Lethal Obsession (2007) asks: “Hey ladies, what if you were stalked by your own brother?”

This is a TV movie—specifically, a thriller—and it has that distinct French-Canadian flavor. For those unfamiliar, many productions meant for American audiences are filmed in Canada to save costs, and weirdly, this has led to Quebec churning out a lot of made-for-TV thrillers. Lethal Obsession is one of them. Part of the fun, for me at least, is spotting all those Montreal locations and that unmistakable Montreal architecture—where much of my extended family lives.

As for the plot, Lethal Obsession follows a woman on the lam, taking every precaution to cut off contact with her psychopathic brother, who, as the title implies, is obsessed with her. She has changed her name, moved to another state, and taken on a different profession. When she visits her dying grandmother, she rents a car just in case her brother sees her, ensuring he can’t identify her vehicle. She’s serious about staying hidden—she even keeps a gun at home, ready for the inevitable moment when he finds her.

Nina Saint-Clair, as she’s now known, is played by Kellie Martin—the queen of made-for-TV movies. But she has another problem: a philandering husband (Dylan Neal) who’s been cheating on her for years. And of course, this wouldn’t be a movie without her psychopathic brother, Drew, somehow winnowing his way back into her life. He does this by cranking up the charm to 11, convincing Nina’s family, friends, and coworkers that he’s a great guy.

This is the most unbelievable part of the movie. Even the most charismatic people don’t build trust that quickly—why would Nina’s husband, best friend, and coworkers all suddenly believe Drew after just a few conversations and completely ignore Nina’s repeated warnings?

And why is practically every woman Drew meets instantly charmed, willing to sleep with him at a moment’s notice? I get that actors are usually good-looking unless they’re character actors, but Adam MacDonald, who plays Drew, is hardly TimothĂ©e Chalamet.

Then again, what do I know? I’m not an easily manipulated woman ready to spill my carefully guarded secrets in order to worship a guy I just met.

Since this is a thriller, we get the usual genre staples: sex, violence, blood, and multiple scenes of nudity. I’m surprised censors allowed this on TV—it must have aired in a really late time slot, maybe 1AM or something.

A movie like this is made for women and marketed to women. That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily enjoyed by women—it just means a bunch of execs sat around and asked, “How do we appeal to the widest swath of women? Make something provocative for them.”

And so, this movie leans hard into the woman in peril trope, where Nina knows the truth but everyone in her life is either too stupid or too naĂŻve to believe her.

But let’s talk about the brother for a moment. Usually, in movies like this, the stalker is an ex-lover, an estranged husband, or just a generic creep. Making the stalker her brother is a bold—and creepy—choice, adding an unsettling incestuous subtext. For almost the entire film, you’re left wondering: Why is he this obsessed with his sister? And why, despite many years apart, is Nina this vigilant about staying away from him? The twist ending, which I didn’t see coming, answers those questions—and the reveal is even more bizarre and absurd than the subtext implies.

Director Philippe Gagnon is prolific in this field—he’s made 35 TV movies, most of them English-language productions, though a few are in French. Nearly all have a similar production value and similar ratings on IMDb and Letterboxd. If nothing else, the man is consistent.

Speaking of ratings, IMDb gives Lethal Obsession a 5.2/10, and there aren’t enough reviews on Letterboxd to generate an average—most hover between one and two stars, which seems about right. It’s watchable, it has its thrills, but it’s standard TV-movie fare.

Now, is this a good movie? No. Is it a bad movie? Also no. It’s a generic thriller that wouldn’t be notable at all if not for the sibling stalker angle. It’s so generic, the title of the movie is recycled every year for another low budget thriller—none of them related—this just happens to be the Lethal Obsession made in 2007.

I don’t recommend Lethal Obsession, but I don’t not recommend it either. Maybe it’s so mid that it’s actually worse than the outright bad B-movies I usually talk about. But hey, there are worse ways to kill time.

https://youtu.be/c657R-kL0i4

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