Five shocking Lifetime movies currently streaming on Netflix
Netflix’s licensing partnership with Lifetime has exposed subscribers to an extensive catalogue of movies that are ripped from the headlines. And as the lineup grows with each passing week, the shock factor takes a massive leap, leaving many to question whether the stories are real or fiction.
Although the streamer’s content licensing collaborations have always proven to be game-changers for viewing trends, the Lifetime slate of movies comes with its own distinct appeal, sparking unanimous curiosity and bewilderment about what’s next in line.
While Netflix already welcomed two new unsettling crime thrillers from the network last week, in case you were saving them for a continuous marathon, we’d like to remind you that they are not the only ones.
So, opt for a longer version of the mini-binge session instead, with five shocking Lifetime movies currently streaming on Netflix and prepare to leave your jaws on the floor.
Five unbelievable Lifetime movies to watch on Netflix right now
Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story (Nicole L Thompson, 2022)
Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story is a Lifetime original movie that revisits the infamous 2004 New Jersey “Suitcase Murder,” serving as a fitting starting point for the trail of unbelievable. Although quite heavily dramatised, the thriller is inspired by the highly publicised trial of Melanie McGuire, a fertility nurse, convicted of drugging, shooting, and dismembering her husband.
Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story details the unsettling real-life case, starting with the discovery of a suitcase containing remnants of a dismembered body at the Chesapeake Bay, which actually turns out to be the first of the three. The Lifetime movie goes back and forth, capturing the story while also offering viewers a chronology of events that helps trace motivations and reasons that ultimately led to the unthinkable.
Hoax: The Kidnapping of Sherri Papini (Marta Borowski, 2023)
Directed by Marta Borowski, Hoax: The Kidnapping of Sherri Papini is based on a bafflingly real 2016 missing persons case and is also one of the two buzzy Lifetime movies that arrived on Netflix just a week ago. The 2023 movie tells the story of a young suburban mother, Sherri Papini, who, like every other day, went to jog on November 2nd, 2016, but failed to return home.
When her husband reported her missing, a nationwide FBI-assisted search took place, spanning weeks. However, the authorities couldn’t track Sherri down. Hoax: The Kidnapping of Sherri Papini chronicles how she reappeared on Thanksgiving Day, three weeks later, 150 miles from her home in Redding, California, although in a terrible condition, resulting in an extended investigation and an earth-shattering revelation that defies every presumption and theory.
Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard (Michelle Ouellet, 2023)
Reality is far darker than fiction, and the true crime story at the centre of Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard is proof. Inspired by the 2019 murder case of Heidi Broussard, the crime drama was the second Lifetime entry on Netflix last week. In case you’re yet to catch up on the movie or are unaware of its real-life roots, the Lifetime movie details the story of Broussard, a church-going mother from Austin, Texas, who discovered that she and her long-distance best friend, Magen Fieramusca, were pregnant at the same time.
As the two navigated their pregnancy journey together, they constantly kept in touch, despite the distance, sharing updates and pictures. While Magen even arrived in Austin to support Heidi just before the baby’s birth, just two weeks after the birth, Broussard vanished into thin air with her newborn after dropping her eldest child at school in December 2019. Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard revisits what followed when all the links led authorities back to Heidi’s bestie.
Husband, Father, Killer: The Alyssa Pladl Story (Elisabeth Röhm, 2024)
If you think that you’ve seen it all, Lifetime’s ripped-from-the-headlines catalogue begs to differ, and honestly, you would too once you hit the play button on Husband, Father, Killer: The Alyssa Pladl Story. Directed by Elisabeth Röhm, the Lifetime thriller follows Alyssa and Steven Pladl during their messy divorce when, out of the blue, their biological daughter contacts them, whom they had given up for adoption 18 years ago.
Reckoning it as an opportunity for the trio to reconnect, the Pladls begin to develop a really strong bond with their estranged child. However, the plot starts thickening in Husband, Father, Killer: The Alyssa Pladl Story when the father-daughter equation takes a dark turn after Steven coerces the 18-year-old to go into a relationship with him, upending not just his existing family’s life but also his own and his daughter’s.
Gaslit by My Husband: The Morgan Metzer Story (Lee Gabiana, 2024)
Lastly, to wrap up the Lifetime movies marathon on Netflix, we suggest Gaslit by My Husband: The Morgan Metzer Story. Once again, based on shocking true events, the Lifetime thriller follows Morgan, a young mother, and Rodney, her intensely abusive husband, who were once childhood sweethearts. Although after years of tolerating it all, Morgan finally gathers the courage to file for divorce, what follows turns her life upside down.
Right after Morgan attempts to cut ties with Rodney for good, a masked intruder breaks into her home, brutally assaulting her. And just some time after the attacker flees, Rodney appears almost like a god-sent hero initially, only to finally become linked to a deep-seated conspiracy. Gaslit by My Husband: The Morgan Metzer Story details the real-life outcome, unveiling a revelation that will blow minds. So, if you’re preparing to go all in for the ride, buckle your seatbelts because this is not for the faint-hearted.