Lifetime streaming service is back with yet another mystery thriller, this time taking sibling rivalry to its extreme and presenting a convoluted plot in Stalked by My Stepsister, directed by John Burd and Logan Giese. The movie is tedious, to say the least, with the actors doing the best they can to deliver the plot. The story revolves around Madison, whose mom Laura marries a wealthy man, Kent Miller, meaning Madison gets herself a younger stepsister in Devon, who comes back from London after completing her high school. The film then focused on Devon’s devilish side as she gradually tries to execute her wicked plan. The potential motive behind her deeds keeps us engaged, but the jaded storyline is as predictable as they come.
Spoilers Ahead
Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Film?
Laura was a single mom, and although she was happy with Madison, she did yearn for a love-life, and found that missing piece of her life when she fell in love with Kent. Kent, too, was happy to have a woman in his life, as his life had been full of tragedies, as all his previous relationships had not worked, some even ending in his partners’ tragic deaths. He had his daughter to live for, but since Laura came into his life, he became hopeful that life would become more joyful and Devon too would have a sister. They were to be stepsisters, of course, but both Laura and Kent expected them to bond like real ones. Devon seemed like one of those girls who would go out of her way to be engaged in someone’s life, even at the expense of being called a nosy and irritating girl, but Madison accommodated her as much as she could. It wasn’t as if Madison had no friends of her own or that she would have excessive time to spend time with Devon. She had a boyfriend, Ian, and her best friend, Gia, was a force of nature who kept Madison entertained. So Madison’s life was filled up by the people who cared for her, her studies, and her part-time work at a cafe. She had one thing that kept her mind preoccupied: asthma. Madison was the polar opposite of Devon, who seemed to be in great shape but did not have any friends, which explained her nosy behavior. Soon, an incident occurred that made Madison fear that Devon might be a psychopathic killer who wanted to kill her.
Why Did Devon Try To Kill Gia?
The first suspicious episode occurred when Kent’s guests, one of whom had a shellfish allergy, almost died by eating the food that had been prepared by Madison. Madison was certain that she hadn’t added any ingredients that could have harmed the guest. She hadn’t. It was all Devon’s doing, who was a master manipulator and added the allergens and made it look like Gia or Madison had accidentally added them to the food. Gia didn’t like her one bit, and after Devon told her a creepy story about Kent’s fiancée, who had passed away, she grew wary of Devon. Not only that, she had looked up the departed fiancé online and found something that she desperately wanted to tell Madison. But Devon, suspecting she was up to something, and she couldn’t let that happen; hence, she attacked Gia in the library, and although she couldn’t kill her, she did manage to send her into a coma. The secret information couldn’t be communicated to Madison. Devon didn’t like Gia’s habit of making light of everything, as if nothing was important. Devon told her that Kent’s fiancée had the same habit. Gia must have thought that Devon had something to do with the fiancée’s death, which is why she looked online. She had a paper clipping with her that Madison later found and read Maureen’s name from.
How Did Devon Isolate Madison?
Madison’s best quality was that she was an extremely friendly person. After her father died, she did have a tough couple of years where she acted out in a brash manner and had also ended up in a juvenile center because of truancy. But overall, she was a gem of a human being who was accepting of her mother’s new relationship. Devon was perhaps jealous of Madison’s holistic approach to life. She had already removed Gia from her life, at least for a while, and now planned to distance her from Laura as well. The trick with the ladder, which Madison had carefully fixed for Laura to paint in the hallway, was successful as Devon deliberately tampered with the ladder, so that it would collapse. Laura fell, and Devon took all the credit for calling the doctors. Madison was made to be seen as someone who was being irresponsible. Similarly, with the allergy episode, and then later, when Detective Waldron came in for questioning, she framed Madison as having been in a fight with Gia over mixing shellfish in the food as a joke, essentially giving him a motive for suspecting Madison, as if she was the one who had attacked Gia. Laura grew concerned as this behavior reminded her of the time period when Madison’s father had passed away and Madison had started behaving in an irresponsible manner. Madison couldn’t explain herself and was backed into a corner. Devon’s plan was working, and all she needed to do was take away her inhaler and wait for her to die. She would have succeeded in killing Madison, but Ian was there to save her life when the breathlessness kicked in. The only hope for Madison was to find Maureen, whom Gia thought to be the only person to know Devon’s reality.
Is Devon Alive?
Before ending up in the hospital, Madison had made contact with Maureen, who came to see her in the hospital. She was Teresa’s (Kent’s fiancée) maid of honor during the wedding ceremony. She told Madison that the police had shut down the case, saying Teresa had committed suicide, but Devon was the one who had killed her. She gave no proof, but she knew Devon couldn’t stand Kent marrying anyone, and hence she got rid of all his partners. Maureen was killed by Devon in her car, and she didn’t miss this opportunity to frame Madison. Her locket, which had a photo of her and Ian in it, was left by Devon in Maureen’s car. The detectives were onto Madison, but all Madison was worried about was Laura. If what Maureen told her was true, then Devon killed everyone who even came close to marrying Kent. And here, Laura had married him behind Devon’s back when she was away for her studies.
Devon was definitely going to take Laura out of the equation, and she might have done so sooner, but she never got the opportunity. So she played the long game, where she could easily pin the murder on Madison or make it look like an accident. She had already made Madison seem like a delinquent who could kill someone based on an argument. What she didn’t understand was that even though she had created a little rift between Laura and Madison, they were still mothers and daughters who weren’t going to turn against each other so easily. Madison wanted Laura out of the house, away from Devon, but didn’t have enough proof against Devon to convince Laura that she was dangerous. The next best thing happened when Kent planned to take Laura away on a trip, and Madison could deal with Devon alone. But Devon didn’t let Laura leave and tried to kill her while Madison was at work at the cafe. Madison came back just in the nick of time, running away from the detectives who had come with the intention of arresting her for Maureen’s murder. Madison saved Laura’s life and fought Devon, who was suffering from a case of the Electra complex, it seems. She couldn’t stand seeing Kent with anyone else. Ultimately, the detectives reached Kent’s house and saved Madison and Laura, but couldn’t find Devon. She had vanished into thin air.
During Stalked by My Stepsister‘s ending, it was revealed that Devon was alive. Six months after the incident, having escaped the wheels of justice, she showed up at Madison’s new college, where Madison had planned to have a great time with Ian. Devon’s face showed resolve, and a killer smile at the end hinted that she wouldn’t stop until Laura was dead. Her preoccupation was with Laura and not Madison, which is why she didn’t follow Madison, and went away as if following Laura. There was no one to save Laura now, as Madison was in college, away from Kent’s house. In all probability, she would kill Laura and then perhaps come for Madison to fight again, as she was beaten the last time they were face-to-face in a fight. Gia had recovered from her coma, and maybe she would be the one to fight Devon this time around. Or perhaps, by sheer luck, Madison will show up and save her mother, and this time she will ensure that Devon is brought to justice.
