The term “guilty pleasure” should most definitely be synonymous with any content coming out of the Lifetime Network. It would not be wrong to categorize “Lifetime movies” as a particular movie genre because these movies are one of a kind. Even though they have stories that resemble the world we live in, the world of Lifetime movies is something else. Their latest, Hiding From My Husband, is no different. Even though it feels like the makers of the movie have actually put some effort into developing a proper, intriguing story at first, the movie eventually embraces its Lifetime persona and turns into something utterly ludicrous. I’m certain we all felt more guilt than pleasure while watching this one, but here is an explanation for the events unfolding in Hiding From My Husband.
Spoilers Ahead
Plot Synopsis: What Happens in the Movie?
What happens is exactly what the name suggests. The thing about Lifetime movies is that they are exactly what the name implies most of the time. And Hiding From My Husband clearly indicates what the deal is in the title itself. Jessica and Peter are a couple in a marriage that is already doomed, and nobody but Peter is to blame for that. The man is a huge red flag, and Jessica can’t wait to get away from him.
Does Jessica get away?
Right after Peter leaves for work one fine morning, Jessica packs her bag, takes her passport and an envelope, pulls a wad of cash out of the cupboard, and runs out of the house. To make things dramatic, Peter does come back with a literal olive branch and an excuse that he forgot his laptop at home, and Jessica gets out at the very same moment. In fact, Peter catches up with her right when she is about to take her cab. Jessica still gets in and avoids any confrontation. The next thing she does is what any logical person would do in a situation like this: pick up her son Noah from school; where Peter also catches up with them, but Jessica manages to get away. Peter fails to catch on after that, and Jessica manages to reach this picturesque island where her sister Rachel lives. Rachel, who is a lawyer, promises to help her sister and nephew, both professionally and personally.
It doesn’t take much time for Jessica to find a healthier life outside her toxic marriage as her sister finds her a house and a job at the local school, where Noah starts going as well. Fortunately for Jessica, Noah happens to be the antithesis of that annoying teenager Sandro from Extraction 2, if you know what I mean. For a ten-year-old kid, the boy seems to be genuinely understanding and caring.
What Happens to Peter?
As you would expect, Peter goes full Liam Neeson from Taken on his wife and son and threatens Jessica with a lot of “I will find you” in a deep, husky voice, along with a lot of apologies and manipulative sweetness that involves transferring a hefty amount of money into Jessica’s account. Finding his wife and kid seems to be a difficult job for him, as he doesn’t know where Rachel lives, and Rachel refuses to entertain her brother-in-law in any possible way.
On the island, Noah gets friendly with a man named Cory, who is almost as old as his father, which makes Jessica uneasy. Cory, a mild-mannered man, turns out to be a handyman who fixes up Jessica’s new house. Despite the man coming off as completely harmless, Jessica feels there is something off about him. She meets another man named Matt, who is a music teacher at her school. Matt turns out to be a sensible, compassionate, and charming man who kind of hits it off with Jessica. But past lives keep haunting Jessica, as she still feels the burden of her trauma and notices a car following her everywhere. She gets paranoid about Peter following her and her new life getting ruined soon. But it seems like life really has other plans for our leading lady, as Rachel soon tells her that Peter has died in a freak accident.
What Happens to Jessica in the End?
Despite the media pretty much confirming tech businessman Peter’s death, Jessica doesn’t seem to believe it. Her paranoia keeps increasing as she wakes up nights after nights and finds out that someone is repeatedly breaking into her house. We also see the silhouette of a man and get a whiff of something sinister going on. However, Jessica’s paranoia is quickly dismissed by her sister, and Rachel claims that she has even seen the report of Peter’s death signed by the coroner himself. But when Jessica asks her sister to show her the report, Rachel beats around the bush. Meanwhile, things get a little difficult between Matt and Jessica with the woman going through all these things. However, Matt seems to understand everything and keeps lending his support. Noah also forms a bond with the music teacher.
In a movie like Hiding From My Husband, after a certain point, the big reveal becomes the main deal, and when this movie reaches that point, Jessica not only turns out to be right about someone breaking into her house, but the intruder also happens to be none other than our handyman, Cory. This only proves Jessica was always right about the man being off. Not to mention, in the middle of all the humdrum, Noah’s phone gets stolen by Cory, who further scares Jessica by sending photos of her sleeping in the house. However, Cory does get caught by the police as he breaks into the house one night, and Matt arrives at the right time to be Jessica’s knight in regular clothes. Rachel rushes into her sister’s place and admits she was wrong about Cory after all. It is revealed that Cory has been in and out of rehabilitation centers and has serious mental health issues.
Hiding From My Husband could have ended at this point, but the makers of the film couldn’t resist bringing the husband back and presenting us with a ludicrous climax that would make Kendall Roy scream, “It doesn’t even make any sense.” Here is how it goes: Peter, who was obviously not dead, comes back and kidnaps Noah. Then he calls Jessica in that husky voice and asks her to meet him at a cliff where an accident is bound to happen. Seeing her son in danger, Jessica has no other option but to confront her dirtbag husband, and that is exactly what she does. Through terrible writing and overly dramatic acting, we get to know that despite all the terrible things he has done to Rachel, Peter has nothing to do with Cory terrorizing Jessica. But then, who is the mastermind? Well, it is the sister, of course, who has been jealous of Jessica since she was a child, as their parents always favored her.
Although we haven’t seen any sign of it before, Rachel turns out to be the one who orchestrated everything, including Peter’s accident. She has somehow managed to lure Peter onto the cliff, where he accidentally dies, and Rachel gets to pin the blame on Jessica. That would subsequently make her Noah’s legal guardian, and she would also get all of Peter and Jessica’s money. The absolutely foolproof plan is almost successful, as Peter does die by falling off the cliff, but just as Rachel explains everything to Jessica, Noah films everything and proves himself to be the most worthy character of all. All that is left after that is a happy ending for Jessica, her son, and Matt, who turns out to be a green flag after all, unless Lifetime makes a sequel and turns him into a villain.
