The Lifetime horror film could almost be a genre entirely on its own. They're incredibly basic, while also being very distinct, and almost all follow the exact same formula. They're also very polarizing. People tend to fall in one of three camps: they love them, they hate them, or they love to hate them. No matter what, ones that are especially the most or especially terrible tend to get talked about a lot. And though it's largely forgotten now, there was a very unique Lifetime horror movie in 2015 that set social media on fire.
The film is called A Deadly Adoption. It's about a couple named Robert and Sarah, an author and a food vendor, who have a daughter named Sully. Five years after an accident that caused them to lose a pregnancy, they are looking to adopt. They are set up through an adoption agency with a young woman named Bridgette and invite her to live with them. However, there is something sinister going on under the surface and her intentions might not be as pure as they originally thought.
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This sounds like a very typical storyline for a Lifetime horror movie. Almost all of them revolve around some kind of secretly sinister stalker person. However, there is something different about it that kind of completely changes the game. The film's leads, Robert and Sarah, are played by SNL comedy superstars Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig. This is very out of the ordinary for these kinds of films. It's not normal for them to have stars that are all that mainstream kind of famous, and if they are famous they are usually older and their career has run its course. With Ferrell and Wiig still being very famous and relevant, especially in 2015, it caught people's attention. Their strong comedy skills, and that they're known for a lot of parody and sketch comedy, added an entirely new element to this film that kind of made it good.
It's evident from the first scene that this film isn't taking itself too seriously. The opening scene shows the tragic accident that kills Robert and Sarah's unborn child, and leaves Sarah infertile. They're having some sort of party, perhaps a first birthday party for Sully, and Sarah is standing on their dock. Unfortunately, the wood is rotten, and she falls in and hits her head on the boat. The entire scene just feels very over the top and campy, it very much mimics an SNL sketch.
The acting is bad and feels like a parody when it's very well known that these actors have a lot of acting talent. The accident itself just seems kind of stupid, despite its tragic results. When she falls in, it's played out very intense with slow motion and music and screaming but to be honest she just kind of falls, and in real life, it probably wouldn't have had such horrible consequences. It's very hard not to laugh, and definitely sets the tone for the rest of the film.
This kind of tone and overacting continues throughout the entire film, and its plot is just as ridiculous really. If the first scene of the film didn't convince viewers that this was to be taken as comedy, the last scene where the entire family does a dance together for no reason and for an extended amount of time certainly will. It's just such a fun watch. Most of these kinds of movies are fun watches for people, because they are just dumb and over-the-top fun.
With the casting of actors that are very well known for amazing comedy though, it just adds an element of refinement that is hilarious. It feels like an extended parody sketch, and Ferrell and Wiig carry it so well that the movie turns from "bad horror movie" to "well done comedy". It's interesting and rare. Because of their status in the comedy and film and acting world in general, it's not a hard stretch to think that the comedy aspect of the film was the true intention all along.
This film kind of makes it feel like Lifetime is more self-aware than they sometimes let on. It feels like they're taking a little bit of a dig at themselves here, and it's overall pretty fun and successful. There's some respect gained for the company with it, because it shows that they do know what they're doing and they're owning it. This happened again kind of recently, with their mini-movie A Recipe For Seduction which was essentially a lengthy KFC commercial and also came across as very self-aware.
It's also interesting because it shows how with just one element of a film changed, the entire film and its tone and meaning can change too. When this film premiered, it got a lot of attention online and a few gifs and memes were made. However, it's not talked about as much six years later and it's so fun and unique, it deserves to be a cultural moment yet again.