Death in the Passage Bride Mallory (Jess Brown(Pictured) was wearing a blood-splattered wedding dress.
This is because the author Audrey C. Murray The story goes back to earlier in the day. On her wedding day, Mallory meets John (David Alexander) Then the wedding guests are introduced, many of whom are family members, business associates from John's law firm, or both.
Most of these relationships aren't revealed until after John's death (this is not a spoiler; his death Heavy Telegram from the Director Roxane BoisvertIt was only after the murder that Death in the Passage I'm primarily interested in investigating misleads, impatient gossipers, mass callers, etc.
Let's get back to the story. Mallory has grown up and now has a daughter, Bridget.Anna Kopaczek) appears to be about the same age as her. John works for Stone Legal Services with his brother Zach (Scott Gibson), and Mallory's mother Pamela (Jane Heitmeyer) and Zach's younger girlfriend, Amy (Gracie Callahan).
Before the wedding, each of these characters hands John a drink: Zach a scotch, Amy a coffee, Pamela an energy drink. There's also a mysterious bottle of champagne delivered to Mallory's room, which John drinks. Boisvert zooms in on each one, letting the audience follow each character. So it's no surprise when John collapses mid-ceremony, spitting blood on Mallory's dress, then quickly dies.
Not surprisingly, it turns out that just about everyone had a motive for wanting him dead: Pamela had recently quit her job because John hadn't checked her pay, and Zach was pushing for a merger with rival Miles (Colin Price) John was unsure and was worried that the dead man thought Amy was only after his money and John would not support her promotion.
There are too many suspects, and Mallory's ex-husband Ryan (Frank Fiola), a recovering drug addict. It emerged that the two had had a fight just weeks before John's death, and even John's own daughter ended up on the list.
The only one who has no motive to kill John is Mallory's best friend Francesca (Janae AlmoganA woman (Matthew McGregor) working at a wedding venue thinks she's seen something suspicious, and naturally, she's killed before the end of the first act.
The following a lot Character conversations about the company, the merger, Mallory and John's relationship, and how everyone is lying to everyone else. The problem is that 90% of these conversations take place over the phone or text, and very few of them are interesting. Murray's script fails to develop the characters beyond their motivations, which means the characters are so shallow that most of the plot developments aren't particularly compelling.
With so many characters and intertwining relationships, it's hard to zero in on anyone and sympathize with them. Mallory is clearly meant to be the main character, and as with most Lifetime movies, she takes on the role of investigator, despite the presence of Detective Levin.Christian Paul) around it.
But even she is alienated from the audience: We only see a few seconds of her relationship with John, so when secrets they've been hiding from their friends and family are revealed later in the film, they don't have any emotional resonance — one secret in particular is so unexpected that it seems to exist only as another layer of misdirection to drag out the mystery for another 20 minutes.
Unfortunately, none of the characters have much to offer, so none of the performances stand out. Kopaczek and Callahan look so similar, even have the same style, that it's hard to tell them apart. A further problem with the casting is that the age difference between Mallory and John, and Zach and Amy, is never mentioned (nor is it mentioned that Bridget's father is John). This may be an ageist remark, but even the fact that Pamela never says anything about her daughter marrying her boss, especially when it comes to the fact that she's not even aware of it, is a bit of a stretch. Death in the Passage It is regularly implied that one or more characters are women in it for the money.
Perhaps the biggest problem with the film is that it all revolves around the company's business dealings, none of which are compelling or interesting (hilariously, it's never even revealed what law they're dealing with!) And without more distinctive characters, there's very little to build the story around.
Unfortunately, after a strong opening, Death in the Passage The film plods along, with phone calls between characters and endless lies. The list of suspects is long, but the film's energy stagnates in the middle and slows down at the climax. Death in the Passage Come back to life.
This could have easily been called a “business call,” but that's not a very good thing.
Death in the Passage It premiered on Lifetime on Thursday, June 13th.
