The sweet delight of a Lifetime film is knowing exactly what’s going to happen at any given time. It’s familiar in a reassuring way, which is why He Couldn’t Let Go proves to be a quintessential Lifetime title. There are no surprises to be found here: the story beats are all anticipated, and the reveals are heavily telegraphed, and that’s totally fine.
On the surface, Mariana Cruz (Christina Milian) has a great life. She’s the Head of Personnel at Pana Optic Security, where she’s introduced calmly and confidently dealing with Herbert (Andrew E. Wheeler), a predatory CFO who has abused his company status with a female subordinate. It’s a lengthy sequence, but one that serves to both introduce Mariana’s talent for reading body language, as well as what appears to be the film’s antagonist.
It’s the former aspect that provided the film’s original title, and director Cory Miller provides ample visual cues to help the audience see the world through Mariana’s eyes. Tight close-ups on Herbert’s hands as he fiddles with his cufflinks, or the movement of his feet, confirm when he’s lying, all of which is clocked by Mariana and then unsubtly confirmed by screenwriter Robert Belushi’s dialogue: “Your mouth can lie, but your body won’t”.
After Herbert escapes security and flees the building, He Couldn’t Let Go resets to flesh out the rest of Mariana’s life, including her relationship with hunky fiancé Nick (Gregg Wayans); a plucky best friend in co-worker Fay (Annie Gonzalez); and a beautiful, semi-isolated home in the burbs.
The plot kicks back into gear when Nick is delayed at work, and Mariana is forced to entertain his old College friend Dylan (Steven Strait), a chef visiting from Hong Kong. Shocking no one, there’s nothing but red flags when it comes to Dylan. He’s too perfect: he cooks a near-perfect mofongo, a favorite dish of Mariana’s; he’s familiar with her Bogotá hangouts, and he’s ready to learn salsa moves from her in the living room.
But Mariana’s FBI training (!) means that eventually she begins to pick up on his deceptive body language, and, as the evening progresses, she chips away at his pat answers. What keeps this cat-and-mouse section interesting, since we obviously know there’s more to Dylan than he’s letting on, is how Dylan manages to subtly get under Mariana’s skin while she’s reading him.
Dylan does so by undermining her faith in Nick by suggesting that he has a questionable past, which deftly ties back to the events of the opening with Herbert. The questions Dylan raises also allow the introduction of Calvin (screenwriter Belushi), a red shirt who is called into action when Mariana covertly tries to fact check Dylan’s claims about Nick.
Of course, there’s never any doubt about who will meet a violent end or where the true danger lies. This means that despite the brief 90-minute runtime, the film’s second act drags a little because we’re waiting for the profiler to catch up to what the audience already knows.*
*Sidebar: It’s here that the FBI training element doesn’t fully work because it takes Mariana far too long to catch on to Dylan.
Thankfully, the last act kicks the violence into overdrive as the house becomes a battlefield. While one wishes that Milian was given more to do in the first two acts than simply react to Dylan’s revelations, the character never comes off as dumb. In fact, there are several moments when she makes the best possible decision available and circumstances – or Dylan – cut her off at the pass.
The reveal about who Dylan is and what he wants isn’t particularly revelatory, but the extended climax, which features several chases and violent set pieces, is effective. Milian and Strait also have good chemistry, which helps to carry the saggy pacing of the middle stretch, while the height difference between the actors ensures that Dylan is appropriately menacing when they’re in close quarters.
Aside from the surprising detail about Mariana’s FBI training, He Couldn’t Let Me Go doesn’t stray far from the typical Lifetime formula. For fans of domestic thrillers, however, that won’t be an issue; there’s comfort to be found in these kinds of narratives, so why mess with a good thing?
He Couldn’t Let Go premiered on Lifetime Movie Network on July 11.
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