Based on a true story, director Tyson Caron successfully crafted a thriller with his latest feature, “Woman with the Red Lipstick.” Starring Rebecca Liddiard, Marshall Williams, and Rebecca Gibson, the film is engaging within its 87-minute runtime. Lifetime once again presents a true story, and the film doesn’t lack quality, considering the budget allotted to its completion. Moreover, the film never loses the pace promised by a thriller, and despite a rushed ending, it remains a good watch overall.
Spoilers Ahead.
Woman with the Red Lipstick (2024) Plot Summary and Movie Synopsis:
The film introduces the protagonist, Lucy, living with her boyfriend Roy. Roy does all sorts of consultancy stuff, while Lucy is a journalist for the Chicago Chronicle. Lucy and Roy are going through a phase where both of them want their relationship to get to the next level. However, none of them are expressing that. Later that night, Roy expresses that they should try out something new to know their compatibility. When Lucy agrees to do that, Roy surprisingly asks her for a role-playing game.
Lucy receives a wig, a scarf to wear, and a name to carry for her date with Roy. Roy wants Lucy to be called Maggie, and she talks to her boss, Odette, about whether it is weird to do that or not. Odette says it’s fine, and later that night, Lucy wears the wig and red lipstick before meeting with Roy at the bar. After the meeting, Roy asks Lucy to remove the lipstick as he feels it is a bit off with the rest of her attire. Together, they have a good time as, during their intimate moment, Roy asks Lucy to keep the wig on.
Why does Lucy pick up the Magnolia Maines Story?
The following day, Lucy hears the news that a socialite named Magnolia Maines is missing. Surprisingly, Magnolia is called Maggie among her friends, and in the photograph that the channel is showing, Lucy sees Magnolia wearing the same scarf that Roy sent to her. Lucy calls Roy to understand whether it is purely a coincidence. Roy’s response is very calm as he says since Lucy is a crime reporter, she wants to find an angle in every news she hears.
Lucy wants to investigate that matter, so she seeks permission from Odette to carry on with the story. After she gets the confirmation to proceed with the story, she goes to Detective Oliver Webb to understand if there is anything disturbing about Magnolia’s disappearance. Oliver simply says that Magnolia has been a party girl, so she must have gone somewhere, and once her credit card runs out, she will come back to her mother.
Magnolia’s mother, Zelda Maines, is a prominent political campaign manager who does not have a good relationship with her daughter. Anyway, hearing there is nothing suspicious about Magnolia’s disappearance, Lucy thinks of dropping the story. But Odette informs her that crime scene techs have discovered blood samples, which leads to believe that Magnolia may even be injured. Lucy gets started with her investigation as she meets with Dan Brooksbank in the process.
What does Lucy learn from Dan Brooksbank?
As Lucy inquires about Magnolia’s disappearance case, she sees that some stranger is following her. She tries to enter a building, but the security does not allow her to do so. Meanwhile, Dan Brooksbank helps her enter the building as he is one of the residents there. Dan helps her, knowing that she is being followed, but when he learns that she is a reporter, he denies to talk to her. But, knowing that Lucy is being threatened by the same guy who has kidnapped Magnolia, Dan welcomes her into his apartment.
Dan reveals that Magnolia, aka Maggie, and he have been closest friends since childhood. They are sort of family friends, and it was all friends with benefits type of scenario for them. Later, when Dan realizes that Magnolia is serious about their relationship, he refuses to take part in it. Dan also says that Zelda does not like Magnolia because she never went to politics like her. Magnolia always wants to make her own fortune rather than stay under her mother’s shadow forever.
Dan tells Lucy that even though they did not sync, Magnolia never forgets to call Zelda on Sundays. With time, their relationship was improving, and it was Zelda who insisted Maggie move to a doorman building as she was receiving anonymous texts from someone. Dan also says that right before Maggie’s disappearance, the amount of the texts increased as well. When Dan shows a photo of Maggie, Lucy asks where she got the scarf from. Dan says perhaps it is a gift from an ex-boyfriend in college.
What does Lucy find out from Magnolia’s Diaries?
As time progresses, Lucy starts doubting Roy more and more. One day, when she comes back home from work, she finds out someone has written ‘Back Off’ with red lipstick on the walls. She calls Detective Oliver to come to her house and explains that no one apart from Roy knows her combination of the door lock. The following day, Roy comes to meet Lucy, saying that he is ending the relationship with her. He has successfully proved to the police that he was in the office during the time the breaking-entering thing happened to Lucy.
After this, when Lucy goes to a bar where Maggie was last seen, she meets with Roy again. On her way back, Dan thinks of her as Maggie, as Lucy is wearing the same scarf. Later that night, someone attacks her just to warn her to stay out of this Maggie thing. Lucy then seeks help from Dan to set up a meeting with Zelda. When she meets with her, Zelda tells her about the diaries Maggie used to keep under her bed. Lucy starts going through one of the diaries, and there she finds a name- JD. Zelda confirms that this JD has been a problem for Maggie for years.
Woman with the Red Lipstick (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
Is Magnolia Alive?
Lucy learns from Odette that Dan’s full name is Joshua Daniel Brooksbank, triggering her suspicion that he might be the JD from Maggie’s diary. She reads some of the disturbing entries that Maggie has written in her diaries about JD. Lucy comes to the conclusion that Dan wants to see her or help her because he wants to track down her every move until he kills her as well. Later that night, Lucy goes to stay with Roy for the night as she fears that something bad might happen to her.
Detective Oliver calls Lucy to tell her that they have found Magnolia’s earrings in Dan’s apartment, and based on Lucy’s information, they arrest him. However, soon, Zelda calls Lucy, saying that she remembers who JD actually was. It was James Dean, and he always used to wear a red jacket. Lucy now has enough information to understand the real identity of Maggie’s abductor. It is Roy, who goes by the name Jimmy. He even wore a red jacket the day he asked Lucy to take up the wig and play Maggie in front of her.
Soon, Lucy finds herself fighting with Roy and realizes that he has had this obsession with Magnolia since her school days. At the college reunion, he sees Maggie again and thinks that he can try again to sort things out with her. He is so much invested in her that he has kept her in the basement of his room. Lucy releases her, and when Roy tries to kill Lucy, Maggie, aka Magnolia, stabs him with a knife. Later, the police take control of the scene as Zelda thanks Lucy for saving Magnolia from Roy’s clutches.
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