LMN
LMN’s newest ‘Home is Where the Harm Is’ movie … does not take place in anyone’s home — except for the prologue which shows a young woman receiving a strange note and then hearing noises coming from a room upstairs. As she is alone, this is suspicious and when she goes to investigate she finds nothing … until she turns around and gasps.
Cut to a couple of weeks later and besties Nic (Chelsea Gilson) and Keely (Simone Lewis) are preparing for a restaurant critic to review their new all-day brunch diner. Keely, though, is worried about Nic who is still trying to process the disappearance of her sister (the young woman in the prologue). Nic assures her she’s fine and needs to work so she doesn’t just sit around and think about Darcie, but after proudly telling the critic that the bread in her apple pie French toast is made in the diner … he finds a bread bag tag in the food. (So was she lying or she just has bread bag tags for her bread?) Hoping to avoid disaster, Keely sends Nic home and reschedules the interview, explaining to the guy why Nic is so distracted. But Nic can’t just sit around so she goes to her sister’s house (her sister, by the way, cut Nic out of her life about a year earlier), snoops around and finds a note in her hidden diary saying if anyone found the note that she is probably gone. Vic tells Keely about the note, and then the most unhelpful police, who also tells Nic that Darcie’s rent has been paid for the month, so she’ll probably be back. Still thinking things are suspicious, Nic decides to attend a retreat held by the company Darcie has been working for called SweetCo after finding an invitation with a guest registration code.
Arriving at the destination, Nic is greeted by an overly chipper valet who keeps calling her ‘Sweetheart’, and when she checks in she is also met with the ‘Sweetheart’ greeting. A woman named Candace (Chantelle Brizzee) seems to be sniffing Vic out and helps her find her way to her room (which really should not be that difficult since it’s a hotel). At the room, Candace informs Nic, posing as someone named Emily, about the dinner at 8:00 sharp and she must wear the dress CEO Melissa picked out for her. Everything seems normal-ish, and Nic/Emily attends a group event the next day in which the women discuss issues or people who have hurt them with the result being they must cut those offenders out of their lives. Emily is asked to talk about any of her experiences, and she begins to relate how her sister cut her out but changes the story to a brother who died. But Darcie cutting her out of her life is beginning to make sense as Nic begins to realize SweetCo is like an Amway cult (allegedly, but Google it). Candace has a strong dislike for Emily and tries to really hurt her during a self-defense class but Nic already has some skills and embarrasses Candace in front of everyone. Later the leader of the class, Fennell, pulls Emily for a little one-on-one time to just get away from everyone else and they begin to bond. Nic is also introduced to Melissa, who is thrilled to know about her culinary background and asks for some help developing a new line of healthy foods for the company. Nic agrees and offers up an honest opinion about her sugary fruit drinks … and Melissa snaps. She’s used to everyone agreeing with her, but she eventually apologizes. Melissa also tells Emily that Fennell has decided to leave and she is offering Emily her position, dangling wealth in front of her that she will never make with her brunch diner. Nic takes the bait and calls Keely to tell her the news, but Melissa overhears her and things take a drastic turn when she also reveals she knows Emily is Darcie’s sister. Nic finds herself locked in a room in the basement of the building but she’s not the only one down there — Fennell is in the next room. If they don’t get out, they will be ‘re-programmed’ as good little SweetCo soldiers so time is of the essence to make their escape, and it become even more urgent when Fennell reveals she also knows who Nic is and knows where Darcie is as well. Can they all escape in time and thwart Melissa’s plan to … take over the world?
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Get Rich or Die Trying starts out like a standard abduction thriller but quickly evolves into some glorious camp when Nic arrives at the retreat (the valet guy should have had a more prominent role because he was a hoot!). Chelsea Gilson has the difficult job of really playing it straight with all of the other craziness going on around her. She has to modulate her reactions to what she’s seeing, pretending to go along with it all, and slowly being overcome by Melissa’s words and promises of wealth spoken like a true cult leader. It is a nice performance. Jordyn Rolling is wonderful as Melissa Sweet, at times an assured businesswoman, a magnetic personality when speaking to the group, someone intrigued and excited by someone new joining them, but there is always just a hint of something off balance behind her eyes, at times she seems to be forcing herself to hold her emotions in check. Rolling treads a fine line between drama and camp, leading up to a physical altercation with Nic that end with an elbow to her face, and a conclusion that seals her fate that, sadly, the director chose not to film, leaving us to imagine what actually transpired (and it should have been a fairly simple shot, but perhaps there was not time to do it).
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Another standout performance is from Cristiana Barbatelli as Fennell. She comes off as very warm, friendly and caring, and her bonding with Nic/Emily feels genuine (even though we later learn she knew who Nic was all along). Fennell actually has her reasons for sticking so close to Nic, aside from knowing Darcie, and just everything about her feels authentic. She really does prove herself to be the friend Nic (and Darcie) needed, and her performance is lovely. Back on the other end of the camp spectrum is Chantelle Brizzee as Candace, giving all kinds of Aubrey Plaza vibes, never hiding her disdain for Emily (which is actually jealousy) while being totally devoted to Melissa, showing some hurt when it becomes clear she is being pushed aside for Emily. Although the way she looks at Emily when she first arrives also suggests she knew her real identity all along. Brizzee seems to be fully aware of how silly this movie is going to be and plays it all perfectly, lightly tip-toeing on the edge of going too far over-the-top, always managing to steal focus through her facial expressions and body language any time she’s in a scene. She brings a lot of fun to the role. Simone Lewis is also good as Nic’s friend Keely, trying to be supportive as Nic tries to figure out what happened to her sister, trying to rebalance her emotions when she seems to be going too far into left field, and springing into action when she senses Nic is in real danger. Jessy Holterman is also a delight in her small role as River, the first to befriend Emily, appearing to be totally immersed in this cult, while also functioning as one of the women in Melissa’s inner circle. All around terrific performances from everyone.
The screenplay by Adam Davis Beatty, Andrea Geones and Rebecca Kathryn Jones is clever, witty, with just enough drama but more subtle humor that elevates it above the standard ‘abduction of the week’ movie we see on LMN. Todd Leykamp, who is a producer on the wonderful Resident Alien series, makes an assured directorial debut here. He maintains the balance between drama and humor, totally making it all feel like the average LMN thriller, but completely lightening the tone once Nic gets to the retreat. I just wish he’d included that one shot at the end. (Was it filmed? Did LMN cut it out?) It would have been a very satisfying moment. As it stands, his work on Get Rich or Die Trying, along with the story and the performances make this one immensely enjoyable and worth the watch.
Get Rich or Die Trying has a run time of 1 hour 30 minutes, and is rated TV-PG.