★ 5 / 10
Could've been worse...and should've been so much better
mfoxartist
Based on the true story of the "murder of Joanne Witt" (look that phrase up and you can read all about it), this film was reasonably performed but had enough…
Based on the true story of the "murder of Joanne Witt" (look that phrase up and you can read all about it), this film was reasonably performed but had enough flaws in the characters' behavior, the acting, and the script to deflate it to just average.
The mother, Joanne -- blandly played by Kelly Sullivan -- was no saint by any stretch. She beat her daughter up when she was five years old (in the movie they changed it to 10), losing her for six months to foster care, and they had a contentious relationship their entire lives. In real life Joanne was emotionally unbalanced, had a violent streak, and was a controlling, awful mother, and that was only halfway portrayed in the movie.
The daughter, Tylar, inherited her mother's personality, except it was all twice as severe for her...and maybe more than that. Leigha Sinnott was decent in the role but couldn't raise that sense of simmering fury and twisted passion that Tylar's character required. In real life she was 14 when this happened, and Leigha seems every bit of 17 here...which only makes you wonder why she did what she did because in a year she would've been free of her mother anyway. The filmmakers should've kept her 14 and it all would've been more plausible (and more frightening).
Tylar's boyfriend, Boston, was deceptively crazy and harbored a violent nature that was actually a little hard to believe as the character was portrayed. Played by Zacharay Roozen, he wasn't terrible, but he was the weakest of the three leading characters, considering the frenzied savagery he eventually unleashed. But the weakest link in the movie was the neighbor Val, played by Alicia Ziegler, who was just a painful stereotype and a terribly self-righteous friend of Joanne.
There were a couple of fairly demented scenes (including a wild sex-and-blood scene that was all too brief) towards the end that elevated the movie, but it still basically fell flat because it didn't capture the demented perversion of the characters and seething hatred between mother and daughter. Still, it's worth a single watch, mostly because it's based on a true story and doesn't veer wildly off base.
Tylar Witt was paroled in August, 2022 at the age of 28 and is a free woman today. Boston got life without parole...and he deserved it.
★ 6 / 10
Bad Seed
billcr12
I looked up the details on the real life case before watching this film and the most glaring mistake is the casting of a woman who is much older than the girl…
I looked up the details on the real life case before watching this film and the most glaring mistake is the casting of a woman who is much older than the girl of fourteen who was the instigator of the vicious stabbing death of her mother.
She appears nude on a few occasions and I guess that TubiTv is the heir apparent to Lifetime with more adult content.
The mother here explains to her best friend that when her daughter was small she was out of control and that she smacked the kid and CPS was called. The single mom lost custody for a few months but were reuninted. Somehow, the financially challenged mother ended up living in a spectacular house in a gated community.
The girl hooks up with a college kid of nineteen and he ends up living with her and mom under the guise that he will be her math tutor.
Mom finds a diary with explicit sexual content and all hell breaks loose. The modern day Romeo and Juliet will be together forever.
The murder scene is sickening as the young lovers get it on after stabbing dear old mom to death. The horny pair have been removed from society, at least for a while.
The closing credits give a disturbing sentence for the girl.
The cast if fine but the music is overwhelming and unnecessary.
80%
AUDIENCE
5.1/10
167
