Killer Advice (2021) User Reviews

VIEWS ON FILM review of Killer Advice

[burlesonjesse5 · 4/10 · 9 February 2021]

"You know maybe you should talk to someone". Not a bad idea. Just don't talk to someone who's been a nut job since the veritable age of 7. Killer Advice is about said nut job. Minus a musically cool opening credits sequence, it's one of the most misguided Lifetime movies ever made.

"Advice" chronicles Beth (played by Kate Watson). Beth gets attacked by an unknown assailant in a parking garage. Mysteriously escaping without injuries, Beth feels rattled and decides to talk to a therapist. Here's the kicker: The therapist in question is not a real therapist. She offed the real therapist and is now a poser. She's a psychotic, middle-aged kook named Marsha (played by an overreaching and laughably over the top Meredith Thomas). Meredith's Marsha has no real motive for a being a murderer except for the fact that she's cray cray to the nth degree. It doesn't hold much weight here.

Killer Advice is yet another Lifetime flick where the antagonist eventually escapes and goes on to terrorize someone else (spoiler). It's an annoying, convenient plot device and it needs to be put to pasture. "Advice" also has its characters regurgitating the same dialogue over and over again. "I'm proud of you". "Everything okay?" "It's fine". "How are you?" "I'm trying to help you". "You've been under a lot of stress". Jeez. It's as if the screenwriters didn't know what else to write down and decided to scribble what they could to fill a 90-minute running time (with commercials).

With some of the most wooden acting ever by a couple of cop personas and some of the most silly working environments in regards to the other personas (What do these denizens do for a living? What's up with the low-budgeted office space? And how come only two employees are present a majority of the time?), my "advice" is to avoid seeing Killer Advice. You might need some therapy of your own after a midday viewing.

People with psychological or mental issues should be offended by this.....

[mja58 · 5/10 · 13 July 2021]

From title you know right off that the therapist (or whatever she is) is a nutcase.

I find this rather offensive as many people go to therapists for help, sometimes against their will, and this makes the case for avoiding help when it may really be needed.

In the movie itself, the "therapist" chews the scenery, and everyone else seems clueless. There is a lot of running around, and an ending that made me - well, actually ANGRY.

Please do not make a sequel or a Part 2!!!!

Silly and unrealistic

[LaverneandShirleysucks · 1/10 · 4 June 2022]

Parking garages have cctv which would've caught the crazy psycho therapist leaving Simone's body in the car.

And how on earth did psycho therapist get the dead body from her office where she killed her all the way into Simone's car unnoticed by anyone?! There's no way on earth she could've carried her.....and dragging her all that way would definitely raise eyebrows.

She also killed another patient in her office but she magically disposes of that body too. Maybe she had a crematorium in her office lol.

And when Beth's presentation showed the messed up computer, anyone's first thought would've been "I was hacked"....and she would've quickly thought back to who had recent access to her laptop.....But no, in Lifetime's universe common sense doesn't exist and Beth immediately blames everything on her employee Simone who had absolutely no reason in the world to mess her presentation up.

Beth's daughter is another one...what teenager is going to hang out with a middle aged woman who shows up at her high school and asks where she can get some coffee?! It's creepy and a normal teen would tell her where she can get it and quickly go on her way....but this girl hops in her car, goes for coffee with her and spills her personal issues to her!!....It's laughably unrealistic.

The crazy psycho was over the top and Beth was a complete idiot for not possessing basic common sense. Only Simone possessed any brains, but of course that meant she has to die halfway through the movie at the hands of the psycho.

The stupid people live and the smart ones always get killed in all these silly Lifetime movies. Just once i'd like to see one of these films where the smart character actually takes on the crazed psycho and survives. 1 star for being too unrealistic and dumb.

Only the lead redeemed this one

[barb-53519 · 2/10 · 10 February 2021]

The plot was ridiculous. Most of the acting was poor--with one exception. Kate Watson navigated Beth's emotional landscape with great skill and nuance. She was the best part of the movie. She deserves a much better vehicle for her acting chops.

HORRIBLE

[charissenikel · 1/10 · 6 February 2021]

This movie is just horrible. The deranged killer plots usually have some subplot tying them to their target. Some reason to randomly attack everyone connected to them. This one is lacking any real motive and is just a waste of time!

Decent thriller, sympathetic lead, and nutso (good) villain

[CranberriAppl · 8 May 2021]

There's nothing new here, but that's not why we watch. Meredith Thomas knows how to do a proper villainous breakdown. Her motive was a bit weak, but the explanation flashback sort of helped. There's a lot of unethical stuff happening in this, but thankfully there aren't any truly moronic characters. There are plot points that happen here that are face palm worthy, but I accepted them because they were being manipulated. I did like Beth's (protag) moment of self-awareness near the climax where she realized that everything was gettting worse ever since she started therapy.

Kate Watson is good here. I have seen her in Her Deadly Groom and her character there was so freaking gullible that it pissed me off. Here she was more vulnerable (due to ptsd) so it was understandable how she could be manipulated by a "therapist." Husband Nick and Daughter Jess were fine for their roles. Simone was good too, but I hate that she died knowing Beth didn't believe her. Eric Roberts is Eric Roberts. No shame, but I like when he shows up lol. His Lifetime hamminess is a bit restrained here, but it tries to poke through a few times.

A couple of weaker moments were when Beth thinks she didn't tell Marsha about her presentation. She did when Marsha came to her office with the jacket. She also left M in her office to make copies of some papers for Nick. The other weak point is how in the world did she get away with pretending to be the other therapist? That made no sense and I don't recall any explanation of it. How did no one notice the real Marsha was missing?

Good thriller, but I hated the ending. How did someone knocked out by a bottle leave a crime scene with police and paramedics everywhere. These types of ending ruins these movies.

Horrible, absolutely horrible

[sergerustic · 1/10 · 7 February 2021]

Bad acting, like soap opera acting. Plot was dumb. What a complete waste of time.

Don't waste your time

[kyragd2009 · 1/10 · 9 February 2021]

This is one the worst movie I've ever seen. Worst scenario and no need to mention worst acting! I couldn't watch until the end. I just left the movie in the middle. Don't waste your time.

Homewrecker, Inc.

[lavatch · 7/10 · 3 January 2022]

In his play "Othello," Shakespeare examines the existence of evil through the lens of the character Iago, the master manipulator. There is often no explicit motivation for evil. Such is the case as well for the character of Marsha Davies in "Killer Advice."

Marsha is an imposter who claims to be a psychologist. By happenstance, she offers her services to the vulnerable Beth Curtis shortly after Beth suffered a traumatic experience as a victim of a random assault in a parking garage. Marsha takes advantage of the situation to worm her way into Beth's family. She becomes the disruptor, driving a wedge between Beth and her loving husband Nick and her daughter Jess.

The film was a by-the-numbers thriller that ventured into the horror genre. It was unfortunate that Simone, Beth's best friend and colleague, was collateral damage. The quick-thinking Simone suspected right away that Marsha was a charlatan and was brutally murdered when she sneaked into Marsha's office.

Kate Watson turns in a stellar performance as Beth, who naturally wants to trust her therapist. Meredith Thomas chews the scenery in her over-the-top interpretation of Marsha. Lifetime favorite Eric Roberts, a national treasure, plays the role of Trevor, Nick's demanding boss.

While there was a sluggish pace at the start of the film, the action picked up with some snappy dialogue and a litany of prickly situations Beth found herself in due to the antics of Marsha. The madcap climax was well choreographed with the knife-wielding Marsha on the loose in the Curtis home, before order and sanity are restored, albeit only temporarily.

Slow burn movie that doesn't make sense

[memeseamore · 2/10 · 24 May 2021]

I've seen tons of LMN movies and this is honestly the worst of all so far. I usually suspend my disbelief when watching these but this is just too much. How is a therapist who has probably been working at the office for a while able to be killed and have her spot be taken by a woman that looks almost nothing like her? On top of that, no one questions it? And there was a news article the protagonist read that said the actual therapist, Marsha, was missing so her place of business already knew - or at least the general public. How is the villain able to just take her spot and start pretending to be a therapist? Does she have no superiors? Does no one talk to each other in that office enough to know that the villain wasn't the real Marsha?

But the most glaring issue I had with this movie is the absolute lack of motivation the villain had. While there are a lot of poorly made LMN movies, at the very least the villains have some sort of motivation most of the time that links to the protagonist somehow, like a jealous secret admirer, the former sweetheart of the protagonist's SO, an abandoned or orphaned child, etc. Even if it's not clear what the motivation is until the end, the viewer still gets context clues and other hints that let them realize what the villain's true intentions might be. But in this movie, Marsha had no motivation to want to hurt the protagonist. When the movie finally explained in the very last 10 minutes it was a poor excuse that just used mental illness as a cop-out for a real reason for her to be evil. Just "why am I doing this? Because I was diagnosed with narcissism, anger issues, anti-social disorder, etc...plus you're rich!"

I'm so sad I wasted 2 hours of my life on this movie. I could've used that time towards something productive, but instead, I am now 2 hours older and 2 hours closer to death and it wasn't even worth it.

Killer Therapist with hilarious lines! She makes the movie!

[poundsdown · 10/10 · 28 February 2021]

These reviews make me realize some people didn't get the memo that Lifetime Movies are campy on purpose. That's the point. In other words they're over the top, overdramatic and cheesy. Literally that's why they're fun to watch. I have almost never seen anyone get this more than the actress playing the villain !! Spot on! She embodies everything we need in an LMN villain. Her facial expressions and delivery of the lines make the movie.

Best quotes that cracked me up:

Everyone knows that a good therapist doesn't give you the answers (while wielding a knife!)

I'm not a therapist but I've had enough therapy to be pretty good at it!

They said I was superficially charming! Do I seem superficially charming to you???

After being told she's crazy she replies: We don't like that term! It's stigmatizing!

And as you can see some of these lines may not be funny on a script but bc of the way she delivers them they are!! Now I've seen this actress play side characters before like the school guidance counselor but I've not seen her play the lead or a villain. So what a treat. I say sign her up for more villain roles. She's like a syrupy sweet villain with a sense of humor. Everyone else is just standard fare for Lifetime except Eric Roberts of course who we are blessed to have on Lifetime as he in my opinion is a great actor. Very underrated. If you really want to see him shine in an old lifetime movie that Is based on a true story and will be unforgettable check out Fatal Desire. Now that isn't meant to be camp or cheesy. That is a movie that you'll never forget though!

This was awful top to bottom

[rinky-30819 · 1/10 · 9 February 2021]

Bad script. Bad acting. One of the worst lifetime movies.

Another terrible film starring Eric Roberts

[LordCommandar · 7 February 2021]

So far you have one troll review lying calling this god awful film "amazing" when in fact this is just another terrible film starring Eric Roberts. Nothing he has been in (his role in The Specialist with Stallone was ok) is ever good. The film was whack all around and there is lot to be said about desperate lying trolls who are rating terrible films with 8s and 10s. Been seeing that on IMDB more frequently now. AVOID THIS POS FILM!

Terrible acting, ending just overacted and ridiculous, even for Lifetime

[rockgrrl-79827 · 1/10 · 20 August 2021]

I will say I didn't watch the entirety of the movie, probably the last 10 minutes or so. But I think I can safely say that those 10 minutes, which are supposed to be the climax, just fell flat.

The director should be ashamed for allowing these actresses to ridiculously overact. Everything was so over the top, it just wasn't believable. Normally you should feel completely engaged in the story, this ain't it sis.

The actresses should go back to acting class, or find some passion. But they acted like they learned their craft in a back alleyway by someone without the slightest clue about acting.

I've never left such a scathing review, but this was a special kind of terrible.

Not worth watching..

[scarletepilogue · 2/10 · 22 January 2022]

I love Lifetime movies-usually even the lousier ones (which is many of them). But this..this was hard to watch. The acting is so poor, it's like they're not even trying. Meredith Thomas's voice is so annoying that it's actually distracting and for me, that makes the movie even more difficult to watch..her voice is like nails on a chalkboard...idk if that's just me or what. Anyway, this is a flop for me.

Great Lifetime Movie

[chriso-29772 · 10/10 · 9 February 2021]

This film was suspenseful from 30 seconds in. The lead actor Beth did an amazing job and kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to see how the story would unfold with her INSANE therapist. The casting of Beth, Nick, and Jess was fantastic as the family dynamic really worked for the film. Well done Lifetime!

Fun thriller!

[mal-80061 · 10/10 · 12 February 2021]

I don't understand some of these bad reviews! I thought the script was fun and it kept me wanting more, albeit a few small holes in the story. The twists and turns kept me glued and transitions worked pretty seamlessly.

Kate Watson did an excellent job of navigating Beth's character, making her relatable, yet complex and dynamic. Steve Harris was excellent and natural and their chemistry made sense. I thought the daughter seemed a little old, but it didn't ruin the dynamic for me.

All in all a really fun movie that kept me entertained from start to finish!

Movie review

[cjpbykzv · 10/10 · 9 February 2021]

Great movie very suspenseful. Good acting by Kate Watson

People must have nothing better to do than complain

[wyannjameson · 10/10 · 5 June 2022]

Anyone complaining about a "realistic" storyline needs to watch an episode of Dateline ASAP. Also, if you come on here to dump on this genre of thriller, why on earth are you watching this network?

Get a life.

This story is flushed out, has a character arch, and is extremely entertaining. Contrary to opinions of folks that have never attempted to make a movie, this was a cut above!

Intriguing plot and wonderful leading actor

[risingroads · 10/10 · 8 February 2021]

This movie is definitely worth viewing. The leading actor, played by Kate Watson, (whose character is Beth) does a superb job of navigating the personal transitions between competent businesswoman, traumatized victim and ultimately, one who solves the puzzle and finds the courage to take back her life and that of her family. The story takes several unexpected turns and is a true thriller. Some lighting and minor sound issues are my only criticism. Well done!

Amazing!

[tehfcdi · 10/10 · 6 February 2021]

This is a movie everyone should definitely see . it has you on your toes and keeps you very interested . please make a 2 movie .

Meredith Thomas was great as the one who gives killer advice!

[Chartreuse1 · 8/10 · 11 February 2021]

Beth seeks out a therapist after being terrorized in a parking garage. Trouble is the woman who she starts seeing is a psycho who is jealous of everything that Beth has and wants to ruin her "perfect" life! Not too shabby for a Lifetime movie which has some good thrills and chills at the end. Would watch again!

Great acting from Gigi Guston and Meredith Thomas

[theartistcritic · 8/10 · 13 February 2021]

While most Lifetime movies are pretty hard to watch..I found myself actually really enjoying this one and liked that the movie didn't feel rushed. The cast was pretty good. Gigi Guston seems to be the most natural of the main cast despite her character Jess's redundant dialogue. She made the most of her part. I was also impressed by Meredith Thomas as she steals the show on this one!!! Please put these ladies in bigger movies!!

Yawn

[haroot_azarian · 8 February 2021]

So I like #MeredithThomas and this was a bad cast for her! It does not suit her to be a psycho villainess! Also, typical stupid LMN ending! The psycho recovers and disappears right under cops' noses! One big ridiculous thing: so psych's been pretending to be Marsha whom I'm pretty sur Dr Ellis knows what thr real Marsha looks like and they neve bump into eachother once in tge same oofice they work in!

Could've been better..

[jasmineayouby · 17 August 2022]

It started strong, I really liked the direction the plot was headed. Of course, some scenarios were unrealistic and nobody would do that in real life! But somewhere at the end, it got a little too crazy! The knife wielding psych therapist calling out to the daughter hiding under her bed *smh. The end was laughably bad, ruined the entire movie.