Lifetime
Lifetime launches a new film franchise with the first of its ‘Temptations’ movies, titled Desire: A Temptations Story, featuring a couple of pretty big names in the lead roles … although try to find any information about the movie on IMDb and you’ll come up empty handed (odd for a movie that is launching a franchise).
Desire: A Temptations Story stars Tasha Smith as daytime talk show host Kendra Brown, think Oprah meets Wendy Williams meets Tamron Hall. Kendra is successful enough to require a 24-hour bodyguard, Charlie (Jamall Johnson), although we never know what kind of threats she’s faced to warrant such extreme protection. Sadly, Kendra’s mother is in the very advanced stages of cancer and on Kendra’s last visit, she passes while they are having a heart-to-heart. This devastates Kendra but she continues her show to get through her grief, making it to the winter hiatus and some well deserved R&R. Her production team books her a vacay at an exclusive Canadian resort (and you can see this movie was clearly filmed in the winter with tons of real snow blanketing the landscape, not to mention the visible steam from the actors’ breath while speaking which helps it feel authentic) with Charlie in tow. It may not be clear to Kendra, but it sure is clear to anyone watching that Charlie has the feels for Kendra but he has to keep it professional. While having a meal in the dining hall, Kendra meets another guest, Malcolm Kirkland (Adrian Holmes), who she learns is a doctor in the process of developing a new medication that could be a breakthrough in curing cancer, a subject near to her heart since that’s what took her mother. The two begin a whirlwind courtship at the resort which ends in an impromptu marriage before they leave, much to Charlie’s concern.
Lifetime
Kendra is stunned by Malcolm’s palatial home outside of Chicago, but is slightly disturbed by a folder she finds with copies of magazine covers and articles about her contained within. Was Malcolm stalking her? Turns out she was putting on an act because she shows him her laptop which has an article about him on display. Both well-known people, it was only natural for them to do their due diligence on each other. Kendra returns to work after the hiatus, but things aren’t going so well for Malcolm as the funding for his project has dried up. Kendra offers to help but the amount he needs exceeds even her wealth so she decides to put him on her show to talk about medicine in general, since he can’t actively promote his own project, but he does slip in some information about investors which seems to do the trick. But Charlie can’t let go that something feels off about Malcolm, even though everything he and his PI friend have found show him to be on the up and up. But more digging finds Malcolm is broke, his wife who was working with him on the project died under mysterious circumstances, and the house they live in was inherited from his wife and could actually be foreclosed on because of his debt. Kendra is taken aback and presents this information to Malcolm, but he brushes it off as a hit job from a rival pharmaceutical company … and she believes him. The next morning Malcolm brings Kendra a cup of tea when she wakes up (the weakest looking cup of tea you’ll ever see, even for green tea), and as a viewer you will be screaming ‘Don’t drink it!’ She has a couple of sips and Malcolm does the usual suspicious things of saying ‘Be sure to drink your tea’, but Kendra ends up accidentally spilling half of it but … she’s had enough to make her groggy yet she still makes the decision to drive to work, almost getting into an accident on the way. Charlie and her producer are very worried as they have been calling her since the night before and just as Charlie is about to drive to the house Kendra arrives at the studio, only to find the taping for the day was cancelled and a quick look at her phone shows that Charlie’s and the producer’s numbers have been blocked. The PA on the show also admits that Malcolm offered to pay off her college debt for spying on Kendra (so their meeting was not as casual as it seemed) but now she feels responsible for almost getting Kendra killed. Armed with more information, Kendra is now ready to believe Malcolm is the danger Charlie said he was but is it too late?
Lifetime
For the launch of a new movie series, Lifetime has done a pretty decent job with Desire: A Temptations Story even if Kate Green’s story is hardly original or innovative. It succeeds in not making Kendra so full of herself that she is unwilling to listen to anyone’s concerns about Malcolm. Does she brush them off at first? Sure, because we need some drama but at least she doesn’t spend the entire movie defending Malcolm to Charlie and everyone else. When it becomes clear that Malcolm is Shady McShaderson, Kendra gets actively involved in finding out the truth — with Charlie at her side. The script also makes us question her feelings for Charlie. Is he just an employee? She says he’s part of the family, but does she just consider him a brother figure? Even the film’s ending leaves things a bit ambiguous between them, which is quite a surprise (perhaps a letdown) when you expect a major lip-lock between them. Kendra is also very forgiving because she doesn’t fire the PA who helped set her up (and apparently doesn’t mention anything to the police because she surely would have been charged as a co-conspirator). It’s also pretty obvious that Malcolm is up to no good but he and the story are engaging enough to keep the audience interested. Robert Adetuyi does a nice job with the film’s directing, letting the story flow naturally, and getting the biggest bang for his buck with the film’s locations.
Also aiding the film’s success, even elevating the material are the performances of the three leads. Smith is wonderful as Kendra, bringing her warmth and energy to her role as a talk show host, showing appreciation for her staff and a nice connection with Charlie, and her deep love for her mother. This is a character that could have easily been a ‘bitch on wheels’ putting herself above everyone else, but Smith keeps her grounded and not one to simply jump into suspecting her new husband of ill intentions without speaking to him first (of course that only gets her into more trouble but it seems to be the natural thing to do). Smith just makes Kendra a well-rounded character, someone you probably would want to watch on a daily basis. Adrian Holmes has the tougher job of balancing Malcolm’s outward appearance to Kendra while also letting the viewers see that there is something sinister underneath that facade. At times it’s a bit too obvious, which is inherent in the writing, and it becomes a bit frustrating when Kendra does not see what the audience sees in Malcolm (Charlie does, but we’ll chalk that up to Kendra just being vulnerable after her mother’s death and blindly in love). It’s a solid performance even if Malcolm’s intentions are completely telegraphed in advance. Jamall Johnson is terrific as Charlie, completely devoted to Kendra, obviously wearing his heart on his sleeve but never letting his feelings get in the way of his job. As Charlie can see through Malcolm, Malcolm can see through Charlie and tries to plant the seeds with Kendra that Charlie is jealous of their relationship which is why he’s acting out against Malcolm. But Johnson keeps Charlie’s actions purely professional and even at the end we still don’t know if he sees her as a sister or a romantic partner.
Desire: A Temptations Story doesn’t do anything too innovative with this particular story. It’s something we’ve seen before in other TV movies and series, but the outstanding cast elevates it to something absolutely worth watching. The second film in the series, Fame: A Temptations Story, will premiere on April 26, 2025.
Desire: A Temptations Story has a run time of 1 hour 27 minutes, and is rated TV-14.
Official Trailer | Desire: A Temptations Story
Lifetime