Movie Mag Review: The Secret Life of a Celebrity Surrogate

Though I couldn’t help but imagine a sequel in which Hayden Von Richter sues them for custody and says that because he has scads of money he’d be a much better parent to raise the girl (who after all is biologically his child as well as Olivia’s!), The Secret Life of a Celebrity Surrogate was actually one of the better Lifetime movies I’ve seen recently. Writer Henggeler manages to create multi-dimensional characters out of these people instead of falling on Lifetime stereotypes (though she’s guilty of the flaw of a lot of Lifetime screenwriters in going insanely over-the-top at the end); Ava in particular comes off as a figure of real pathos, stuck in a toxic marriage, a downward career spiral and deep-seated feelings of inadequacy as a woman because she can’t reproduce au naturel — though when her dark side comes out I couldn’t help but think that if someone were remaking The Wizard of Oz the Wicked Witch of the West would be a perfect comeback role for her. Gantt manages to get some genuine Gothic atmosphere out of the situations and the moderne environments they take place in (though Edgar G. Ulmer’s 1934 film The Black Cat remains the most convincing movie ever made in terms of reproducing a Gothic atmosphere in high-tech modern architecture!), and despite its ridiculous title this film is surprisingly entertaining, well-acted throughout and several cuts above Lifetime’s norm for this sort of story.

After her ex leaves her devastated, Olivia is desperate to flee the city to get a fresh start. She is contacted by an old friend offering a very lucrative opportunity and Olivia agrees to be the surrogate for a very successful actress. Olivia is welcomed into her home and pampered in the lap of luxury. But appearances can be deceiving, when she finds out that Starlet and her husband are harboring some very dark secrets.

Directed by Mark Gantt
Written by Courtney Henggeler
Produced by Ross Kohn and Nancy Leopardi
Director of Photography Andrew Russo