“If You Think That’s Bad, You Should See My Search History.”
With everything shut down for so much of this year, we didn’t get nearly as many Hallmark mystery movies as we normally would. And I have realized that I missed them. Okay, maybe we don’t need more than one or two a month, but still, they are fun and enjoyable. So I was thrilled to see Exit Stage Death, a new Picture Perfect mystery, premier this past weekend.
Allie (Alexa PenaVega) has been hired to take backstage photos for publicity for a new play from an award-winning playwright that is debuting in her town. This playwright hasn’t had a hit in years, so he has a lot riding on this. Backstage on opening night is filled with nerves, especially for Allie’s friend Maya (Sunita Prasad), who has a small part in the play.
Cassandra (Pauline Egan), the actress playing the lead, arrives just minutes before the curtain is supposed to go up, delayed due to car trouble. They delay the curtain for her, but even then, when her cue comes, she doesn’t appear on stage. Allie discovers the reason why, Cassandra is dead in the costume room.
Sam (Carlos PenaVega) is quickly on the case for the local police, but Allie can’t help but nose around. With plenty of backstage intrigue, there are plenty of suspects and motives. Can Allie and Sam figure out what really happened?
Obviously, murder at a play isn’t a new plot idea, especially for Hallmark mystery movies. I can think of at least two other franchises who have done a similar set up before. However, the thing I enjoy about mysteries is that even with a similar initial premise, you can weave a different plot each time, and that’s exactly what the writers do here. I was confused by the plot, in a good way, until everything started coming together for the climax.
As much as I enjoy the mysteries, I do come back for the characters. I really like Sam and Allie, and their slow romance is a lot of fun. Their chemistry is wonderful, which isn’t a surprise since the actors are married in real life. I did miss Sam’s uncle, but we got to see several other supporting players again, which is always fun.
Of course, this movie does come with my usual Hallmark cheese warning. It’s a light dose here, so as long as you know to expect it when you sit down to watch, you’ll be fine.
Hallmark is transitioning full time to Christmas movies later this month, but I’m glad they had time for another Picture Perfect Mystery before they did. Fans of the franchise will be delighted with Exit Stage Death.
I love Hallmark mysteries and I do like this one. I don't think the acting is as good as it is in some of the others but like you I enjoy the characters enough and the mysteries are always such fun. I still miss the Garage Sale mysteries though! Those were my favorites!
ReplyDeleteI miss the Garage Sale mysteries as well, although I found some of the writing and acting there to be worse than what we get here. Still, I enjoyed the characters and the plots were fun.
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