Playdate (2012 TV Movie) User Reviews

Kept me watching till the end

[Jet_Streamin · 5/10 · 27 February 2013]

No Spoilers.

The basic premise of Playdate is one that has been used, tried and tested in at least a dozen movies i can name off the top of my head.

ie'Family move in next door and attract curiosity from there neighbours by odd or suspicious behavior.'

Because these types of films are not new to the genre, there storyline can be stale and formulaic.

However with good performances and a solid screenplay, the antagonist of this movie is ambiguous throughout which leaves us wondering who to trust.

I find that in poorly made movies, the actors respond to situations differently to the way i would or the way reality would dictate.(making it unbelievable) The poorer the movie, the more unfitting and ridiculous the actors respond.

Basing the movie on the unbelievability of there performance I would give it a 5.5/10, although that's not standard for the whole cast.

The end of the movie leaves a few unanswered questions, which is fine as long as it doesn't leave holes in the story, this one doesn't, but i find a bit of resolve would help the conclusion.

Tries to be different, but ultimately fails

[Wizard-8 · 4/10 · 22 July 2018]

I think that it's safe to say that most, if not all of us viewers of "Playdate", have seen this basic premise many times before. So the movie does not get any points for originality of its premise. However, the movie does get points for trying very hard to be a more realistic than usual take on this premise. Throughout most of the movie, I kept saying to myself, "Yes, I can believe this" to what the characters were saying and doing. However, apparently in the quest to make this movie feel more realistic, the filmmakers forgot to make the drama compelling. The movie is really slow, really padded out, and is desperately missing enough thrills to engage the viewer. This is capped by a climax and ending that has enough head-scratching details to frustrate viewers significantly, and is definitely not a satisfying payoff. Actually, after watching the movie and thinking about it, I realized that there were additional questions brought up in the movie that weren't answered as well. So I can't recommend this movie despite it having some positive and fresh features.

"Playdate": Competent Horror Flick not Appointment Entertainment

[jtncsmistad · 5/10 · 10 July 2018]

It's not that "Playdate" is a bad flick. It's just so plain vanilla horror/thriller stock stuff that it makes watching paint dry seem downright rousing. The only mildly intriguing dynamic here is that evil resides mere steps away next door in this cookie-cutter L.A. burb.

So how well ya know your neighbors there, huh?

Decent build up, terrible plot

[LilxSaint · 2/10 · 3 September 2013]

I went into this movie with fairly low expectations, but in the end I was left extremely disappointed.

The build up of this movie was slow but thanks to the acting it kept me interested. It's a recognisable situation, family gets new neighbours & don't know if they're trustworthy. We all worry who our kids play with at some point. During the movie you're left wondering who's to trust and who's not. So far, an OK movie experience. The slow build up made me look forward to the ending, in suspense. Then comes the plot. Which is so incredibly weak & not answering many questions -if any- that left me feeling i wasted my time. Personally I absolutely can't stand movies to end with this many unanswered questions. It feels as though the writer had some good ideas for a story but was suddenly out of inspiration when it came to the end. Also, some things are just not realistic. Without giving any spoilers away, the apparent ease at which an APB is warranted left me astonished. There's plenty of stuff in the last part of the movie that had me scratching my head, which I can't get into without giving spoilers away. I'm sure you'll know what I mean when you've seen it.

Huge disappointment for me this one. 2/10.

So Many Mysterious Questions, So Few Answers

[clintstevens · 1/10 · 8 July 2018]

I will start with the most mysterious question; how can reviewers consider this a good movie???

OK, now for some spoiler questions. Why would a mother whose daughter has apparently been kidnapped by the neighbor be more concerned about a box of trinkets she finds in the psycho neighbors' son's bedroom, even though they are evidence of his past serial killings?

How did the cop who is as dumb as a box of rocks ever become a detective?

Why would the family not question how their pet dog ended up dead at their front door?

Where did the next door boys get the bruises on their bodies; their father, their mother or from each other?

Why would the ex-husband sneak around the home and when caught tell the neighbors that his son was taken from him and their child would be next? And what news report would show the dead husband hanging in the closet for all to see on TV?

Who does all the psychotic medicine in the bathroom belong to, the neighbor lady or her nutjob son?

Why would the mother next door pick up the daughter from school when it wasn't her turn, take her to her flower shop, wrap up knives and saws, apologize to the daughter and then take her home?

Why wouldn't the whacko son look under the bed while searching for the neighbor with a big wrench (although he did check under after the woman went to another room)?

Why would the husband still want to be the neighborhood boy's friend after the boy pinned him under the car?

Why does the little girl have only two expressions, puzzlement and sadness, and still want to be the younger boy's friend, even after he manhandles her and threatens to push her down the stairs?

And the biggest mysterious question...who owns the Prius that goes from one driveway to the other and completely disappears in one scene?

plot leaves out valuable info

[mfivejude-1 · 2/10 · 15 July 2018]

That is one hour of my life I will never get back .no explanation of why she has an enforced vacation.or why her colleague calls her Doctor,why the neighbor kidnaps daughter and brings her to "what? and the weird faces and eyerolling by titus looking for Emily was right out of Tippie hedron in the birds,never mind why he discards a loaded gun and prefers to use a tool.

How old were the writers of this movie?

[vmalast · 1/10 · 20 July 2018]

Typical "Lifetime" style movie thriller fluff, very generic no surprises very PG13. Saw this on Netflix (Netflix is really going downhill fast). Perhaps I'm getting a bit sensitive in my old age but, how can a writer of the script have a character compare restoring a muscle car to "his Vietnam"? I had to rewind to make sure I heard it right. How old are the writers? Did they finish high school? Honestly, clean your litter box, organize your socks, alphabetize your spices rather than watch this movie.

Not fully developed

[brittanydiane · 5/10 · 17 July 2018]

This movie had a good concept, but it felt like as if they just wanted to end it quickly. They talk about the neighbors characters background, but only a little and has left the viewer to decipher the rest. I get that some movies do that, but they could've added more depth to the movie and it would've came out a lot better. It's a good movie, but you'll finish it feeling frustrated because they didn't go into detail about the characters just some snapshots which don't even explain much. I think my rating is fair at 5/10 stars because it's not terrible, but it's not the best.

"Boys. . .terrible creations, aren't we?"

[doug_park2001 · 7/10 · 6 April 2014]

First off, the cover is a bit misleading and may attract the wrong audience for this film while scaring away the right one. At first glance, I thought PLAYDATE would be one of them zombie horror flicks, but it's actually a Lifetime film which, though truly suspenseful and disturbing in places with some good jump scenes, has very little in the way of schlocky gore and nothing in the way of supernatural elements.

Anyway, the Valentines, a nice, patently normal L.A. family, get some new neighbors, single mom Tamara Moor and her two sons, Titus and Billy. The Valentines try to be neighborly, Tamara does the same, and young Olive Valentine finds a much-needed friend in Billy. The Moors, however, are trying to hide some very dark family secrets. . .

I wasn't expecting much from PLAYDATE, but it proved to be something of a pleasant surprise. It has the usual stilted Lifetime directions with melodramatic instrumentals constantly playing in the background. Still, it also has better acting and MUCH livelier, loaded dialogue than most made-for-TV affairs. {Wow, is Lifetime actually maturing?!} With a few nice new flourishes, the plot-line pretty much follows the formula. There aren't many really big surprises, but there are several good smaller ones. If you want to place bets on how PLAYDATE ends up, the chances are that none of you will be absolutely right on the money even if some of you come fairly close. Despite the various oversimplifications, blank spots, and unlikelihoods, suspense thriller fans who aren't too picky should enjoy and may even really love PLAYDATE.

Wow that was not a good movie

[korskjaer · 2/10 · 5 February 2013]

I found it really hard to watch to the end.

I can't believe I just watched a whole movie that did not contain a single element of surprise.

Everyone is acting so unnatural and so stupid in this movie...

The mother lets her daughter play with a psycho kid The daughter doesn't seem to mind that the psycho kid tries to kill her The father doesn't worry about anything at all, not even his own life as he decides to remain laying under a suspended car even though there is a crazy killer obviously wanting to kill him.

Even the dog eats a plant and dies. My god!

Sorry but I just can't recommend watching this.

A lot of Fun

[jloner · 8/10 · 29 April 2012]

One of those classic mystery suspense movies. Lifetime's always been a guilty pleasure of mine and this one is right up my alley. Everything about this movie was creepy specifically the mother of the child. I never knew what she was going to do and expected a full freak out scene from her in the end. I would love to know more about what happened to the characters after the story ended. Did Billy stay with the Mom? Were they arrested for anything? I would like to have seen more of Titus actual crime from the beginning, but i get the basic jist of it. Good performances, directing, and a fun story. I have many neighbors and they are all equally crazy lol. If you like these crime thrillers, it's definitely one to check out.

Kept you guessing

[karlaanderic-41128 · 7/10 · 26 November 2018]

This movie kept you wondering who the "dad guy" was. The only complaint I have with this movie is the ending. It seemed rushed and ended to soon. I would like to have seen how the characters dealt with the aftermath of what happens

Was that anxiety or annoyance?

[essem · 4/10 · 3 June 2013]

I only watched this because I like Richard Ruccolo, who plays the dad. The dude is capable of much more than the suburban husband role he's stuck in here (and in Rita Rocks, although that was enjoyable). At least he showed physical courage when it was called for; that was nice to see.

I can't tell whether my response to the drawn out slow plot was, as likely intended, anxiety or, more likely, annoyance.

The "nice" family's reactions to the new neighbors, once things start to get odder and odder, are completely non-credible. Bad script. People, even nice white people in the suburbs, don't let their niceness overcome their sense of danger when their only child is involved.

Twas nice to see Mr Ruccolo, even here, but if he were not in the flick, I'd have turned it off after ten minutes.

Why did I watch this?

[ivegonemod · 15 May 2012]

I can't for the life of me figure out why I continued to watch this even after I knew for sure it was a waste of time. While I wouldn't actually say that it was ever going good, it wasn't all that bad for a little while. The female lead, I don't even remember her name was just so annoying! It seemed like she was looking for trouble most of the time, when there wasn't even any real reason to get so carried away. I hate characters who are just so convinced that that "know" something. Why did she keep allowing her daughter to play with Billy even when she was convinced the family was off? Billy as well as most of the characters were so one dimensional, I found myself unable to connect with or care about any of them, but the younger son just seemed to do things for no reason. The daughter would complain about him and go right back to playing with him with a smile on her face. I guess she didn't find his rough behavior all that odd, how many times did this girl have to get pushed? The whole scene with the guy stalking the house and then busting in and fighting with the husband was just stupid, the way the next scenes played out were even dumber. The detective was a total idiot, and the story was just awkward. Finally we learn that the older son is a nut bag, at this point I couldn't have cared one iota less. When he went from good guy to bad guy all we saw was a stupid sly grin on his face. That grin was so annoying. I wish everyone had been killed.

red herring

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 14 July 2018]

A boy is driven off a cliff. Emily Valentine (Marguerite Moreau) leaves work to be a stay-at-home mom for her husband Brian (Richard Ruccolo) and daughter Olive (Natalie Alyn Lind). A new family moves in next door. It's single mom Tamara Moor (Abby Brammell) with her sons Titus and Billy. Olive has playdates with Billy but he seems have a dark side. Titus lurks around and spends his time looking out his bedroom window. A man attacks Emily's family at home. Tamara claims that he's her violent ex-husband. When that man is killed later in a motel room, she claims to not know him. Olive gets hurt while playing with Billy. The family dog shows up dead on their doorstep.

This has the potential of a good horror but as a TV movie, it struggles to be more. It has no style. The dark tension comes mostly from the constant dread of a creepy child. Creepy children is a great horror trope. Otherwise, this does not have much of a punch. I like Moreau but the suburban mom character is limited. The acting is mostly fine. I don't buy the father's cavalier attitude towards his daughter getting rough-housed by a boy. It would make sense for two boys but a girl is different. That's not to say anything is wrong with Natalie Alyn Lind. She's great. In addition, there is a trick to a red herring. It needs to be revealed before revealing the truth. This red herring is somewhat anti-climatic and it loses its power. It could have been a great reveal if it's done earlier. This limited TV horror struggles for mediocrity and almost makes it.

Okay movie, but annoying character

[tamrabtzl · 3/10 · 22 November 2018]

Honestly the movie itself isn't bad. It's a slow build up, but entertaining little mystery. However, it's annoying that this family was just trying to start over and it's the annoying neighbor that feels the need to go through their stuff and was really the one that caused all the drama. If the neighbor would have minded her business then her family would have been fine. Neighbor was Nosy and pushy the entire movie.

Yawn fest

[Chxface · 1/10 · 15 July 2018]

Please do not waste 1 1/2 hours of your life on this crappy flick. Acting was atrocious, script was lame and the overall execution of the movie could have been better if it was made by high school kids.

Questionable script

[diademvilches · 2/10 · 17 July 2018]

At first I really enjoyed it because it's a bit thrilling, I kept watching because I wanted to know who the suspect is. But it's really easy to guess as the movie kept going. I was wondering why they never showed the killers face though? The husband also doesn't apologize to his wife for not believing her and questions her as if she was the one who's crazy. The ending is a bit stupid, I wish there was more explanation on the boys sickness, or where their father was and how he turned out that way. It's a one time watch movie, easily forgettable.

WE LOVE FLOWERS, BUT WE PLUCK THEM

[nogodnomasters · 5/10 · 27 May 2019]

Emily (Marguerite Moreau) just quit her job to be an at home mom. Dad (Richard Ruccolo) spends all his time restoring a 64 Mustang, but doesn't know a lot about cars. They also have a daughter (Natalie Alyn Lind) Olive. A family moves next door that gives Emily a high creep factor. They are apparently connected to the opening scene of a boy dieing.

Single mom Tamara (Abby Brammell) is very protective of her two sons Billy (Aidan Potter) and Titus (Julien Dean Lacroix). As issues invade Emily's family she begins snooping.

The whole film is a mystery thriller. You know something is wrong with the family and with only three people in the family you really don't rack your brains trying to figure things out before they reveal things at the one hour mark. The film builds up for about 10 minutes of thrills at the end. Acting is about what you would expect- passable.

This is a made for Lifetime TV movie which aired April 28, 2012 at 8PM. It is being recycled at Redbox.

Horrible.

[conneldog · 3/10 · 3 May 2019]

Bad ending, bad acting, bad story. Not worth the watch at all.

Good movie

[jenaewilliams00568 · 10/10 · 14 June 2019]

Be careful if you're sensitive to child abuse and animal death

You Can Pick You Friends, but You Can't Pick Your Neighbors

[wes-connors · 4/10 · 28 December 2015]

While the credits roll, a young boy is chased to the edge of a cliff. He falls over the edge and looks dead...

Two years later, we meet Southern California brunette Marguerite Moreau (as Emilie). She quits her job to spend more time with husband Richard Ruccolo (as Brian Valentine), their young daughter Natalie Lind (as Olive) and "Hunter" the family pooch. A new family moves in next door, from Denver. They are blonde single mom Abby (as Tamara) and her two sons, Julien Lacroix and Aidan Potter (as Titus and Billy Moor). This new family sends off creepy vibes, which irk Ms. Moreau. Her little girl has a "first official crush" on young rough-playing Potter. Moreau notices her neighbors have bruises and a man caught trespassing demands the return of his son...

Of the cast, devoted mother Brammell is most engagingly mysterious. The younger children are more silly than intriguing; most parents would separate the mismatched pair before they separated themselves. Older son Lacroix uses his hair to play the moody, distant teenager. Director Andrew C. Erin keeps it moving, though. He and his crew effectively uses close-ups to have characters abruptly enter a scene, or has them slither around in the background. By the end of "Playdate" we have a sufficient idea about what has happened, but there are some details which remain too sketchy. Kraig Wenman's original story may have been trimmed. It's not incomplete, just vague.

**** Playdate (2012-04-28) Andrew C. Erin ~ Marguerite Moreau, Abby Brammell, Richard Ruccolo, Julien Lacroix

Victims and good guys are stupid, perps are whacko

[HallmarkMovieBuff · 29 April 2012]

This review is full of spoilers, so if you don't want to read spoilers, stop now.

Not all "Lifetime movies" are bad, but this one is a "perfect" example of why movies of this genre are often frustrating and annoying.

Our heroine (Marguerite Moreau) holds a doctorate, but wanders alone into places she doesn't belong and into obviously dangerous situations, without backup.

Her husband (Richard Ruccolo) remains in a precarious spot he could have easily escaped, even after the movie's whacko starts talking crazy.

Even the detective goes looking for the perp unprotected. Doesn't he own a gun?

The only mystery here is whether the killer is the mother (Abby Brammell) or the son. The mystery is gone in time for us to see the killer's final attempt.

Good actors do their best, but are wasted on a script demanding illogical behavior.

The stars are for the acting or I would give it 0 stars

[stillhopeful-01454 · 3/10 · 13 July 2018]

It has some redeeming qualities but all those are cancelled out by the lame story and horrible editing. The homes are set in such a way that neither front windows can be seen from the other home. Worse, when the Volvo pulls in the driveway before her husband was found under the Mustang, there was a second car in the drive. Then as she gets out of the car, there is no second vehicle. She breaks into the house next door after breaking a window and the detective is at the door. When she talks to him, he never asks how she came by all the evidence she shows him. So many silly mistakes just enhance the difficulty in viewing it as a real thriller.

Uh... what?

[foxtrotmarie · 2/10 · 28 September 2018]

Wait why? Why were any of them like that? Where is the back story? Son 1 is insane so son 2 acts the same way and mom acts like that to protect them but haha fooled you only son 1 was guilty? What happened to son 2 and mom? They literally disappear. Everyone is just smiling and moved on super quick? All sorts of questions absolutely no answers.