I liked it. It's a TV movie so...
Hannah constantly removing her glasses was annoying.
14 Reviews
Keeps your attention
wendilc935 April 2020
lesser Lifetime
SnoopyStyle9 June 2018
Novelist Hannah Ryan (Vanessa Ray) is struggling after getting dumped by her husband for her friend and getting dropped by her publisher. She decides to change course and write a pulp crime serial for internet subscribers. Her first chapter has her character kill her publisher. When her real world former publisher gets killed in the same manner, Hannah initially becomes a suspect and her serial starts to gain success.
This Lifetime TV movie is rather bland. I like Vanessa Ray on Blue Bloods. I don't mind the premise which has some potential. The directing contributes nothing. There is little tension and the intensity flatlines. The danger doesn't seem to be directed at Hannah and she quickly stops being a suspect. There is nothing elevating the drama. It's a nice mystery but the killer makes little sense unless she's a complete non-sense psycho. That lack of logic is really unsatisfying. It skips over a much better logical suspect. This could be good in more competent hands.
This Lifetime TV movie is rather bland. I like Vanessa Ray on Blue Bloods. I don't mind the premise which has some potential. The directing contributes nothing. There is little tension and the intensity flatlines. The danger doesn't seem to be directed at Hannah and she quickly stops being a suspect. There is nothing elevating the drama. It's a nice mystery but the killer makes little sense unless she's a complete non-sense psycho. That lack of logic is really unsatisfying. It skips over a much better logical suspect. This could be good in more competent hands.
Silly and Dumb
rezza619 May 2022
Hallmark but Worsøe!
johanchristiansen6 January 2019
Not bad at all!
jigglymuff30 June 2020
Was surprised by this! It is well-paced and fairly interesting for a TV movie. The lead actress is gorgeous and her character is likeable. The acting was pretty good as well; not over-the-top dramatic like TV movies tend to be.
**
edwagreen29 November 2016
Warning: Spoilers
After seeing this film, I can come away with a new adage: Hell hath no fury as a woman who took away another woman's husband and then finds he is still attracted to his ex-wife.
A woman writing horror murder flicks is soon caught up where what she is writing begins to actually take place in the form of murders regarding the people she is writing about. The first victim is her publisher who had dropped her and then wanted her to ghost write for him.
She becomes intimately involved with the young officer who is investigating the murders. We get a usual variety of suspects to throw us off regarding the identity of the killer. We meet an eerie looking neighbor who has been rejected by our writer as well as another eerie fellow who stalks her after she gave a reading of part of her latest book to a group of people, as well as a woman who she is working with who promotes her chapters and then threatens to get even when our writer wants to accept a lucrative proposition by the company of the murdered publisher.
The film becomes confusing. Sometimes it appears that our writer is committing the murders herself in that she has a double personality and you actually see herself in double. At the beginning, I thought she had a twin sister.
A woman writing horror murder flicks is soon caught up where what she is writing begins to actually take place in the form of murders regarding the people she is writing about. The first victim is her publisher who had dropped her and then wanted her to ghost write for him.
She becomes intimately involved with the young officer who is investigating the murders. We get a usual variety of suspects to throw us off regarding the identity of the killer. We meet an eerie looking neighbor who has been rejected by our writer as well as another eerie fellow who stalks her after she gave a reading of part of her latest book to a group of people, as well as a woman who she is working with who promotes her chapters and then threatens to get even when our writer wants to accept a lucrative proposition by the company of the murdered publisher.
The film becomes confusing. Sometimes it appears that our writer is committing the murders herself in that she has a double personality and you actually see herself in double. At the beginning, I thought she had a twin sister.
A fun bad movie for a no brainer-night in
mariellealien6 November 2018
If all you need is a movie that has some murders and some plot and works with popcorn ,then this is it.
If you need a good movie, with a good plot, excellent dialogue and top notch acting? This movie is not for you.
I enjoyed it, but that is the nicest thing I can say about it.
If you need a good movie, with a good plot, excellent dialogue and top notch acting? This movie is not for you.
I enjoyed it, but that is the nicest thing I can say about it.
Life imitates art
lukegunswell12 March 2018
This movie speaks to me in two different levels. One one hand the main character Hannah is a writer and as an aspiring novelist myself, I'm instantly interested in her. Secondly the murders here are a case of life imitating art which I fine particularly interesting when it comes to crime stories. Hannah is striking it big with her new murder web novel serial but much controversy arises once a copycat killer appears
Viewers will certainly be kept guessing trying to find the killer with all the red herrings thrown about. Admittedly the true killer didnt really get any hints and almost came from nowhere. This movie kept me fully enticed into the plot and I kinda wish it was a bit longer. The only problem had was the character of Jason . Lmn has a habit of making the male characters either controlling psychopaths or idiotic fools who only think with their penises. Jason cheated on Hannah and left her for another woman in the past and forces her to pay alimony ( I find the concept of alimony to be utterly stupid and greedy) even though she's strapped for cash . And he has the audacity to act entitled. If I was Hannah I would've wrote his death in a heart beat.
It's probably me looking too deep into things but I believe a theme of best selling murder is that murder is corruptive. Hannahs publishing company threaten to sue her, her ex husband constantly demands money from her and the killers motive is influenced by money despite being pretty well off. All in all, this was a great murder mystery.
Viewers will certainly be kept guessing trying to find the killer with all the red herrings thrown about. Admittedly the true killer didnt really get any hints and almost came from nowhere. This movie kept me fully enticed into the plot and I kinda wish it was a bit longer. The only problem had was the character of Jason . Lmn has a habit of making the male characters either controlling psychopaths or idiotic fools who only think with their penises. Jason cheated on Hannah and left her for another woman in the past and forces her to pay alimony ( I find the concept of alimony to be utterly stupid and greedy) even though she's strapped for cash . And he has the audacity to act entitled. If I was Hannah I would've wrote his death in a heart beat.
It's probably me looking too deep into things but I believe a theme of best selling murder is that murder is corruptive. Hannahs publishing company threaten to sue her, her ex husband constantly demands money from her and the killers motive is influenced by money despite being pretty well off. All in all, this was a great murder mystery.
all the usual who-dunnit trappings.
ksf-222 August 2021
IMDB has this as Serialized, but on roku, it's Best Selling Murder. Desperately in need of cash after a divorce, Hannah starts publishing a murder series. And it's a hit. It's so much of a hit, that murders start happening in the same style as her own Bloody Mary Chronicles. And the victim is someone she knows! So now she's a suspect. We are offered a couple of obvious possibilities for suspects, so now it's up to us to make our best guess. We don't get clues about who the killer is like on Moidah she Wrote. Now she's dating the cop investigating her (really??), and even HE doesn't know if he can trust her. The acting, the story, and the sound quality are all sub-par, so it's listed as "TV Movie", and a 5.2 rating on imdb, as of today. We just don't like (or believe) ANY of the characters. The writer lets the ex husband walk all over her without question. The ex is a complete taker, and just wants the booty call. The best friend is always telling Hannah what to do. Directed by Michel Poulette, who has lots of film festival awards. Story by Doug Barber and James Phillips. Can skip this one... no big.
Sunday Morning Entertainment
adam_nielsen6 June 2021
As usual, I find myself awake on a Sunday and nothing but "Canadian Content" movies are on. This movie kept me entertained. I actually enjoyed it. As I watched, I was trying to guess the murderer. The acting was OK but the production quality was very Canadian/TV Movie. I HATE when she was brought a Bacon Cheese Burger and Onion Rings, she was filmed eating French Fries! That almost made me turn off the film. Continuity is important people.
Surprisingly entertaining
skoyles12 September 2018
I read about this movie on IMBd when it appeared in our TV listings and subsequently recorded it. Kathryn, my wife, and I watched it this evening. It turned out to be a compelling who-dun-it that not only kept us guessing but, though each of us had picked a different killer, we were both wrong! We watch a lot of mysteries and I can frequently figure out the killer quite early on. Is that because I am great detective? Hardly. It is because I have caught on to the often formulaic writing even in the best of TV series and movies; thus when I say that neither of us twigged to the killer in Best-Selling Murder (aka Serialized) it is high praise indeed. The only problem I had with this imaginative show was the resemblance of the star to the star of Supergirl. Well worth a viewing.
Entertaining
payasoingenioso21 January 2021
"Serialized" is a Winner!
lavatch2 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
The strength of "Serialized" is in the clever screenwriting and the sly humor that was injected into the film every step of the way.
Hannah Ryan has been a successful writer, but, with changing times, her New York publisher has dropped her. While struggling to make her alimony payments to a rascal of an ex-husband and to pay for the cancer treatments of her mother, Hannah links up with a friend to publish a serialized mystery online. The work is an instant success to the degree that a copycat killer emerges to place the people Hannah is writing about in grave danger.
The film demonstrates how a writer of fiction draws upon personal experience her ideas. In the case of Hannah Ryan's "Blood Mary" murder serial story, the filmmakers evoke dramatized scenes in Hannah's imagination, as she is acting out the murder that will be the subject of the next chapter in her serialized novel.
The screenplay provided at least five possible characters who had the motive, means, and opportunity to be the copycat killer. The pacing was brisk as the action unfolded around Hannah's newest serial publication. The romantic relationship between Hannah and the fun-loving detective was especially well-done.
For a made-for-television film, "Serialized" hit all the right notes. Some of the best scenes were intimate conversations that included intrigue, suspense, and humor. Kudos to the screenwriter for making "Serialized" a lively and above-average tv movie.
Hannah Ryan has been a successful writer, but, with changing times, her New York publisher has dropped her. While struggling to make her alimony payments to a rascal of an ex-husband and to pay for the cancer treatments of her mother, Hannah links up with a friend to publish a serialized mystery online. The work is an instant success to the degree that a copycat killer emerges to place the people Hannah is writing about in grave danger.
The film demonstrates how a writer of fiction draws upon personal experience her ideas. In the case of Hannah Ryan's "Blood Mary" murder serial story, the filmmakers evoke dramatized scenes in Hannah's imagination, as she is acting out the murder that will be the subject of the next chapter in her serialized novel.
The screenplay provided at least five possible characters who had the motive, means, and opportunity to be the copycat killer. The pacing was brisk as the action unfolded around Hannah's newest serial publication. The romantic relationship between Hannah and the fun-loving detective was especially well-done.
For a made-for-television film, "Serialized" hit all the right notes. Some of the best scenes were intimate conversations that included intrigue, suspense, and humor. Kudos to the screenwriter for making "Serialized" a lively and above-average tv movie.
Quite enjoyable
jleadbetter129 August 2021
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