Lifetime’s ‘The Past Comes Knocking’ Takes Itself a Bit Too Seriously [Review]

We’ve discussed several times in these Lifetime reviews that the mystery is often the most superfluous element. The films are very rarely trying to surprise or fool the audience. In fact, the reveal is often right there in the title (see: She’s Obsessed With My Husband).

Much like Stepmom from Hell, however, co-writers Geoffrey D. Calhoun and David Y. Chung’s The Past Comes Knocking is presented as a genuine mystery. Following the usual cold open in which teaching assistant Jane (Bella Chadwick) is attacked and bludgeoned with a shovel in the woods, the rest of the film follows her College professor Dr. Susan Shaw (Marem Hassler) as she tries to unravel what happened.

The problem is that the mystery is so obvious to anyone paying even casual attention that The Past Comes Knocking contains very few surprises.

Dr. Shaw is a renowned journalist-turned-teacher who became famous after writing a best-selling book about crooked millionaire Vincent Darte (Stephen Blackwell). Darte is only glimpsed in flashback because the man died by suicide before he could be sent to prison, but the case gave Shaw enough clout – and guilt about his death – to prompt a change of career.

After Jane’s disappearance, Shaw stumbles onto a replacement in Zoe (Marlee Carpenter), a waitress at a local diner. Zoe is a fan-girl: she’s read Shaw’s book, desperately wants to sit in on her class, and jumps at every opportunity to get close to her idol. After only a few days, Shaw has already invited the excitable girl to become her TA, and even leaves her unattended in her house while Shaw goes on a date with colleague, Thomas (Karl E. Landler).

Alas, when Shaw returns, she finds her office ransacked, Zoe missing, and blood on the floor. When she calls on the police, Detective Marissa Sharpe (Leanne Johnson) has no patience or empathy for her, citing the colleagues who lost their job over the Darte case. In fact the police woman appears to have an active vendetta, so it comes as no surprise when Shaw is suspected of playing a role in not just Jane and Zoe’s disappearances, but also the string of murders that follow.

The truth of who and what is going on is confirmed at the hour mark of the film, at which point The Past Comes Knocking becomes more of a kidnapping drama as Shaw desperately searches for her College-aged daughter, Autumn (Tessa Briney). But viewers will have figured out the killer’s identity and motive well before then, meaning a substantial middle section of the film is watching Shaw, a supposedly great journalist, slooooowly piece together the very obvious details.

It’s watchable because there are enough entertaining elements to distract from the obvious mechanics of the plot. Writer Chung co-directs with Brandon Villano and they imbue the Lifetime film with a surprising amount of visual flair – from gorgeous wooded aerial shots of Shaw and Thomas driving to innumerable dutch angles as Shaw’s life is turned upside down.

The professor is a bit of a perplexing character: she’s a workaholic single mother who comes off awkward in social situations and helicopter-parents Autumn (until she conveniently doesn’t). Hassler does a good job of making the character relatable, though, even when Shaw is forced into familiar beats like the frantic mother or the dogged reporter. Shaw’s former colleagues, Brandon (Paris Jones) and Donald (Grover McGants), show up sporadically but neither actor is given anything to do; these thankless roles exist solely to remind Shaw that the Darte case nearly ruined her life.

The film’s best character is Thomas, in large part because he’s a weird, but amiable guy. When he asks Shaw out, it’s adorably awkward, but Thomas quickly becomes her most staunch defender, bantering with her in the car and calling the police about the dead body they find on her door step.

Thomas’ likeability is helped greatly by costume designer Jacqueline Decosmo who promptly abandons his traditional College professor attire for brightly coloured flower print button ups and a straw hat. It’s weirdly off-brand for the character to such an extent that audiences may ask themselves if he’s wandered in from a beach-set murder mystery, but it makes for a very distinct and memorable character trait.

Ditto Zoe’s utterly ridiculous wig, though it’s less clear if this is a deliberate styling choice or just a truly atrocious mop. The schwoopy bang has to be seen to be believed, in part because it’s so utterly distracting. Credit to Carpenter for even pulling off a performance beneath the appliance.

Ultimately The Past Comes Knocking is too self-serious to be a top tier Lifetime. Its best qualities, aside from the solid direction and committed performance by Hassler, are its weird outliers like Thomas’ shirts and Detective Sharpe’s hilariously unprofessional and brusque treatment of Shaw. Revealing the twist/culprit earlier would have helped to sell Shaw as an expert reporter and allowed the narrative to lean into its wackier elements, but as it stands, this is perfectly fine.

The Past Comes Knocking airs on Lifetime on September 5.