Lifetime
With the recent boom of classic TV series getting reboots and revivals thanks to the advent of streaming, which has given some of those old shows new fan bases and new life while drawing the original fans back into the fold, it seems like it was only a matter of time before some network cashed in with a TV movie showing the pitfalls of being a star with a rabid fan base. Of course that network was going to be Lifetime, and they have stepped up with the aptly titled I Am Your Biggest Fan (at least that’s how it was promoted, while the on-screen title reads I’m Your Biggest Fan).
I Am Your Biggest Fan stars Meghan Carrasquillo as former child star Delilah Douglas from the classic sitcom From the Hart, who is now an acting teacher who has put the past far behind her. But her present life becomes complicated when her students discover her former career and the show has been selected to get the revival treatment, with the original cast, thanks to its recent streaming success. The only problem is that Delilah wants no part of the show, despite the pleas from her former manager and former co-star Cody. While dodging requests to reconsider, Delilah finds herself without transportation as her car is in the shop, and the barista at the local coffee shop, Ellen (Lauren Cole), offers to give her a ride home (even though Delilah just said she was doing her best to not let people know where she lives). All is well but Delilah begins getting harassed online by the fans of the show because she won’t change her mind, to the point of getting death threats hand delivered to her home, as well as having a rock thrown through her window with another threatening note attached. At school, her mother shows up out of the blue — flashbacks have revealed a contentious relationship as Miranda is depicted as the ‘Stage Mother from Hell’ — and Delilah knowns she isn’t just there to check on her well-being. In fact, while Miranda is present, Delilah discovers her car has been completely vandalized with graffiti and a slashed tire, assuming this was the work of her mother. Feeling totally unsafe, and with the police advising her to not stay in her home, Miranda finds a helping hand again in Ellen, who offers to let her stay at her home nearby. Delilah only planned to be there until her car was repaired, which worked for Ellen who was going to housesit for her parents about 40 minutes away. But Delilah’s situation grows more dire so Ellen invites her to come with her to the home out in the countryside … which Delilah soon learns has no cell phone reception or Wifi.
Feeling that it would be good to get off the grid for a bit, Delilah and Ellen develop a nice friendship … until Ellen reveals a big surprise for Delilah — a recreation of the family living room from From the Hart. Delilah is shocked when she finds a box of fan magazines and Ellen’s closet all about her — Ellen gave the impression she had no idea who Delilah was — but is even more shocked when Ellen jabs her in the neck with a needle, knocking her out long enough for Ellen to shackle her feet. When Delilah wakes up, Ellen begins calling her by her character name, totally in her own fantasy world where she and her favorite TV character are besties, threatening Delilah to never break the fantasy. Delilah plays along for her own safety, and does try a few escape attempts but is always thwarted, getting to the point where she seems to be developing a bit of Stockholm Syndrome, making Ellen’s fantasy a reality. On the outside world, Cody has grown concerned that no one has heard from Delilah for about two weeks and does some investigating of his own, visiting the coffee shop where Ellen acts like she has no idea who he is or who the woman is he’s asking about. Luckily the other barista, who is completely weirded out by Ellen because she seems to think he’s interested in her, tells Cody outside the shop that Ellen is lying and she knows exactly who Delilah is. Cody tries to get the police to take Ellen seriously as a suspect, and he sits outside the coffee shop in his car all day waiting for Ellen to leave. When she does, he follows her home but is he too late to bring Delilah back to reality, or does he actually have some secrets of his own?
Lifetime
I Am Your Biggest Fan is a wildly entertaining TV movie that tackles the subject of obsessive fandom. It’s certainly not the first movie to do so (check out the cult 1981 thriller The Fan for another take on obsession), but the idea of setting it at a time when classic shows are being revived left and right lends it a sense of originality. It also helps that an actress familiar with the life of a child star is directing — Haylie Duff. Duff has lived the life so she nails the whole vibe of a family sitcom. The only confusing part about it is the original sitcom as shown in the movie seems like it was from the 1980s, but Delilah says it was cancelled 15 years ago so that would have put the show in the early 2000s. That juxtaposition makes things feel a bit off, but it’s a good thriller nonetheless. The story by Emily Golden really does a nice job of building the tension, showing how Ellen can switch between personalities but always just a little bit on the edge, and giving us some surprising reveals (no spoilers). The only real complaint about the script, and the thing that took it from a three-star to a two-star review, is that the ending is much too rushed and the fate of one particular character is never revealed, not to mention the complete personality change that Delilah’s mother has in the final scene. One less escape attempt and more work on the ending would have benefited the story. As it stands, it feels a bit unfinished. And we won’t talk about the ludicrous moment when Delilah happens to find a bobby pin in her sitcom living room prison and uses it to unlock her handcuffs and ankle shackles!
The cast is mostly excellent. Colton Tapp does a good job of trying to woo Delilah into joining the reboot but then makes it clear later on that he’s only doing it for his career, because without Delilah on board his character will get less screen time as the two were a couple on the show (although his co-star who played the sister on the show keeps pushing him to suggest the two of them get together, to which he replies, ‘the fans would riot’). So his attempts to save Delilah may have ulterior motives. Denise Gossett is fine as Miranda, someone who is also clearly more interested in what Delilah’s involvement in the show could do for her, and she’s such an awful person that her turnabout at the end will make your head spin.
The movie, however, belongs to Carrasquillo and Cole. Carrasquillo really plays Delilah as a normal, average person who just wants to live her life and forget her past. She does her best to hide her frustration with everyone pressuring her to join the show, and that perhaps makes her more vulnerable than she would be with Ellen. She does such a good job of seeming to fall in line with Ellen’s fantasy world that by the end, you really aren’t sure if she’s going to stay with Ellen or finally make her escape. (Honestly — and sorry for the minor spoiler — but it would have been more satisfying if she had stayed with Ellen and lived in that long ago sitcom with her.) Cole is terrific as Ellen (despite her occasionally unintelligible dialogue), first coming off as just a sweet and kind person helping out someone she sees on the regular at the coffee shop, and becoming more and more unhinged the longer she holds Delilah captive … while still being that genial person at work. It’s quite chilling to think that someone could switch their personality like that but it certainly happens in the real world. It is truly a masterful performance. This seems to be her first major role, so hopefully Hollywood will take notice and find some work for this talented young woman.
Overall, I Am Your Biggest Fan builds a nice tension and sense of danger all throughout the film, and even though it’s let down a bit by the rushed ending, it’s still one of the better Lifetime movies and well worth a watch.
I Am Your Biggest Fan has a run time of 1 hour 27 minutes, and is rated TV-14.