Film Review: The Stranger in My Home

Based on the novel by Adele Parks, The Stranger in My Home practically feels built by AI and manufactured to perfectly fit the Lifetime Channel mold. Yet, there is an irresistible quality to this silly movie’s charms, especially as it discreetly lets loose twist after twist in quiet ease. Perhaps One Tree Hill‘s Sophia Bush in the lead role garners a fair bit of goodwill, but what truly will speak to audiences is the ridiculous script from screenwriter Chris Siverston (The Image of You, Margaux). Siverston’s impulsive character choices and absurd storylines are perfectly accompanied by an overly stylized direction from Jeff Fisher. Between non-stop split screen and moody lighting, Fisher perfectly emulates a trashy 80s romp, for better or worse. Pop the wine and bring out the popcorn for The Stranger in My Home, a campy drama with the bones of a trashy Lifetime thriller.

“Can you pinpoint the exact moment you lost your innocence?” Fifteen-year-old Katie (Amiah Miller, War for the Planet of the Apes, Lights Out) certainly can. It’s when her life flipped from cheer practice and high school drama to familial secrets, stalkers, and kidnapping. Taking from the age-old soap opera trope, Katie was actually switched at birth! Tom (Chris Carmack, Shark Night 3D, Just My Luck) randomly shows up at the doorstep of Katie’s parents—bestselling author, Jeff (Chris Johnson, Peppermint, 47 Meters Down), and his stay-at-home obsessive wife, Ali (Bush)—with the distressing news that their daughter may carry a cancer gene. Not only that, but her biological parents are actually Tom and his recently-deceased wife, Bella; Tom insists that his own fifteen-year-old daughter, Liv (Grace Aiello Antczak, Boston Strangler), actually belongs to Jeff and Ali.

This would send anyone into a tailspin, but Jeff and Ali take the whole ordeal remarkably well. In fact, most reactions here generally feel completely removed from how a normal person would react. Tom begins inserting himself even more into their lives, engaging in deep conversations with Ali about her own troubled past. Meanwhile, a mysterious stranger in a coat ominously lurks, unpacking power tools, rope, and handcuffs. Who could the stranger be? The opening credits are surprisingly great, with ultra close ups on the major cast members who could potentially be this figure, transposed over an eerie red background. If only the movie itself made more of an effort to be a whodunnit, it would be less obvious once the eventual reveal does happen. By that point, The Stranger in My Home spells out every little detail for the audience as if it was not already painfully obvious.

For her part, Sophia Bush gives Ali everything. She outacts everyone else in the cast, which is less of an issue since she essentially leads the movie. In the final act, Bush gets to let loose pure mama bear energy. That whole section puts the rest to shame, finally delivering on both stakes and action. We take no time to really examine the juxtaposition of Liv and Katie in their separate lives. Why not take the angle to focus on these two girls, rather than a potential random stalker? At least Ali stays interesting, because the less said about Jeff the better. Was there actually any point to him being an author?

Far too abruptly, the bookend of Katie’s innocence speech comes about. For just a moment, it feels like maybe a reel has been lost. But no: this is just the nature of the beast when it comes to these types of films. They are very surface level entertaining, then you change the channel and forget they ever existed. Fans of Bush will no doubt adore her in this, and there’s just enough thriller DNA in the blood to make for a decent flick. Packed with WTF moments and a future laundry-folding movie destiny, The Stranger in My Home is hilariously crazy enough to be worthy of a watch.

Pull on a nondescript raincoat and try to hide from The Stranger in My Home, lurking to Digital on Tuesday, June 24th.