fifty best Lifetime movies

While Lifetime movies might seem similar a tradition as old equally cable itself, the outset one debuted in 1990, six years after the network was established. Called "Memories of Murder," it centered on a adult female with amnesia, who suddenly gets her memory dorsum and becomes convinced there's another woman out to get her. Consider information technology a relatively tame preview of what was to come, as information technology was followed by tawdry fare such every bit "Abducted: A Male parent'south Love," "Co-Ed Call Girl," and numerous other titles. Needless to say, the recipe worked, and the network even ready its own corresponding aqueduct just for movies.

Nowadays, Lifetime movies are commonly divided between a few respective categories: soapy biopics like "Harry and Meghan: A Royal Romance," kid abduction stories, thrillers involving family secrets (such equally the infamous "Mother, May I Sleep with Danger"), teen dramas, and romantic comedies.

Aimed primarily at the female demographic, these films come in well below virtually cinematic standards, but withal represent a qualitative leap over the network's primeval output. In fact, Lifetime is no stranger to the occasional Emmy nomination or positive review. The network has also become a veritable hub for female talent, both in front end of and behind the photographic camera. Many now-famous A-listing and B-listing actors got work in Lifetime movies early in their careers or when they were struggling to interruption through. Some notable names on this list include Mahershala Ali, Alia Shawkat, Regina King, and Kristen Stewart. And occasionally, Lifetime provides roles for truly corking actresses who have trouble finding work in a sexist industry that tends to discard women as they age (see Angela Bassett in "Betty and Coretta" and Cicely Tyson in "The Trip to Bountiful").

Admirable qualities aside, Lifetime movies namely persist as the stuff of pure Television melodrama. These are films people dear to hate or hate to love, with precious few exceptions. Almost subjects are ripped straight from the headlines and treated with a heavy hand. Every now and then, nevertheless, an authentic story slips through the cracks. Examples include "Miracle Run" and "A Daughter Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story," both of which offering deft takes on important issues.

To celebrate these iconic cable fixtures in their cheesiness and glory akin, Stacker used IMDb user ratings data to rank the top fifty Lifetime movies, with ties broken by votes. To qualify, the flick had to be produced or distributed by Lifetime and take at least 250 user votes. Counting down from #50, here are the best Lifetime movies.

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1 / 50

#l. Hitting and Run (1999)

- Managing director: Dan Lerner
- IMDb user rating: 6.0
- Runtime: 88 min

Margaret Colin returned to her soap opera roots with "Hitting and Run," starring as Joanna, a adult female who accidentally hits a daughter with her car. She does the right matter—at get-go. Fleeing the scene to go help for the girl, when she returns she stays mum near her identity. But the guilt might be too much for Joanna.

2 / 50

#49. My Name Is Sarah (2007)

- Director: Paul A. Kaufman
- IMDb user rating: 6.0
- Runtime: 98 minutes

Her name is Sarah (Jennifer Beals) and she'due south non a recovering alcoholic, though her fellow AA members are none the wiser. To give up the ruse is to compromise her budding romance with an actual alcoholic named Charlie. Empathic characterization keeps the viewers on Sarah'due south side throughout this romantic dramedy.

3 / fifty

#48. When Innocence Is Lost (1997)

- Managing director: Bethany Rooney
- IMDb user rating: vi.1
- Runtime: 91 minutes

Before her breakout performance in the Telly series "Felicity," Keri Russell starred in this family drama. Similar a soapy accept on "Kramer vs. Kramer," it finds a immature unmarried mother (Russell) fighting for custody over her newborn baby. Expect a pivotal twist as the courtroom boxing unfolds.

iv / 50

#47. Unstable (2009)

- Director: Don McBrearty
- IMDb user rating: half dozen.1
- Runtime: 85 minutes

At the heart of this psychological thriller is a wealthy woman named Megan Walker (Shiri Appleby). Even so grappling with by trauma, Megan enters into a new and seemingly perfect marriage. When strange events unfold, she must make up one's mind whether her married man has ulterior motives or if it's all in her caput.

5 / 50

#46. Not Like Everyone Else (2006)

- Director: Tom McLoughlin
- IMDb user rating: 6.1
- Runtime: 120 minutes

This Lifetime drama tells the story of Brandi Blackbear (Alia Shawkat), a Native American teenager accused of witchcraft. Suspended from school for casting a spell, Blackbear sues for Civil Rights violations. As bizarre every bit information technology may audio, this one's based on actual events.

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6 / 50

#45. Missing at 17 (2013)

- Director: Doug Campbell
- IMDb user rating: 6.i
- Runtime: xc minutes

After running away to discover her biological female parent, a teen gets seduced past a criminal. When she never returns home, her adoptive mother sets out to discover her. And so goes this dramatic thriller, in which both mothers join forces to save the young daughter.

7 / 50

#44. Double Daddy (2015)

- Director: Lee Friedlander
- IMDb user rating: 6.i
- Runtime: 85 minutes

Despite its express mirth-out-loud title, this teen picture unfolds in the vein of a soapy drama. The double daddy in question is high schoolhouse playboy Connor, who impregnates ii different girls around the same fourth dimension. It was later followed by a stand-alone sequel chosen...wait for it..."Double Mommy."

8 / 50

#43. Bond of Silence (2010)

- Director: Peter Werner
- IMDb user rating: 6.i
- Runtime: 98 minutes

Ripped straight from the headlines, this small-scale-town drama kicks off with an accidental murder and the air of silence that follows. When a suspect finally emerges, the victim's widow resorts to empathy in lieu of spite. The subsequent bond between these two characters entails themes of compassion and forgiveness.

9 / l

#42. Starving in Bourgeoisie (2014)

- Managing director: Tara Miele
- IMDb user rating: half-dozen.i
- Runtime: 84 minutes

As the championship would propose, this Lifetime drama examines the ongoing threat of anorexia among teenage girls. It centers on 17-year-sometime Hannah, who takes her eating disorder to unsafe extremes. Viewers appear to be divided as to whether the motion-picture show delivers an accurate experience or actually romanticizes the very affair it'southward trying to demystify.

x / 50

#41. Fugitive at 17 (2012)

xi / 50

#40. Flowers in the Attic (2014)

- Director: Deborah Grub
- IMDb user rating: vi.1
- Runtime: 89 minutes

Follow the four Dollanganger children as they move into Grandma's house afterwards their father's death. Unfortunately, Grandma (Ellen Burstyn) is a heartless psycho who locks them in the attic. Similar the acknowledged novel from which it was adapted, this film kicked off a number of sequels.

12 / 50

#39. Half a Dozen Babies (1999)

- Manager: Douglas Barr
- IMDb user rating: 6.2
- Runtime: 89 minutes

While struggling to excogitate, a married couple partakes in one concluding circular of fertility treatment. That gives way to Indiana'southward start-ever sixtuplets and a host of new issues for both partners. It's all based on the true story of Keith and Becki Dilley.

13 / 50

#38. Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart (2016)

- Managing director: Vondie Curtis-Hall
- IMDb user rating: half dozen.2
- Runtime: 90 minutes

A chart-topping vocal by rhythm and blues creative person Toni Braxton became the title of her subsequent memoir and this movie accommodation. Following her meteoric rising to success, the singer battles with Lupus, a public divorce, and her son's autism. What emerges is a portrait of perseverance and self-healing for the sake of family.

14 / 50

#37. Bringing Ashley Domicile (2011)

- Manager: Nick Copus
- IMDb user rating: vi.2
- Runtime: 87 minutes

A trouble-laden teen (Jennifer Morrison) goes missing and her older sister (A.J. Cook) is determined to find her. The story unfolds over the course of years and depicts both sisters on their respective journeys. Patricia Richardson (of "Home Improvement") co-stars.

xv / 50

#36. Jodi Arias: Dirty Fiddling Undercover (2013)

16 / l

#35. Montana Sky (2007)

- Director: Mike Robe
- IMDb user rating: half dozen.2
- Runtime: 96 minutes

A wealthy stock trader bequeaths his Montana subcontract to his iii daughters, who are half-sisters and complete strangers to 1 some other. There's just ane catch: the daughters must live on the property together for a twelvemonth earlier they tin officially own it. This Lifetime drama is ane in a long line of Nora Roberts adaptations.

17 / 50

#34. Betty and Coretta (2013)

- Director: Yves Simoneau
- IMDb user rating: half-dozen.3
- Runtime: 88 minutes

From the manager of "Coffin My Heart at Wounded Articulatio genus" comes this biographical drama with ever-prescient themes. After the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King and Macolm 10, widows Coretta Scott King (Angela Bassett) and Dr. Betty Shabazz (Mary J. Blige) continue the fight for racial justice. Both stars were nominated for Women's Image Network Awards, with Bassett taking home the prize.

18 / fifty

#33. Dear Underground Santa (2013)

- Manager: Peter Sullivan
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Runtime: 88 minutes

A busy Beverly Hills banker (Tatyana Ali) comes home for the holidays in this romantic Christmas comedy. The plot takes a twist when she starts receiving mysterious letters from a secret admirer, who may very well exist dead. Has her wish to find true love actually been fulfilled?

19 / 50

#32. Lies in Evidently Sight (2010)

- Manager: Patricia Cardoso
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Runtime: 89 minutes

Later on the sudden suicide of her close cousin, a blind woman (Martha Higareda) goes looking for answers. During the investigation, she uncovers a dark past of long-buried secrets. This is a remake of the 2006 Israeli film "Out of Sight."

20 / 50

#31. Expecting Amish (2014)

21 / l

#thirty. Lies My Mother Told Me (2005)

- Director: Christian Duguay
- IMDb user rating: 6.three
- Runtime: 87 minutes

Con artist Lauren Sims (Joely Richardson) violates her probation and skips town with her daughter Haylei (Hayden Panettiere). They end upward in Las Vegas, where Lauren marries a wealthy attorney. The grim story that follows is loosely based on actual events.

22 / l

#29. Kept Adult female (2015)

- Director: Michel Poulette
- IMDb user rating: six.3
- Runtime: 83 minutes

This dramatic thriller peels dorsum the layers of suburbia to find something bleak and dangerous lying underneath. Upon moving into her new home, a woman (Courtney Ford) rapidly becomes suspicious of her kindly neighbour. Despite her instincts, she's shortly lured into a twisted trap.

23 / 50

#28. The Trials of Cate McCall (2013)

- Manager: Karen Moncrieff
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Runtime: 89 minutes

After failing to find an audience elsewhere, this flick was picked up by Lifetime and aired in 2014. Kate Beckinsale plays disgraced lawyer Cate McCall, who takes on a pro bono entreatment to regain both her credentials and the custody of her daughter. An credible case of wrongful confidence delivers unexpected twists equally the drama unfolds. Nick Nolte and James Cromwell also star.

24 / l

#27. For One Dark (2006)

- Managing director: Ernest R. Dickerson
- IMDb user rating: half dozen.4
- Runtime: 89 minutes

A Georgia boondocks experiences a long overdue reckoning in this Lifetime drama, loosely inspired by bodily events. Fed up with her high school's segregated prom policy, teen Brianna McCallister (played by Raven-Symone) advocates for change. Embarrassingly enough, the story takes place in 2002.

25 / 50

#26. Taken Back: Finding Haley (2012)

- Manager: Marking Jean
- IMDb user rating: 6.four
- Runtime: 85 minutes

No stranger to the premise, Lifetime released yet some other missing child movie in 2012. This time around, a mother named Karen (Moira Kelly) goes to drastic extremes in her decade-long pursuit of the truth. She finally tracks downwardly her daughter in a schoolyard...or is it merely someone who looks like her daughter?

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26 / 50

Muse Entertainment Enterprises

#25. Reviving Ophelia (2010)

- Director: Bobby Roth
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Runtime: 92 minutes

Based on Mary Pipher's not-fiction book of the same proper noun, this drama chronicles the trials and tribulations of 2 sisters and their teenage daughters. Wrapped upwards in the narrative is a taut examination of mod adolescence. Like the book before information technology, the motion-picture show argues that many teens withal come up of age in "a girl-poisoning culture."

27 / 50

#24. Beloved at the Christmas Table (2012)

- Director: Rachel Lee Goldenberg
- IMDb user rating: 6.five
- Runtime: 89 minutes

What meliorate fourth dimension than Christmas for two close friends to fall in beloved? Those friends are Sam and Kat and their bond goes back decades, to when they used to sit at the kids' tabular array. To quote the movie'south tagline, "it was love with every seize with teeth."

28 / 50

#23. Twist of Faith (2013)

- Director: Paul A. Kaufman
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Runtime: 85 minutes

After witnessing the murder of his family, an Orthodox Jew wanders from large metropolis New York to pocket-size-boondocks Alabama. He'southward taken in by the local gospel community and their talented lead singer (Toni Braxton). Awash with faith-based themes, the movie is a testament to the healing ability of beloved.

29 / 50

#22. The Wronged Man (2010)

- Director: Tom McLoughlin
- IMDb user rating: vi.6
- Runtime: 85 minutes

Based on a mag article of the same name, this legal drama depicts the 22-yr battle to clear an innocent man of imitation rape charges. The human'south proper noun is Calvin Willis and he's played past and then-rising star Mahershala Ali. For both Willis and his pro bono paralegal (Julia Ormond), it'south a life-irresolute journey from which an unbreakable friendship is forged.

30 / 50

#21. The Pregnancy Projection (2012)

- Director: Norman Buckley
- IMDb user rating: half dozen.half-dozen
- Runtime: 89 minutes

Witness the true story of Gaby Rodriguez (played by Alexa PenaVega), who grabbed headlines in 2011 for her high school senior project. Adamant to expose the stigmas surrounding teen pregnancy, Rodriguez pretended to be pregnant herself. Her experiment is the subject of both this Lifetime drama and an award-winning memoir.

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31 / 50

#20. Daughter, Positive (2007)

- Director: Peter Werner
- IMDb user rating: 6.six
- Runtime: 88 minutes

High schoolhouse teen Rachel Sandler (Andrea Bowen) appears to have a perfect life and a promising futurity. But everything changes when she discovers that a erstwhile fling—who has since died in a car accident—was HIV positive. "90210" alum Jennie Garth co-stars as a substitute teacher who's been secretly grappling with the very aforementioned disease.

32 / 50

#19. Odd Girl Out (2005)

- Director: Tom McLoughlin
- IMDb user rating: half dozen.half dozen
- Runtime: 84 minutes

Hot on the heels of 2004'southward "Hateful Girls" came this like-sounding Tv set film, in which a teen girl flirts with the object of someone else's affection. Now in the crosshairs, she suffers relentless bullying as a result. The book it adapted likewise brought the overlooked event of female teen bullying to much wider attention.

33 / 50

#18. Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story (2008)

- Director: Paul A. Kaufman
- IMDb user rating: half dozen.7
- Runtime: 89 minutes

This fact-based melodrama has all the ingredients for a formulaic Lifetime movie, including a missing child and desperate mother. What'due south surprising is the earnest and authentic delivery, according to one Hollywood Reporter review. It'southward based on the shocking true story of Delimar Vera, a infant who was presumed dead in a fire but actually kidnapped.

34 / fifty

#17. Abducted: The Carlina White Story (2012)

- Director: Vondie Curtis-Hall
- IMDb user rating: vi.vii
- Runtime: 86 minutes

Culling from another true abduction story, this drama puts a slight twist on the standard template. Instead of focusing on the mother, it centers on the kidnapped baby turned young developed. It's only at the age of 23 that Carlina White realizes the people who raised her aren't her biological parents.

35 / fifty

#18. No One Would Tell (1996)

- Director: Noel Nosseck
- IMDb user rating: half dozen.7
- Runtime: 96 minutes

Sitcom stars Fred Savage and Candace Cameron Bure headline this made-for-TV drama, which chronicles an calumniating loftier school relationship. What starts as an unlikely romance takes on mortiferous dimensions when the boyfriend (Savage) reveals his darker side. Lifetime updated the motion picture with a 2018 remake starring Shannen Doherty and Mira Sorvino.

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36 / fifty

#15. Mom at Xvi (2005)

- Director: Peter Werner
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Runtime: ninety minutes

Lifetime one time over again explores teenage pregnancy in this 2005 motion-picture show about sixteen-year-former Jacey Jeffries (Danielle Panabaker). Later giving birth, Jacey attends a new loftier school and tries to blend in with the local populace. To hibernate her secret, she pretends that her daughter is actually her younger sister.

37 / 50

#14. The Memory Keeper's Daughter (2008)

- Director: Mick Jackson
- IMDb user rating: 6.vii
- Runtime: 90 minutes

1 of Lifetime's nearly ambitious efforts adapts a acknowledged novel and stars Dermot Mulroney as Dr. David Henry. Upon discovering that i of his twin babies has Downward syndrome, David gives her away to a nurse (Emily Watson) in 1964. The following story takes place over decades, as he tries to reconcile with both his abandoned daughter and his selfish deed.

38 / 50

#13. Cleveland Abduction (2015)

- Managing director: Alex Kalymnios
- IMDb user rating: vi.7
- Runtime: 88 minutes

This merciless outing tells the true story of Michelle Knight, who was held captive by rapist Ariel Castro for over 11 years. Taryn Manning plays the struggling survivor and Raymond Cruz her sadistic abductor. Diversity critic Brian Lowry chosen information technology "ugly, brutal and hard to sentinel."

39 / fifty

#12. Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story (2005)

twoscore / 50

#11. The Trip to Bountiful (2014)

- Director: Michael Wilson
- IMDb user rating: vi.ix
- Runtime: 102 minutes

Cicely Tyson stars in "The Trip to Bountiful" as the elderly and overprotected Carrie Watts, who makes an impromptu journey to her sometime hometown. Both this movie and a previous Oscar-winning film are based on Horton Foote's 1953 play of the same proper name.

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41 / fifty

Alberta Film Entertainment

#10. Dawn Anna (2005)

- Director: Arliss Howard
- IMDb user rating: vi.nine
- Runtime: 88 minutes

Debra Winger plays real-life mother Dawn Anna Townsend in this harrowing drama. While recovering from a mortiferous encephalon disease, Dawn loses one of her daughters to the Columbine High School massacre. Bring tissues.

42 / 50

#9. Living Proof (2008)

- Director: Dan Ireland
- IMDb user rating: half dozen.9
- Runtime: 125 minutes

Clocking in at over two hours, this biographical drama follows Dr. Dennis Slamon (Harry Connick Jr.) on his quest to cure breast cancer. The real-life Dr. Slamon hoped that the viewers took abroad the importance of philanthropic donations and trial volunteers. Regina King, Amanda Bynes, Tammy Blanchard, and Angie Harmon co-star.

43 / l

Braun Entertainment Group

#8. The Gabby Douglas Story (2014)

- Director: Gregg Champion
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Runtime: 86 minutes

Meet Gabby Douglas (respectively played past Imani Hakim and Sydney Mikayla), the first woman of color to win gold in the women's all-round Olympic Gymnastics. This acclaimed biopic highlights the sacrifices she made when going from gifted prodigy to global champion. It was nominated for four NAACP Image Awards.

44 / 50

Larry Thompson Organization

#7. Amish Grace (2010)

- Director: Gregg Champion
- IMDb user rating: vii.1
- Runtime: 89 minutes

The school shooting epidemic found its mode into a small Amish community in 2006, resulting in the death of five young girls. Rather than demonstrate hatred, the customs showed pity and forgiveness instead. This is their story.

45 / 50

#6. Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003)

- Director: Peter Levin
- IMDb user rating: 7.ii
- Runtime: 104 minutes

Based on the real-life exploits of its title grapheme, this inspiring biopic follows Liz Murray (Thora Birch) as she flees from an abusive home and lives on the streets. After losing her mother to AIDS, Murray turns her life around for proficient. Not only does she consummate loftier school, just she ends up getting into ane of the country's virtually prestigious universities.

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46 / 50

#5. Speak (2004)

- Director: Jessica Sharzer
- IMDb user rating: vii.3
- Runtime: 89 minutes

A pre-"Twilight" Kristen Stewart stars alongside Elizabeth Perkins in this award-winning drama. Based on a acknowledged YA novel, information technology follows a mute teenager (Stewart) as she comes of historic period in the wake of a traumatic effect. It premiered at the Sundance Picture Festival before arriving on the Lifetime Network.

47 / fifty

Craig Anderson Productions

#4. For the Honey of a Child (2006)

- Manager: Douglas Barr
- IMDb user rating: vii.four
- Runtime: 80 minutes

This historical drama tracks the creation of Childhelp United states of america, a real-life charity that helps victims of child abuse. Through a series of flashbacks, it tells the story of two earth-travelling entertainers turned non-turn a profit pioneers. As well depicted is the journey of Jacob Fletcher, who comes to the organization seeking help as a young boy.

48 / 50

#three. Phenomenon Run (2004)

- Director: Gregg Champion
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Runtime: 120 minutes

This Emmy-nominated drama finds a single mother (Mary-Louise Parker) struggling to raise two autistic twins. Her personal ordeal provides a broader exam of the stigmas surrounding autism. Zac Efron stars as twin Stephen Morgan, representing one of his earliest screen roles.

49 / l

Braun Entertainment Grouping

#2. A Girl Similar Me: The Gwen Araujo Story (2006)

50 / l

#1. Gracie's Choice (2004)

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