It’s been a good run, but the streak of solid-to-great Lifetime titles has come to a screeching halt with Secrets in the Foundation. A bland, familiar, and poorly acted entry in the “Inspired by a true story” subgenre, the film’s most interesting element is the question of whether the house at the center of the […]
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There’s an explanation for Elena’s reticence to acknowledge the supernatural, but it comes so late in the film that it feels more like an excuse than a genuine character beat. Instead Secrets in the Foundation adopts a rigid narrative formula and sticks with it: Sadie sees or hears something suspicious and freaks out. Elena comes in and dismisses her concerns and the pair argue about leaving the house. Rinse, lather, repeat.
It’s fine the first few times, but these interactions get stale very quickly. There’s a brief spark when the kindly neighbour Louise (Sharl Hill) shows up after a failed yard sale and proudly declares herself immune to superstition, but the character barely gets anything to do. This is a persistent issue that also affects Brittany, the mean girl at school who gives Sadie an earful about the house’s dark history, then is never seen again.
The only real supporting character of note is Sadie’s one and only friend at school, Dylan (Collier Randall). The gay bestie only really pops up to deliver a ridiculous quip or offer additional exposition, though. Dylan is clearly meant to be the fun comic relief in an otherwise serious supernatural film, but all of his jokey bits go over like a lead balloon.
Not helping matters is the fact that both Randall and Terranova’s line deliveries leave a lot to be desired. As a result, all of their scenes together are particularly challenging. Meanwhile, Sadie is so dour and whiny that it’s hard to muster any energy to invest in her plight.
Then there is the casting and locations. Terranova and Murdock look (and are often styled) more like sisters than mother/daughter, and Lyle is only coded as a grandpa because he has white hair and a narratively contrived hearing aid (literally: his only job in the film is to repeatedly comment on and/or fiddle with his hearing aid).
So, the three family members barely differ in age (at least in presentation) and the acting from half of the leads is mediocre. That leaves the house and the actual hauntings to do the heavy lifting, but things aren’t much better on this front.
The exposition about the Crane family emphasizes that they lived in the house for countless generations, and there are stories about secret passages and bricked off rooms. What is captured onscreen, however, is a large, relatively modern house with a completely normal lay-out. Then, when things get hectic in the finale, the previously unseen parts of the house that the characters move through are very obviously another set/location. Add to this a collection of bland haunting elements (barely-audible whispers in the wall, flickering lights, etc) and it all just feels very amateurish.
Bad acting, bad casting, an unconvincing setting and lackluster supernatural elements doom Secrets in the Foundation from the start. If you’re a Lifetime completionist the film is watchable, but there are far better, more interesting films in the LMN stable.
Secrets in the Foundation airs on Lifetime Movie Network on April 4.
