Lifetime films tend to focus on standard narratives and characters: typically female, often slightly ridiculous or salacious, and usually drama that occurs in the domestic sphere.

With Murder at the Lighthouse, writer Shawn Riopelle tackles a quintessentially Lifetime subject – domestic abuse – albeit in an extremely grounded way. Or at least initially.

The film opens on the cusp of a storm. Jess (Skye Coyne) is a harried, desperately anxious woman who has recruited her friend Rory (Brandon Brooks) to sneak her across the Canadian border via the Great Lakes in his boat. The pronounced bruise on the side of her face and her fear about who and what Rory has told his brother (and anyone else for that matter) confirms that she’s on the run. The fact that she’s willing to drive a boat across a massive body of water during a lightning storm is a pretty significant indicator...