

When Cameron is brutally attacked and left for dead, Isabel's suspicions increase, though Megan continued her charming and friendly demeanor, which included a conversation where Megan vented about being pressured by her adoptive parents, as well as her divorce. Isabel catches Megan being approached by a private investigator, who referred to Megan as Celine Russell, though Megan brushed him away. Even so, the red flags continue to build up, with a big one involving Rosaline, as she ends up hospitalized due to her shellfish allergy acting up. Isabel brings in Henry Cho (Rosaline's teacher and Isabel's budding love interest) to further look into Megan, but Henry ends up attacked and left in a coma.

So it's clear that Megan's evil, and the confirmation comes in the film's climax, as after seeing that Rosaline wasn't in her room, Isabel's attempt to call her daughter results in Megan talking to her and revealing that she had Rosaline held captive at the theater. After Isabel arrived, Megan knocked her out and tied her up just as she did to Rosaline, and she later planned to kill both mother and daughter by setting the theater on fire. Isabel mentioned the name Celine Russell once again, and this time, the mention revealed that Celine was actually Megan's long lost twin sister. Megan confirmed the revelation by stating that the sisters were adopted by different families, and it was Isabel who inadvertently let her know that Celine was in the same city, as it was Celine who frequently visited Isabel at night.

The sisters reunited happily, but that changed when Celine talked about her success (she had become a doctor), and it made Megan bitter and jealous. After venting about Celine having everything that she didn't have, Megan stated that the breaking point was Celine talking about how lucky she was, and it was at that point that Megan attacked and strangled Celine to death. Knowing that Isabel saw Celine's murder, Megan attempted to get Isabel to back away, doing so by attacking Cameron and Henry, as well as activate Rosaline's allergy. After venting about her ex-husband and her "annoying" son, Jonathan appeared and confronted his mother regarding her evil actions, with the distraction allowing Isabel to break free and successfully take down Megan just as the police arrived. Megan was arrested, but not before claiming that she didn't mean to kill her sister.

Malicious Mind Games was released on Lifetime Movie Club on June 24, 2022, and featured Laura Ault in a dual role as main villainess Megan Everett, as well as Megan's twin sister/murder victim Celine Russell. This was quite a twisted evil twin story, and it's mainly due to Megan's motive. Usually the evil twin kills their sibling to replace them, but in the case of Megan, her motive was jealousy and bitterness, with no mention of intentionally attempting to pose as Celine (with the exception of a brief blip with the PI). Even so, Megan was quite ruthless in her attempt to cover up her murderous role, and while she made no attempts to harm her son in her quest, Megan's actions showed that her list of offenses just happened to include a lack of concern for Jonathan's feelings. After all, one of Megan's attempted victims was Jonathan's girlfriend, and she did refer to her son as "annoying." Definitely not "Mother of the Year" behavior.

Laura Ault's performance as Megan Everett was stellar; she acted out Megan's sociopathic and deranged demeanor very well, and the same can be said when it came to acting out Megan's friendly demeanor. Malicious Mind Games marked Ault's third Lifetime film; she also appeared in 2019's Fatal Getaway and 2020's Dying for Motherhood.

If you like this story and review, click the heart, and click the subscribe button for more of my stories! Tips and pledges would be immensely appreciated, but only if you want to do so!

Check out Megan Everett's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!