Most of the time, in Lifetime movies, people are either too dumb or too smart. There’s no in-between. Then comes a point when the dumb finally realize their dumbness and a shoddy climax follows. But somehow, these movies always work. There’s a steady audience. Otherwise, why would the network keep making them? We’re talking about their latest, The Wrong Life Coach, here, which follows the same pattern, and it stars Allison McAtee, star of many Lifetime movies, including the very recent A Nurse to Die For, as the “wrong” life coach.
Spoilers Ahead
Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Movie?
A young woman gets startled by something she has just discovered, right outside of a house that she just trespassed on. Before we find out who this is and what’s the deal here, she is knocked out with a baseball bat by a mysterious person whom we don’t get to see.
Who’s Jordan, And What’s Her Trouble?
Jordan is your typical naive Lifetime protagonist. Her mom, Suzanne, is living with her, thanks to her father dying of cancer six months ago. Her new boss, Tara, is not letting her breathe by mercilessly piling work on her. Her boyfriend, Peter, wants them to take the plunge into lifelong commitment, but Jordan is not so sure about that with everything that is going on. So what does Jordan do? Well, she randomly meets this person, Liz, at a local coffee shop and takes no time to hire the woman as her “life coach.” Liz is supposed to be a professional, and Jordan has no reason not to believe her, especially after going through Liz’s website and seeing her “inspirational videos”.
How Does Liz Change Jordan’s Life?
It’s evident from the very first moment that Liz is not good news. She clearly wants to mess with Jordan, and everyone except Jordan can actually see through it. Jordan’s colleague and best friend Natalie (who, by the way, is the same young woman from the beginning) is not at all sold on Liz and tries to warn Jordan, but that goes in vain. Even Jordan’s mother is not too fond of Liz, and she also attempts to make her daughter realize that this is not the way, but Jordan seems to be way too brainwashed by Liz.
Jordan’s life does change, though. She takes an assertive role at her work, which impresses Tara; she starts confronting people when it’s necessary; and, of course, she starts posting reels on her social media. Her relationship with Peter, which got awkward after her rejection of Peter’s sort of proposal, also improves significantly thanks to Jordan sending the dude a few suggestive photos, following Liz’s advice. All this is fine, but Liz soon takes it to another level by making Jordan abruptly quit her job, creating a rift between her and Natalie, and manipulating her into breaking up with Peter. All Liz has to do is plant a seed of “Peter might be cheating” in Jordan’s head and send some suggestive photos to Peter. Not to mention, Liz manages to get a hold of Jordan’s passwords and everything valuable. She also sneakily installs a camera at Jordan’s house so that she can always monitor her subject.
Halfway into the movie, we come back to the opening scene where Nat is trying to look for things that would convince Jordan of Liz’s fraudulence, and we finally see Liz hitting Natalie at the back of the head with a baseball bat.
What Does Liz Have Against Jordan?
Most Lifetime movies (or movies of this kind) solely depend on two big reveals: the “who” and the “why.” Given that we already know the “who” from the very beginning, the only trump card that The Wrong Life Coach has up its sleeve is the “why.” Unfortunately, that turns out to be nothing but a grudge Liz has had against Jordan since school. The movie does reveal that the two of them were in the same school early on, so connecting the dots was not that difficult. Jordan took Liz’s place on the cheerleading team, which potentially ruined Liz’s life. Obviously, this might seem like an overaction, but I have no issue believing that such a thing could actually push a teenager down a dark path, especially if they come from a dysfunctional home, like Liz.
How Does Jordan Fix Her Life?
While Liz’s grudge against Jordan is far-fetched but still understandable, Jordan suddenly coming to her senses after having a two-minute chat with her mother is illogical as hell and clearly a result of wonky writing, a common trait found in Lifetime movies. Anyways, better late than never, Jordan fires Liz right away and starts looking for Nat, who’s been missing for a while— Liz’s doing, of course. Liz is obviously not too happy about it, and she does put a lot of effort into retaliation. And in true Lifetime manner, she does succeed in it to an extent by spoiling Jordan’s chances of getting a new job, even after she does well in the interview. How does she do it? Well, Liz still has those suggestive photos of Jordan, thanks to having access to all of Jordan’s social media. While Liz manages to derail Jordan’s attempts at securing the job, she fails at separating Peter and Jordan, despite using the same old trick of seduction on Peter. Realizing Liz is not going to stop, Jordan invites her for a final confrontation after speaking to Liz’s life coach, Rhonda.
During The Wrong Life Coach‘s ending, Liz finally loses the fight and ends up getting arrested by the staple detective character. Despite Liz saying that she killed Nat, Jordan’s best friend turns out to be very much alive and kicking. The Wrong Life Coach constantly criticizes the profession and pretty much calls it a hack. There’s a scene when Nat loudly says that you don’t really need any degree to be a life coach, as you can just declare you are one, like how Michael Scott declared his bankruptcy. As someone who is not much into philosophies like “seizing the day” or “live laugh love,” I consider this a huge positive.
