Lifetime original movies are a marvel. No concept is too outrageous to be turned into a "made for TV" feature, and their thrillers are an extra special joy - occasionally (rarely) sincere, but mostly fully leaning into far-flung B-movie nonsense. (A few of my personal favorites include 'Pom poms and payback,' 'Wheels of beauty,' and 'Secret lives of college escorts'). So given the premise here - "An aspiring sommelier finds herself in a competitive wine program not realizing her life is in danger" - and especially if one has a bottle to enjoy at the same time, why not just kick back, relax, and soak in the silliness of 'Revenge best served chilled?' I'd be lying if I said I didn't have high expectations
This wastes no time in trotting out many tropes of the thriller genre generally, and Lifetime's variety specifically, especially regarding the protagonist's background and aspirations. This film even tries to take on horror-thriller vibes with very particular inclusions: the opening scene; loud sounds, sudden frights for the lead, shapes and shadows fleetingly seen; purposefully embellished sound design, and select instances of camerawork. At the same time, with very specific framing and formatting chosen for Ryan Brown's cinematography, and some distinct shots, it could superficially be mistaken as both an art film or a TV commercial. And this is to say nothing of how very heavy-handed the writing is, and the direction and acting in turn, with regards to the dialogue, characters, scene writing, overall narrative, themes (rampant classism and otherwise prejudice), or plot development. Every small moment progresses with an unnaturally fluid ease, and is executed with a stark deliberateness, that unquestionably accentuate the pointed artificiality. This ethos is even applied to the very steady pacing - and Mikel Shane Prather's original score, which is very enjoyable in itself but achingly exact as it presents.
And the best part is that all this is entirely on purpose. Director Dylan Vox, screenwriters Jeremy M. Inman and Michael Shear, the whole of the cast including but definitely not limited to Lynn Kim Do, Amefika El-Amin, and Micavrie Amaia, cinematographer Brown - everyone knows exactly what type of picture 'Revenge best served chilled' is, and they unreservedly embrace Lifetime's cheeky approach to film-making and storytelling. Herein are ideas and earnest craft that could by all means be guided to honest ends. To my delight, however, every component part is so ponderous and emphatic that this simultaneously pretends to be on the more genuine side of the network's movies, but also all the more underhandedly wry and over the top because it tends that way. Ironically, it takes a careful, delicate hand to be so brusque and forthright, and the folks who made this achieved an unlikely balance between shrewdness and schlock. It's ridiculous, and more so when it weirdly seems to try to be more serious. No matter how you look at it, this shouldn't work as well as it does.
With all this in mind, personally I don't think there's any arguing that the final result is very well done. Everyone behind the scenes turned in fine work, including production design, hair and makeup, costume design, and so on. I detect skill in the actors' performances that I firmly believe would shine all the more in a meaningfully authentic title. The writing is so neat and clean as to be very predictable, and so purposefully messy as to strain to hold itself together in the last act. The fact that every contribution was twisted toward such overdone ends? Well, I can understand how this won't appeal to all comers. Even at their most purely sincere, or their most purely overcooked, Lifetime movies are an acquired taste. That this film tries, and somehow succeeds, to sort of be both at the same time will only "serve" to further limit its audience. Still, I anticipated having a good time, and that is exactly what I got. 'Revenge best served chilled' is exactly what we assume of Lifetime, and for those who are open to the style, it's terrifically entertaining from start to finish. Cheers!
