‘All My Husband's Wives’ aka ‘Rule of 3’ Review: A whodunit murder-mystery with twists that blow your mind
Spoilers for ‘All My Husband's Wives’ aka ‘Rule of 3’
No woman could love a cheater and not pay the price for it. Lifetime's ‘All My Husband's Wives’ spells that and more with a classic whodunit plot. Crafted with one too many twists to keep you hooked, the 90-minute movie is a spine-chiller sprinkled with a dash of glamor and thrill. Also known as 'Rule of 3', it stars actors Kelly Rutherford, Kate Corbett and Erin Karpluk in lead roles and begins with Alison Whitford (Erin Karpluk) and her husband Dominick (Trevor Hayes), who are still in the honeymoon phase of their marriage.
Barely 15 minutes into the movie, irony blends with a mystery that will make you put your detective hat on. Dominick bids goodbye to his loving wife for a work trip. Once he gets into the cab, he slips off his wedding ring, buys flowers, and tells the cab driver to move in the opposite direction. The fact that he would be cheating on his wife scarcely sinks in when in another jaw-dropping twist, he is hit by a car and dies on the spot.
Alison’s world is turned upside down when cops tell her about Dominick's car accident. Soon, it is revealed that he was murdered and unbelievable secrets about his life come to light. It soon becomes clear that Alison was not the only one mourning Dominick, and that his death was only the beginning of a larger plan. As the hidden skeletons in the closet pop out, she soon finds out that her perfect husband was not so perfect.
With his two other wives — a seemingly psychotic woman Marla Mitchell (Kate Corbett) and cold, uninviting Cheryl (Kelly Rutherford) — the story gets more complicated. Dominick's reality comes as a shock. Talk about living a double life! This man clearly had some talent for managing a triple life, didn't he?
The three women seek help and then turn against each other at different junctions. While Marla and Alison become allies, CheryI is not interested in the "sympathetic widows' club" with her husband's "cheating mistresses". Detective Gabriel Strickland (Joris Jarsky) investigates the case and holds all three women as suspects. Meanwhile, Alison goes to the bank and finds all the wives’ passports, $30,000, credit cards, and a Swiss bank account with four million dollars. Alison then seeks help from her ex-finance, Graham (Brett Donahue), who is a lawyer.
The mourning season barely lasts for a day as the cat-and-mouse chase begins to claim the money. The question is: Which of the three wives deserve it? Should the money be sliced equally among all? Marla tries to convince them to split it into three but Cheryl wants the whole pie for herself since she was the first wife, married for nine years to Dominick.
As the movie comes to a close, the three women find out there was a fourth one. A red-headed woman lands at the bank and manages to withdraw one million dollars from his account. The detective shows the footage and leaves Alison, Marla and Cheryl off the hook. While Marla commits herself to a mental institution, the three meet again and go to Dominick's grave to pour his favorite scotch, where the headstone reads he was a cheat!
Performances by the leading ladies touch the right notes as they live up to their characters. Directed by Caroline Labrèche and written by James Phillips, the film's splendid cinematography and wondrous direction will enthrall and enrapture you throughout the movie. From a steamy tape recording, a pregnancy scare, a goon with a scary threat and a gunshot during a morning walk, the plot thickens as the women blackmail each other!
The climax, however, will leave your heart beating and prove all your theories wrong. What happens at the end? Well, we'll just repeat the final dialogue of the movie: "I could tell you, but then I will have to kill you!" A sensational thriller-drama, ‘All My Husband's Wives’ deserves a watch, and is perfect for a weekend binge with a glass of wine!
Get your gang and wrack your head to solve the mystery.
