Story: Danielle (Helena Mattson) is a talented musician and she has finally gotten the break she has been dreaming about, thanks to conductor James (Max Ryan). He has been able to not only mentor her when it comes her musical skills, but also offered her a spot on his recent musical tour, letting her get experience and exposure. Going on the trip caused some drama between Danielle and her sister Heidi (Danielle C. Ryan), but now that’s she has returned, she plans to reconnect and smooth over whatever drama might be lingering. Her time with James wasn’t just professional either, as she developed a romantic connection with the conductor as well, which she continues even after the tour had concluded. The world seems to be coming up roses for Danielle in both her career and personal life, but is Max all he seems to be or is there more to him than meets the eye?

Entertainment Value: I love a drama filled Lifetime thriller and His Deadly Affair delivers, not to mention this one has a memorable, effective villain on tap. The narrative is typical Lifetime stuff, cheating and vengeance and such, though I think focusing the ire on the scorned wife instead of the sleaze husband leaves something to be desired. I would have liked to see more misfortune piled on him, but Lifetime chose a different route this time. His Deadly Affair is a fun watch however, anchored by a very well cast and well executed dynamic between our good girl and our psycho. Both characters are handled well and elevate the material, so its nice to have both a capable, wild villain and a grounded, believable good girl, as that’s rare in these Lifetime thrillers. The protagonists are usually naive or have no awareness, but aside from the initial “why doesn’t she know?” involved here, our heroine is much more on point than most seen on Lifetime. I like that the movie dials up the drama and dysfunction, as I love the craziness that ensues and luckily, our villain embraces that melodramatic chaos. I had fun with His Deadly Affair and recommend it to those who enjoy wild Lifetime thrillers.

I always look for drama and dysfunction in these Lifetime thrillers, but what sets apart the top tier from the middle tier is often the villain involved. A wild, manic psycho can make a mediocre Lifetime movie rocket into sheer entertainment and luckily for us, His Deadly Affair has an excellent one in Victoria, played by Gina Holden. I’ve seen a lot of performers phone in their work on these thrillers, but Holden gets the most out of this material that she can. She is able to bring some emotion to the role and show the more vulnerable aspects of the character, though the movie often wants to move that along to unleash her more kinetic villainy. And when she does go psycho, it is immense fun to watch, as Holden goes for it and adds so much to the movie. I would put her performance up with Lifetime’s elite psychos and coming from me, that isn’t just faint praise. The cast also includes Helena Mattson, Danielle C. Ryan, Tim Fields, and Max Ryan.