Not all movies worth a watch make their debut on the big screen. In fact, if your viewing preferences skew toward over-the-top dramas with tons of twists and turns, then you don't need to leave your house to get your cinematic fill. All you need to do is tune in to Lifetime whenever you're in the mood for a soapy flick. Lifetime movies might not be winning Oscars, but they're still entertaining, poignant, and sometimes even moving. (Some have even been nominated for Emmys—and the choice few have won!) Keep reading to discover the best Lifetime movies out there that you should definitely add to your must-watch list!
Not too long ago, people met up with strangers from the internet without telling anyone where they were going. And the results were deadly—as was the case with the true story of Boston resident Philip Markoff, which became Lifetime fodder with 2011's The Craiglist Killer. The eerily realistic and horrific flick centered on a seemingly normal med school student who robbed, beat, and killed sex workers he met via Craigslist. What gives this Lifetime movie its fright factor is the fact that its murderer truly seems to be a normal guy with a fiancée, a career, and tons of friends. It really makes you wonder about who exactly you're meeting online.
Another enthralling Lifetime movie based on a true story is Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story. It stars Sela Ward as TV anchor Jessica Savitch, a money-hungry, drug-addicted woman who falls from grace when her vices and vicious words are brought to light. In '96, this made-for-TV movie was nominated for three Emmys, and when it premiered, it drew the second-largest audience in basic cable history at the time.
Based on the novel of the same name, The Memory Keeper's Daughter tells the tale of a man (played by Dermot Mulroney) who, in the 1960s, leaves his newborn daughter in the care of one of her nurses when he finds out that she has Down syndrome. When it premiered in 2008, a staggering 5.8 million viewers tuned in to watch the adaptation.
In 2017, Lifetime took a Time cover story about the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, and turned it into a TV movie. Originally, singer/actress Cher was set to produce and star in the film, but she eventually dropped out and was replaced by Queen Latifah and her production company, Flavor Unit Entertainment.
Upon its release, Flint was received well by audiences and critics alike, and it was even nominated for a Primetime Emmy, a Critics' Choice Award, and three NAACP Image Awards, one of which it won.
Another Lifetime movie that takes its inspiration from an article, Gracie's Choice follows a young teenage girl who fights to adopt her siblings and keep her family together when her drug-addicted mother can no longer play the part of caretaker. The 2004 film stars a young Kristen Bell, and in their favorable review of the movie, TV Guide notes that "the amazing cast earns the audience's involvement by refusing to patronize their characters." Actress Anne Heche, who plays the absent mom in the movie, was even nominated for an Emmy for her part.
This Lifetime movie is so popular that there are actually two versions of it: a 1994 iteration and a 2019 reboot. And while both are worth a watch, if you only have time for one, you should make it the 1994 version starring a young Tori Spelling. Based on the true story of high schooler Kirsten Costas, Death of a Cheerleader is about a popular cheerleader who is killed by a shy classmate who just wants to be part of the in crowd.
Flowers in the Attic, an adaptation of the V.C. Andrews book of the same name, follows the Dollanganger family after a death nearly destroys them. What ensues is abuse, torture, and abandonment that's both heartbreaking and hard not to get invested in. When the film premiered on Lifetime in 2014, it brought in more than 6 million viewers and overcame the 2012 Steel Magnolias reboot to become the best-performing cable movie in history.
Did The Pregnancy Pact sensationalize the true story of the 18 teenage girls who got pregnant at the same time in one Massachusetts town in 2008? Maybe. Is it absurd? Sure. But it has its roots in reality, and it does its part to highlight the challenge of raising a child as a high school student.
Lifetime wastes no time putting together timely movies about controversial and gripping events in the news. Case in point: In October, the network aired a movie about the 2019 college admissions scandal called, appropriately enough, The College Admissions Scandal—before most of the people involved had even been sentenced.
"The cold austerity of the film's title nicely suits the bluntness of its style and content, which pummel the topic in an extremely gratifying fashion," notes The New Yorker's Troy Patterson. "Examining white-collar criminality and rich-white-lady problems, [Lifetime] wraps raw nerves in layers of camp, to produce both a cautionary tale about entitlement and a Schadenfreude melodrama." It's truly a must-see.
On the first day of Christmas, my true love (Lifetime) gave to me this delightful holiday flick starring none other than Kristin Chenoweth. In their 2009 review, Variety calls the flick "so cheerfully hokey it's easy to get lost in its light dusting of holiday romance." What more could you ask for!
In case the title doesn't make it obvious, this Lifetime film is about a teenager named Tina, played by a young Kirsten Dunst, who is 15 and pregnant. However, while other films that tackle teenage pregnancy are corny at best and cringeworthy at worst, this film focuses on the realities of life during pregnancy, ranging from family rejection to the uncomfortable doctor's appointments.
"In this film you actually see all the things you have to go through like going to the doctor, going to a special school, and leaving your friends," Dunst explained to a Chicago Tribune reporter back in 1998. "And everything with Tina's home life, how her parents sort of turned against her. … I couldn't even imagine having this happen to me at my age. Sometimes it was really depressing."
Any movie that inspires a television series is bound to be worthy of a watch. And that's precisely the case with The Client List, the 2010 movie starring Jennifer Love Hewitt about a real-life scandal that happened in Odessa, Texas. In the film (and eventual TV series), Hewitt's character takes a job at a massage parlor to support her family, though she eventually learns that the spa is a front for something much more sinister.
Deemed "the creepiest Lifetime movie ever" by The Wrap, Stockholm, Pennsylvania stars Saoirse Ronan as a girl who is reunited with her parents as a teenager after having been held hostage for more than a decade. When the film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, Variety called it "austere and unnerving"—and those descriptors alone should be enough to get you to watch this movie.
She's Too Young is a 2004 Lifetime movie that tackles issues ranging from drug and alcohol abuse to peer pressure and STDs. It stars Marcia Gay Harden—yes, Oscar and Tony winner, Marcia Gay Harden—as the mom of a 14-year-old daughter who starts having sex in order to fit in with her friends, only to become one of many victims of a syphilis outbreak.
If you're a Harry Potter fan, then you need to add this Lifetime movie to your queue immediately. It chronicles the life of J.K. Rowling, the mastermind behind the Potterverse that the world has come to know and love. In 2013, the film won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Dramatic Mini-Series or TV Film.
Sunday at Tiffany's is one of those Lifetime romance movies that is somehow so ridiculous that it works. It stars Alyssa Milano as an engaged theatre manager whose life is turned upside down when her imaginary friend from childhood somehow comes to life and finds her. (Like we said, it's just crazy enough to work.)
Coco Chanel is a Lifetime biographical drama starring Shirley MacLaine as the eponymous world-renowned fashion designer. When it aired in 2008, it brought in 5.2 million viewers, and it was even nominated for two Emmys: one for Outstanding Made for Television Movie and one for MacLaine in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie category. It's basically two legends in one! What's not to love about that? And for some interesting movie trivia, check out The Lowest-Grossing No. 1 Movies of All Time.
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