Room for Murder (2018 TV Movie) User Reviews (12)

Mom's Little Secret

[lavatch · 5/10 · 17 April 2020]

"Room For Murder" (a.k.a., "The Boarder") is a tawdry tale set in the fictional town of Riverview, California. The glue that holds the film together is the relationship of Moira Atherton and her daughter Kristen.

The mother-daughter bond is strained when Kristen makes a surprise visit home from her studies in Berkeley to learn that her mom has rented out her room to a boarder. The tenant named Jake is half Moira's age, and she has done no background check on him. Mom's little secret that she was keeping from her daughter is that she has been living in sin!

Kristen is a psychology major, and she instantly sizes up Jake for a fraud. But she has no idea that he is hiding a secret from his past. He had murdered a young woman, but was acquitted at trial. He has subsequently changed his name and withheld his unsavory past from Moira.

Apparently, Jake is a serial killer. He kills a woman while jogging, then literally bumps into Kristen's car near the scene of the crime. Because he is wearing a mask, she is unable to offer a 100% positive identification. The dim-witted deputy Ryan Jessup ("Deputy Dog,"), Kristen's former beau before he cheated on her, is slow beyond belief in investigating Jake. This gives Jake the time to kill the effervescent Sherrie, one of Moira's employees at her styling salon.

The film was unpleasant because, apart from Sherrie, who makes her untimely exit from the script, the characters were generally unlikable. After Ryan advises Kristen not to bait Jake, she does precisely that, and the result is that Moira is in grave danger. It is difficult to feel much empathy for Moira, due to her dalliance with her boy toy and her inability to comprehend that he is hiding something from her.

The bottom line is that Moira appears to like things rough, and that is precisely what got from ol' Jake. The film closes with Moira planning to search for a new boarder, as Kristen is heading off to UCLA after transferring from Berkeley. Deputy Dog promises to help Moira in screening the prospective tenants. One can only imagine that Moira will be right back in the maelstrom with another boarder from hell.

Typical

[tomfsloan · 5/10 · 6 October 2018]

No complaints with the acting. The plot was typical Lifetime. That's expected. I was not happy with the cinematography. Too much hand held shakey camerawork. There was also something wrong with the lighting/color/contrast/exposure/saturation. It just looked unprofessional. Ladies...if you are ever attacked and choked like in this movie, remember to kick him in the balls. When he's down for the count, you are now the one who's in control. The climatic baracaded door scene was stupid. Mom suddenly freed herself really easy when she needed to. The daughter should have not stopped her mom with the rolling pin. (Although the bad guy acted like he was being beaten with a roll of paper towels) When the movie was over, I was much happier to finish watching the second half of a Perry Mason episode.

Not a bad movie

[CranberriAppl · 28 November 2021]

But the desperate moms with these younger men stories can be so cringey. This one was somewhat better than the typical Lifetime movies of this kind, however her desperation and obliviousness does still get people killed. Mom is sort of cringey with the language and innuendo about dating a younger guy, but it's much less campy than normal. Her desperation is full on though. Poor management of her business' finances and she's letting cray cray Jake off the hook for late rent bc of sex. The dialogue makes it clear he's lying to her, so it's not just me as an audience member, and she finds no reason to suspect anything. I agree with another contributor that for all the talking and the closeness of Kristen and her mom, they definitely keep things from each other. I know this is supposed to be a small town but even still, I feel the days of being so trusting are long gone (unfortunately). Mom taking in a boarder with no questions asked makes no sense at all.

I didn't mind Kirsten's sleuthing but surely whoever wrote this movie knows that a cop can't just take a shoe stolen from someone and run a check on it. This gets really old watching knowing something just like this could actually get Jake off for his crimes. I liked that Jake was a known villain and the chase between him and Kristen kept the movie going. One of the flaws of the movie is that I wish it did better with his motivation. It's not clear why he was a killer or why Moira was somehow spared so long (unless he just needed a place to stay and "lay low").

The movie did drag in a few places, but I ended up finishing it. It's worth one watch at least.

For Peg Bundy's only

[poj-man · 1/10 · 10 February 2021]

If you are a LMN Peg Bundy-ite you will love this Trash. It has sexy man and sexy mother\daughter and is all about sexual relationship in an LMN way. Hot MILF is banging young guy oblivious to his evil dark side. Hot daughter saves hot MILF.

For anyone else with any brain that functions you scream at how stupid people who live a lie get what they deserve and earn. Supposedly Mom and Daughter talk on the phone 2 times a day. Despite this:

1) Daughter shows up to move back home because the university job got cancelled by budget cuts before she could start. She has been driving overnight and needs a shower. No moving van is needed for all the stuff to move out from a lease in the other city.

Of course Mom and daughter talk on the phone two times a day but Mom doesn't know this.

2) Mom is banging stud boy who has moved into the daughter's room...why he doesn't just share the master bedroom is not clear.

Of course Mom and daughter talk on the phone two times a day but Daughter doesn't know this.

============= The list can go on but like I say...it is Peg Bundy bon-bon eating tripe. Peg would give it a 10; I give it a one...and I am not splitting the difference

if you life lifetime movies it's worth seeing

[BonzeesRevenge · 7/10 · 16 July 2018]

If you love lifetime movies this won't disappoint, lots of drama and eye candy. it feels a little low budget, sometimes, but James Maslow is awesome as the bad guy, and he's even sexier when he's being evil. The other young people in the movie, the landord daughter and her bf are really good too. Sometimes the movie is actually tense and scary and sometimes it's trying to be and isn't but overall it's what you'd expect and isn't a let down.

Well acted but lots of holes in the script..

[Design88 · 7/10 · 29 November 2022]

This is well-acted for a Lifetime movie of this genre. Called "The Boarder" and "Twisted Tenant" in the UK. I think there is another title too!

There isn't any explanation why Jake has not attacked her mother yet he suddenly starts killing again once the daughter shows up and starts accusing him.

It's unlikely he would have a gun and change his strangling MO in the last half hour but it's necessary to move the plot forward to the denouement.

The major plot holes are mainly to do with the hopeless investigation of the murders. Also why he starts murdering again.

When 'Deputy Daug' first starts to investigate the first strangulation he doesn't ask the daughter to come in and make a statement or perhaps try to do a e-fit of the killer! Then, later when he finds out that Jake was in the vicinity he doesn't ask him to come in to make a statement either.

All he needed to do with the bloody shoe was take a scraping and she could have put it right back before he noticed perhaps. There was no way the blood could be entered into evidence until the shoe was discovered legally with a warrant but it helps convince them that Jake is the killer.

When Sherrie is killed out back of the laundromat.. there were so many witnesses to his altercation inside with another customer that he'd definitely have been brought in for questioning. The fact that he has unexplained scratches on his face would be a major red flag.

The ending was a bit lame especially with her Mother planning to take in another boarder after all that she went through .

But, in spite of all of this, it was pretty well done and I enjoyed the overall pockets of suspense.

slow start, great finish

[NoNameBigBoy · 10/10 · 14 July 2018]

The first 20-30 minutes are a little slow but it picks up and turns into a great ride, exactly what you'd expect. Not every aspect of the movie is perfect but where it makes up for it and excels is casting. Lorynn York is a strong female lead, and lights up the screen as the concerned, suspicious daughter trying to protect/save her mother, played by Tanya Clarke. Clarke delivers a solid performance even though her character's refusal to see anything odd or weird about her boarder/boyfriend makes her seem a little desperate or daft (but still a great performance). Maslow is spot on as the eerily creepy handsome guy, and the energy/tension between Maslow and York is one area where the film excels. Adam Huber rounds out the cast as the perfect cop/ex-boyfriend. While it's tempting to think of this as a case of the playing being better than the piano, or performances being better than the film making, the director does a solid job. The pacing of the first 20-30 minutes is slow but once it gets into the action the film delivers.

Some single parents are really fooled like this!

[phd_travel · 8/10 · 5 September 2018]

This thriller is quite well acted and cast. The story isn't complicated. A young woman suspects her mother's toy boy who rents a room from her isn't all that great. It isn't that far off. Some single parents both fathers and mothers can be that blind when they get infatuated much to the consternation of their kids. The psycho is obvious from the beginning no twists here. But the story is well paced and well told and not ridiculous. The psycho is well played by James Maslow. Couple of minus points. Not much insight into why he was like that. Also not much follow up on the victims. Straightforward story but well done.

Good topic, criminals!

[NijazBaBs · 8/10 · 10 May 2019]

I wanted to give this movie 10 starts, because idea is good. And acting really. Maybe not so professional, and not much stuff to see, not much effort, but really i did feel real fear during watching. Like in real life from real criminals. I gave it one star less because at the end acting of beating him up was so fake, there was not single punch real, camera did simply skipped hitting parts. It teaches and motivates us to beware of criminals, especially young in our neighborhood, town, city, village, or even home. Many young people are criminals. Such scary people exist and are problem and threat. Looks like this is one more movie from Lifetime tv channel, which really has lot good movies, all about real life, all filled with interesting emotions. Movie looks real, gives you fear, and is unpredictable.

Great movie with complicated characters

[tiffaniswallace · 10/10 · 29 August 2020]

Jake was a complicated character, different than other psycho's in Lifetime movies, he didn't steal from the mother, didn't harm her until the end and stood to gain nothing. All he wanted was a relationship with the mother, seemed to genuinely care for her. True, he killed 2 people in the movie but, that makes him more complicated. I felt for him because he had no family nor friends, he seemed lonely and he was mentally ill. He was on clozapine and lithium carbonate, not sure if he was taking his meds. He said he felt alone and he thought he found someone who cared about him, but she was using him. Again, great movie with complex characters. One thing bothers me a little about all Lifetime movies, I hate how they portray mental illness, it's like all people who are mentally ill are crazy or dangerous, which is totally not true. Aside from that, I enjoy complicated characters, Jake for some reason reminds me of Secret Window Mort.

Lifetime at it's shirtless best

[LifetimeUncorkedPodcast · 8/10 · 11 May 2020]

Lifetime is shameless about having hunky male actors with their shirts off. Add to that a well acted, well written script, and you have a instant Lifetime classic. Pour it up!

🔪🔪🔪🔪 (4 Knives) 🍷🍷🍷 (3 glasses of wine required.)

I only watched because I love Jenna Kanell

[DscreenG · 11 January 2020]

I like Lifetime movies so, so, much. Jenna Kanell is one of my cult favorite actresses so I was happily surprised to see her working the cafe and playing the best friend. I wish she was listed in the synopsis; even on here. The acting was good. I really disliked the direction and director choices on this movie- then I saw it was a male director and it made sense why the first love scene kinda made me squirm. I totally felt the made-by-a-bruh-for-bruh's. Not at all the demographic of this genre. Being that I really adore great Lifetime movies, I expect and welcome some camp and spoon-fed, obvious plot-twists. When done right it's charming and enjoyable. But less than one minute into the opening of the movie the ridiculous continuity problems ie a dead body facing straight up in one shot, and with it's head cocked extremely to the right in the following shot, symbolic red paint drips onto what looks like concrete then immediately to a white tarp... come on director dude. The one thing a good Lifetime movie has is respect for it's style. I work in this business. I'm positive the editor/s wanted to fix the foibles and just insulting continuity problems but the director, who is responsible for this, just locked edit and sent this as finished. This director doesn't understand the cult genre and seems to assume he can just be sloppy and throw in such poor direction as well.

The acting was great though. Kudos to the actors. I feel for you all, having to take such bad direction. Now I understand why Jenna Kanell doesn't have her name in the billing. It was probably her choice.