'Trapped By My Father's Killer' Review: Seething interrogation into a crime that unearths reality and deception
Major spoilers for 'Trapped By My Father's Killer'
The worst of the punishments will be to hold someone guilty for a crime that they did not even commit. Lifetime’s action-packed drama action thriller 'Trapped By My Father's Killer' is a seething interrogation into a crime that leads to framing a person as a killer while inadvertently letting the real murderers run scott-free. The film excels in bringing up some cliffhangers that the viewers do not have any idea about or even remotely expect. Its witty plot not only tricks the on-screen characters about their judgments but even plays with the viewer's perception.
The film starts with Diana(Lindy Booth) finding that the killer of his father and fiance Brian (Mike Tarp) has escaped from prison. The killer named Louis(Craig Olejnik) has come to confront her. However, the twist in the plot comes when we learn that Louis has not come for revenge, but rather wants Diana to understand that she put an innocent man away in prison. Diana resists the idea at first and tries to escape Louis by calling the cops. However, Louis with all his honesty and conviction tries to make Diana realize that the killer is someone else. He retorts to Diana’s claims saying that the killer is probably Martin(Tomas Chovanec), a family friend who had big shares in her father’s company. Further, Louis raises certain pivotal questions related to the crime scene and elaborates on how the evidence against him was planted so he could be held guilty. Both Diana and the viewer feel that finally, Martin had a clear motive of greed for money that compels him to make the double murders.
However, when we feel that the deceitful conduct of Martin is finally out, there comes the biggest twist. Diana and Louis find concrete evidence through a footage that shows the killer is someone else, even closer to Diana than what she may think. This turns her reality upside down and even the viewers feel that they were hoodwinked into quickly making assumptions earlier.
One can say that the film had maintained a fine balance in being an action thriller and a drama. The movie has a stellar cast who do justice to their complex characters. This is especially true for Louis and Diana’s conspicuous relationship that changes from apathy to empathy for one another. A close look at Louis’s role will startle us about the bluff he was being when he tried to act as a vile to Diana but is in reality a sensitive man. When he is done with putting all sham, we see Louis and Diana even saving one another from her own family members.
In the end, one would feel a bit unsettled by the fact that how a bright and intelligent Diana could not rationally see reality. For many years she appeared to be prey to a psychological condition called cognitive dissonances. This is probably why she perceived the reality based on mere judgments, not facts, and had contradicting views when reality differed from her beliefs. At one point we feel a bit distrustful of the law system who held an innocent man guilty. But what earns this movie brownie points is how intelligently its narrative has been crafted to finally serve justice. The movie is a go-to for its unpredictable plot. Hence we would not like to kill the suspense for you revealing the identity of the murderer and recommend watching it.
'Trapped By My Father's Killer' releases on October 23 at 8 pm ET on Lifetime Movie Network (LMN).