Doomsday Mom (2021 TV Movie) User Reviews

A Respectful, Fictionalized Account, of a Terrible Tragedy

[vnssyndrome89 · 5/10 · 17 January 2024]

DOOMSDAY MOM (TV Movie 2021) 5 out of 10 stars Time to Read: 1:20

BASIC PLOT: Based on a true story, this is the dramatization of the brutal murders of 4 innocent people, Tylee Ryan (Astrid Trueman), JJ Vallow (Aias Dalman), Charles Vallow (nm6003252Don McLeod) and Tammy Daybell (Jennifer-Juniper Angeli), by three of the most selfish people on earth, Lori Vallow (Lauren Lee Smith), Alex Cox (Joshua Hinkson) and Chad Daybell (Marc Blucas). Caught in a maniacal religious ferver, Chad Daybell convinced Lori Vallow her husband, and two children were taken over by demons, and were now zombies, walking the earth. She convinced her brother, Alex Cox, to kill them. Chad Daybell then killed his wife, so he and Lori could be together. They wed in Hawaii, two weeks after Tammy Daybell's death. Authorities were alerted, and justice prevailed, but at a great cost.

WHAT WORKS: *VERY WELL CAST This movie is very well acted, with very difficult material. It is a low budget, made-for-tv movie, but it is written well, and in a respectful way, by Stephen Tolkin.

*THE WAY THE DEATHS ARE PORTRAYED IS NOT EXPLOITATIVE This movie handles the deaths, and the grief of the grandparents, Larry Woodcock (Patrick Duffy) and Kay Woodcock (Linda Purl) in a non-exploitative way. If this way my family's story, I wouldn't be offended by this dramatization.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *SOME OF THE LIGHTING IS OFF I say this about lots of these Lifetime movies, but this one was especially bad. Almost all of the lighting of the faces in this movie is TERRIBLE! It's like everyone is always in shadow. I don't know what they were thinking.

*LAUREN LEE SMITH MISPRONOUNCES THE NAME OF A KEY MORMON FIGURE Lauren Lee Smith mispronounces the name of the Angel Moroni, she pronounces it like macaroni, when it should have the hard I sound at the end, not the ee sound. As a lifelong Mormon, Lori Vallow would know how to pronounce such an influential figure in the Mormon Church.

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: *I would recommend this movie to those who like fictionalized stories, that are based on true crime. It is fairly well done, considering it's budget, and handled in a respectful way. It is, for the most part, true to the facts of the story. I would recommend it.

CLOSING NOTES: *This is a made-for-tv movie, please keep that in mind before you watch\rate it. TV movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.

*I have no connection to the film, or production in ANY way. This review was NOT written in full, or in part, by a bot. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews (less trolls and fanboys), and better entertainment. Hope I helped you out.

Match Meets Gasoline

[lavatch · 5/10 · 17 January 2023]

When Lori Vallow met Chad Daybell, the sparks began to fly instantly. Chad convinced Lori that she was a god and was destined to lead the chosen few to the Second Coming. She was led to believe that she had lived multiple ancient lives that included her presence at the Crucifixion. In nine of her previous lives, she was married to Chad. Lori was the gasoline and Chad was the match that ignited her.

The absolute nuttiness of the scheming Chad and Lori played out like a horror film. In the context of a monotheistic religion, it made no sense for Chad to tell Lori that she was a "god." It was also part of their mission to eliminate those who were not among the elect, but went over to the "dark" side.

The body count piles up so high that one needs a scorecard. Lori's sleazy brother Alex, an erstwhile stand-up comic, was her personal hit man. Even the incestuous Greek mythological brother-and-sister team of Electra and Orestes had a more wholesome relationship than Lori and Alex.

The most horrific part of the film was the decision of Lori to have her two lovely children, Tylee and J. J., murdered. In the twisted mind of Lori, the two kids had "gone dark." The desperate grandparents were the first to identify something amiss with Lori and the kids. But their efforts were too little, too late.

While the production values and the acting were good, the film was far too depressing. At the beginning, Lori's character was intriguing in her genuine belief in the impending end of days. But by the end of the film, her apocalyptic fervor had completely disappeared and was replaced only with an unhinged psychopathic mindset. After her arrest, she believed that her blue-eyed lawyer was an angel to whom she gave birth.

It was no longer a matter of learning to "spread your wings" for Lori Vallow. She had reached a point where she was not even deemed competent to stand trial. Perhaps the lawyer was indeed an angel in disguise.

Lori Vallow was all smoke and mirrors and she always took care of number one (1) herself

[Ed-Shullivan · 6/10 · 22 February 2022]

No doubt Lori Vallow, mother of two murdered children and widow of two murdered ex husbands requires being under psychiatric care but as whacky as she must be in believing that the end of the world is near with her apocalyptic views, why did she not just "off" herself and not her second husband and/or her two (2) children? The film did a relatively good job packing in as much factual information as possible in the 88 minutes of this made for TV movie, and even with the footnote that much of the film was fictional (to avoid lawsuits) we the audience get a very good idea of the mental and physical cruelty Lori Vallow and her third husband author Chad Daybill, inflicted on the people they were supposed to love.

Chad Daybill murdered his own wife to complete their wedding bliss. In my humble opinion Lori Vallow Daybill was in love with her self and the lust that Chad Daybill, her third husband shared with one another.

It is a story worth watching. I give it a decent 6 out of 10 IMDB rating.

Worse than horror

[nightroses · 3/10 · 17 August 2021]

This is a truly disturbing film based on actual events of Lori Vallow. No horror film is as horrible and scary as this. A woman that was a happy wife and mother at the beginning, popular and with lots going for her, becomes infatuated by a book, then meets the author, named Chad, a charismatic and weird character who knocks her off her feet. Then once she becomes closer to this Chad, listening to everything he says, she turns dark and loses everything, including the lives of her family. What's more creepy and wasn't really highlighted much is that Chad also influenced other family members into murdering people they once loved because Chad told them they were demons. This is a frightening story because it's about brainwashing and turning people from loving happy individuals into cold blooded drones.

Disturbing

[tinybandit · 7/10 · 7 October 2021]

The movie was good - the acting more than decent for much of the cast but wow - did Lauren Lee play her part well! She truly came off as "way out there" and believing everything that she was told about her husband and children going "dark". Well played but disturbing that it's a true story.

I am a bit confused about Kay's character. Is she Charles sister or parent? In the beginning, during the interviews, she said "when my brother Charles met Lori".... but JJ called them Mamaw & Papaw (which I believe is a term for grandparents) and then when they reported the children missing, the news reports say "their grandparents are looking for the publics help in finding them". Just a hiccup in the script I guess but overall a good movie that left me shaking my head, wondering how anyone could do that to their loved ones. But I know it happens, all too often.

"You are nothing less than a god"

[evening1 · 5/10 · 22 April 2023]

This taken-from-the-headlines tale of twisted love is entertaining enough. But I'd like to view it as an allegory, because no one's been convicted in the case.

Here we have the story of a man and woman struck by "Godfather"-like thunder-lust upon laying eyes on each other. They share premonitions about the end of days, and a belief that good folks can devastatingly pass to the "dark" side, to their peril.

The movie suggests a string of tragic victims in the case, from a spouse to kids, while the couple blithely honeymoons in Hawai'i.

"Doomsday" raises questions about how we can protect the vulnerably innocent, but answers elude. How very chilling and sad!

BS!!

[Pnkprinses309 · 1/10 · 17 April 2022]

Sooooooooo religious and has a w woman savior complex trying to make Lori look like a victim! She WASNT!! She and her husband Chad were MURDERERS and CRAZY. They knew what they were doing and that it was wrong. They lied to police and went on vacation. Then Lori planned with her brother to kill Charles and used his money to buy stuff. Probably also killed Tammy (chads ex). This is just such bs trying to make it look like she was devout and innocent. Plus all the bs Christians around her acting all innocent.