'Revenge Delivered' Review: Olunike Adeliyi is a treat to watch in Lifetime film that forces too much suspense
Dr Victoria Brooks (Olunike Adeliyi) in Lifetime’s 'Revenge Delivered' is an extremely well-regarded obstetrician who is happily married and has a beautiful home. However, she has her share of troubles. One is her daughter Noelle (Mary Antonini) who tried to commit suicide a year ago and who her mother fears, lives in her shadow. Not that her mother makes much of an effort to help Noelle feel better about herself, from what we can see. Noelle, who is also a doctor in training, then joins her mother to train under her in the maternity ward. She is joined by two other young residents — Clare and Luna.
It is around this time that strange incidents begin to occur and Dr Brooks suspects that someone is out to get her. From her car being vandalized to strange notes appearing, it becomes clear that someone is out to get Dr Brooks.
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We get to see that several years ago, Dr Brooks made a decision to save a baby and not its mother, based on the mother's pleas. The baby’s father deeply resented both the child and Dr Brooks for it. Dr Brooks catches what she thinks is a glimpse of the father in question. This is on one night when she is out for dinner but her car gets vandalized by an unknown perpetrator. Suspicion also falls on the two new residents in training who have joined the program with Noelle. While Luna bears a tattoo similar to the mother who Dr Brooks couldn't save, Clare's invasive questions start to ring alarm bells for Dr Brooks.
While Adeliyi has the calm demeanor that one would associate with medical professionals, particularly in the business of bringing babies into the world, her performance is sometimes a little too calm. At one point a colleague asks her if she is okay and says that she has been on the edge of late. If that’s what looking on the edge looks like, sign us up! Having said that, Olunike brings a certain grace to the screen and what we wouldn't give to have her wardrobe.
Antonini, who plays Noelle, simply has too much joie de vivre to play the anxious overwhelmed character we're supposed to believe she is. Also perhaps due to an extremely lackluster plot, there are far too many forced 'thrilling' moments. After all what else would explain a woman taking the stairwell down into the basement rather than just waiting for the lift, especially when you suspect that you're being stalked.
It's almost painfully obvious who the perpetrator is in the film. Spoiler ahead — it's Clare, who is the daughter of the woman Dr Brooks couldn't save. Her father always deeply resented her for her mother's death and therefore made her life a living hell. Clare then spends the rest of her life trying to figure out a way to get back at Dr Brooks. One would think she'd have a little gratitude for the doctor who saved her, but well, there wouldn't be much of a movie if she did. But while the plot is largely predictable, what we didn't see coming was the twist at the end which shows that there's plenty of room for a sequel of 'Revenge Delivered'.
So if you enjoy 'Revenge Delivered', which premieres on Lifetime on Sunday, April 18, at 8/7c, there's more where that came from.
