Die, Mommie, Die! 2003

The story unfolds with Angela Arden, portrayed by Jason Priestley, kneeling at the grave of her twin sister Barbara. This haunting scene serves as a stark reminder of the dark, lingering secrets that plague Angela in every moment of her life. A once-thriving lounge singer, she now finds her career stagnant and overshadowed by the tragic suicide of Barbara. Compounding her struggles is her unhappy marriage to film director Sol Sussman, who, along with their two tumultuous children—Lance, a young man wrestling with his identity, and Edith, a spoiled daughter who harbors disdain towards Angela—further complicates her existence. A layer of complexity is added by Bootsie, the curious maid secretly infatuated with Sol.

In a bid to spark her passion for life and breathe new life into her career, Angela begins a risky affair with Tony Parker, a charming but unscrupulous tennis player. However, her newfound joy is short-lived as Sol uncovers their dalliance after employing a private investigator to spy on Angela. Instead of opting for a divorce, Sol seeks revenge by cutting off her credit cards and sabotaging her chances to perform in New York City, effectively crushing her aspirations.

Feeling cornered and desperate for agency in her life, Angela devises a chilling plan to eliminate Sol using a poison-laced suppository. Although Angela inherits a modest sum from Sol’s estate, both her children and Bootsie begin to grow suspicious of the circumstances surrounding Sol’s demise, which stir up old speculation about Barbara’s death.

As Edith and Lance become ensnared in their mother’s dark schemes, they plot to extract a confession from her. Meanwhile, Tony’s fascination with the shadowy details of Aunt Barbara’s death grows. The sudden death of Bootsie serves as a catalyst, prompting the siblings to lace Angela’s evening coffee with LSD, leading to a psychedelic episode in which Angela confesses to the murder of Sol, revealing an unsettling truth: she is in fact Barbara.

Through captivating flashbacks, we delve into Barbara’s tragic story juxtaposed with Angela’s rise to fame, ending with Barbara’s incarceration for jewelry theft. Upon her release, Barbara faced Angela’s cruelty when she sought refuge in her opulent mansion. Witnessing the maltreatment Angela doles out to Sol and their children, Barbara concocts a plan of her own—to poison Angela and seize her life.

As secrets unravel, the children are left in awe as Barbara exposes her true role in the events leading to her sister’s fate. This shocking revelation opens a Pandora’s box of deceit, betrayal, and ultimately, self-awareness. Within the escalating emotional tumult, we see both Edith and Lance yearning for Tony’s attention, each caught in a web spun from their familial chaos.

Just as the truth surfaces, Barbara confronts a masked assailant, revealing Sol as the attacker in a dramatic twist. In a charged atmosphere filled with tension, Sol begins to disclose the convoluted story behind his supposed death, explaining that he initiated a scheme with Bootsie to escape the clutches of ruthless mob enforcers due to outstanding debts.

In another twist, Tony, who has been investigating Angela’s murder while posing as an FBI agent, apprehends Sol. As the children come to terms with Barbara’s desperate motives, they embrace her, signaling a shift towards understanding. In a turn of allegiance, Tony promises to destroy the evidence against her, shielding her from the repercussions of her actions. However, as Barbara departs, she asserts that by embracing her authentic self, she will finally liberate herself from the oppressive shadow of her sister—a freedom long overdue.