‘Deadly Transaction’ Review: Perfect mix of drama and suspense makes Lifetime movie a compelling watch
Spoilers for 'Deadly Transaction'
School-going teenagers Erica (Kayla Wallace) and Riley (Larissa Albuquerque) are childhood best friends, who often spend large chunks of money to meet their lavish needs. Lifetime’s latest crime-thriller opens with a scene that shows the besties investing a fair amount of time deciding between which restaurant to eat at and where to go next to pick a car of Erica’s choice.
‘Deadly Transaction’ doesn’t take long to establish their identities as criminals who are involved in counterfeiting bills using the printing device in their art room after school hours. Although the movie premises on a mind-boggling theme, what comes across as absurd is the fact that neither of them knows what is the penalty for indulging in a crime of that degree and the only troubling thought on their mind is to switch from making $100 to $20 bills as that would seem less conspicuous.
While Erica does it for the thrill of it, Riley reluctantly joins her best friend only to make ends meet and help her foster aunt, who is struggling with her finances. To serve their individual motives, the duo continues to produce counterfeit bills in large amounts and conveniently launder it for clean money at banks and foreign exchange services.
Just when the girls think there is nothing that could come in their way of a perfect life and millionaire dreams, their art teacher Tim chances upon a counterfeit bill in his class and soon realizes what is keeping Erica and Riley back in school for long hours. Tim, who is desperately trying to pay his debts, which has put his life on the line, resorts to blackmailing the best friends.
On being confronted, Erica switches sides and joins hands with Tim to threaten Riley by kidnapping her boyfriend Oliver. They demand a ransom from Riley, unaware of the intervention of detectives, who are tracking their every move.
‘Deadly Transaction’ ends on an interesting note, introducing an unexpected twist in the climax. The movie manages to have you at the edge of your seats as you'll wait with bated breath all along to witness the fate of every character.
The Lifetime movie which deserves credits for striking a perfect balance between drama and suspense makes for an interesting watch to catch up over the weekend, undeniably. Although the teenage girls’ crime-ridden lives are revealed at the beginning of the movie itself, a series of factors associated with each of the roles makes you want to stay until the last. The movie does justice to its title and the actors to their characters.
‘Deadly Transaction’ premiered on June 20 on Lifetime.
