Lifetime’s The Perfect In-Laws is just a mystery thriller on the surface, but it’s actually nothing but a comedy. The Perfect In-Laws follows the overly dysfunctional family of the Whitfields, who have many uncomfortable secrets that come to light throughout the film. But in the midst of all these scandals, an innocent woman named Audrey Sinclair became entangled just because she was the wife of Xander Whitfield. The Perfect In-Laws is a total mess right from the beginning, but let’s still discuss the storyline to know what happened to the Whitfields until the end.
Spoilers Ahead
Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Film?
The Perfect In-Laws opens with Mrs. Whitfield, Xander’s biological mother, being found dead in her bathtub. Their maid found the body and informed Xander right away. The scene shifted to twenty years later when Xander was married to Audrey, a travel blogger and budding novelist who was traveling due to her work. Xander came to his hometown to meet his family just because his father had invited him to talk about something important. Xander met his stepmother, Marlena, who was a femme fatale, least bothered about her husband or family, and busy having a secret affair with their gardener, Sonny, who was way younger than her. Xander had a stepsister, Nicole, whose life was devoid of her mother’s love and father’s affection. They had a house manager, who was actually Marlena’s biological mother, but Marlena decided to keep it a secret. Teresa, Xander’s cousin, and the family attorney joined them in the evening with her husband, Warren. At the dinner table, Mr. Whitfield finally dropped the bomb and told everyone present that he was thinking of selling his company, which originally belonged to his dead wife. Neither Xander nor Nicole was happy about the decision, but Mr. Whitfield had already made it loud and clear that his decision was final. Xander and Nicole couldn’t do much about it, as the man held most of the shares in the company and legally had the right to do whatever he wished.
At night, Mr. Whitfield asked Marlena to come to his study, demanding to have a conversation with her. He showed her some pictures of her getting intimate with Sonny, which startled Marlena. It was evident that Marlena and Mr. Whitfield didn’t have a healthy relationship, as Mr. Whitfield had never been faithful to her, but now that he had caught his wife cheating on him, it had hurt his male ego. Marlena, having nothing much to argue about, simply left the room, but sometime later, Mr. Whitfield started feeling dizzy. Finishing his drink, he was about to head downstairs, but we saw someone push him down the stairs, causing him to fall and die.
Who Killed Mr. Whitfield?
Audrey decided to surprise her husband by showing up at the Whitfield estate, but on her way, her car tire got punctured. A local guy named Chip came to help her change her tire. After heading to the mansion, Audrey didn’t get as warm a welcome as she had expected, because the moment she came to the house, Mr. Whitfield fell down the stairs. After the police checked the dead body and declared it an accident, Audrey began to realize something was off with the house, as no one in the family was actually mourning the loss of their family patriarch. Soon, Xander asked Teresa to read the will his father had made, and Teresa said that she would read it the next morning.
Through the will reading, it was revealed that Mr. Whitfield had left nothing much for Marlena and gave all of his property to Xander and Nicole. Marlena was furious, and she couldn’t wait to take this matter to court. It was found that Xander and Teresa had already changed the will to grab it all and leave Marlena with nothing.
Marlena took this opportunity to reveal something very unusual and shocking. She confronted Xander and told him that Nicole was actually Xander’s daughter. She reminded him that they had hooked up once when Xander was only 18 years old. She threatened Xander with revealing it to his wife if he didn’t give Marlena a significant cut of the property. Xander was actually planning to make Audrey’s family invest in their company, so he was afraid of what would happen if Marlena told everything to Audrey to ruin his plan.
Meanwhile, Audrey befriended Chip’s sister, Brianna, who was Xander’s ex-wife. Brianna warned Audrey about the family and how dangerous they could be. Audrey returned to the house and decided to talk it out with Xander.
Warren had found out that it was Nicole who had pushed her father down the stairs, and therefore, Warren didn’t miss the opportunity to blackmail Nicole so that he could serve his own ulterior motive. Nicole had no means left but to take matters into her own hands, and killed Warren. She had never been happy with her family. From her childhood, she had seen her mother as an evil opportunist who had never actually loved her family. Nicole didn’t have any idea about Teresa and Xander’s plans, but when she overheard their conversation about changing wills, she confronted Xander, who had to enlist her in their planning. But neither Xander nor Teresa had any idea that Nicole would go so far as killing Mr. Whitfield to grab his property quickly. In another twist, we came to know that Nicole had a relationship with Sonny, but she wasn’t in love with him. She was actually using him to catch her mother’s wrongdoing. She even secretly filmed her mother having sex with Sonny and sent it to everyone who knew Marlena. After killing Warren, she asks Sonny to hide the bloody knife in Marlena’s closet to frame her for the murder. But Sonny got caught by Marlena while hiding the knife in her wardrobe.
What Happened To Xander And Audrey?
Audrey and Nicole found Warren’s dead body, and Nicole started acting innocent, trying to blame her mother for the murder. Meanwhile, Marlena’s mother, the house manager, who had previously overheard Nicole and Warren’s conversation about killing Mr. Whitefield, went straight to Xander to tell him everything. Xander hurried back to the house.
Meanwhile, when Marlena caught Sonny hiding the knife, she confronted him, holding him at gunpoint. Out of pressure, Sonny confessed that it was Nicole who had forced him to carry out the plan. However, as Sonny tried to snatch the gun from Marlena’s hand, he was accidentally shot in the stomach. Marlena went downstairs with the gun in her hand and found Audrey and Nicole. Audrey tried to calm down the heated situation, wanting no one to get hurt, but Nicole and Marlena were enraged, and it seemed like they were going to kill each other. Finally, Xander arrived right at the scene and revealed to everyone that he had been aware of the fact that Nicole was behind his father’s death. Xander tried to convince Marlena to put down the gun, but before she could do so, Nicole got hold of it and pointed it at Xander.
As the tension rose, Nicole finally confessed that she had killed both Mr. Whitfield and Warren and tried to justify her act, saying that her father was not a good person and Warren was blackmailing her for killing her father. However, as Audrey tried to grab the gun from Nicole’s hand, the trigger was accidentally pulled, causing a tragic accident. Xander got shot, and as he took his last breath, he finally confessed to the mistake that he made with Marlena years ago and told Nicole that he was his biological father.
During The Perfect In-Laws ending, we see that a year has passed, and Audrey had her book published, inspired by her own life. Marlena came to her book launch and demanded an autograph from her. She told Audrey that she had recently been engaged to a rich guy. She also talked about Nicole, who was serving her time in prison, but she had become a model prisoner who was now focused on her painting. Audrey was glad about Nicole, but Marlena added that Nicole might be out of prison in a few years, which Audrey should remember. The film concluded with Audrey feeling a little uneasy about Marlena’s unsolicited arrival, but The Perfect In-Laws ended with the two of them parting ways, probably forever.
