l best Lifetime movies

While Lifetime movies might seem like a tradition as old as cable itself, the starting time one debuted in 1990, six years after the network was established. Chosen "Memories of Murder," information technology centered on a adult female with amnesia, who suddenly gets her memory back and becomes convinced in that location's another adult female out to get her. Consider information technology a relatively tame preview of what was to come, as it was followed past tawdry fare such equally "Abducted: A Begetter's Love," "Co-Ed Call Daughter," and numerous other titles. Needless to say, the recipe worked, and the network fifty-fifty prepare its own respective channel just for movies.

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

Aimed primarily at the female person demographic, these films come up in well beneath most cinematic standards, just nevertheless represent a qualitative leap over the network's earliest output. In fact, Lifetime is no stranger to the occasional Emmy nomination or positive review. The network has also get a veritable hub for female person talent, both in front end of and backside the camera. Many now-famous A-list and B-list actors got piece of work in Lifetime movies early on in their careers or when they were struggling to break through. Some notable names on this list include Mahershala Ali, Alia Shawkat, Regina Male monarch, and Kristen Stewart. And occasionally, Lifetime provides roles for truly smashing 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 TV melodrama. These are films people love to hate or detest to honey, with precious few exceptions. Well-nigh subjects are ripped straight from the headlines and treated with a heavy paw. Every at present and then, however, an authentic story slips through the cracks. Examples include "Miracle Run" and "A Daughter Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story," both of which offer deft takes on of import issues.

To gloat these iconic cable fixtures in their cheesiness and glory akin, Stacker used IMDb user ratings information to rank the top fifty Lifetime movies, with ties cleaved by votes. To qualify, the movie had to exist produced or distributed by Lifetime and accept at least 250 user votes. Counting down from #50, here are the all-time Lifetime movies.

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i / 50

#50. Hit and Run (1999)

- 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 woman who accidentally hits a daughter with her motorcar. She does the right thing—at first. Fleeing the scene to get help for the daughter, when she returns she stays mum nigh her identity. But the guilt might be as well much for Joanna.

2 / 50

#49. My Name Is Sarah (2007)

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

Her proper name is Sarah (Jennifer Beals) and she's not a recovering alcoholic, though her swain AA members are none the wiser. To give upward the ruse is to compromise her budding romance with an actual alcoholic named Charlie. Empathic characterization keeps the viewers on Sarah's side throughout this romantic dramedy.

3 / 50

#48. When Innocence Is Lost (1997)

- Managing director: Bethany Rooney
- IMDb user rating: half dozen.one
- Runtime: 91 minutes

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

4 / 50

#47. Unstable (2009)

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

At the eye of this psychological thriller is a wealthy woman named Megan Walker (Shiri Appleby). Still grappling with past trauma, Megan enters into a new and seemingly perfect spousal relationship. When foreign events unfold, she must determine whether her husband has ulterior motives or if it'due south all in her head.

five / 50

#46. Not Similar Anybody Else (2006)

- Director: Tom McLoughlin
- IMDb user rating: vi.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. Equally bizarre as it may sound, this one'southward based on bodily events.

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6 / 50

#45. Missing at 17 (2013)

- Director: Doug Campbell
- IMDb user rating: 6.1
- Runtime: 90 minutes

Afterwards running away to discover her biological mother, a teen gets seduced by a criminal. When she never returns abode, her adoptive mother sets out to notice her. So goes this dramatic thriller, in which both mothers join forces to save the young girl.

vii / l

#44. Double Daddy (2015)

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

Despite its laugh-out-loud championship, this teen pic unfolds in the vein of a soapy drama. The double daddy in question is high schoolhouse playboy Connor, who impregnates two unlike girls around the same time. It was later followed by a stand-alone sequel called...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-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.

ix / l

#42. Starving in Suburbia (2014)

- Director: Tara Miele
- IMDb user rating: 6.1
- Runtime: 84 minutes

As the title would suggest, this Lifetime drama examines the ongoing threat of anorexia among teenage girls. Information technology centers on 17-year-onetime Hannah, who takes her eating disorder to dangerous extremes. Viewers announced to be divided equally to whether the movie delivers an accurate experience or actually romanticizes the very affair it's trying to demystify.

10 / 50

#41. Fugitive at 17 (2012)

11 / l

#40. Flowers in the Attic (2014)

- Director: Deborah Grub
- IMDb user rating: 6.1
- Runtime: 89 minutes

Follow the iv Dollanganger children as they move into Grandma's business firm after their father'southward decease. Unfortunately, Grandma (Ellen Burstyn) is a heartless psycho who locks them in the attic. Like the best-selling novel from which information technology was adapted, this movie kicked off a number of sequels.

12 / fifty

#39. Half a Dozen Babies (1999)

- Director: Douglas Barr
- IMDb user rating: vi.ii
- Runtime: 89 minutes

While struggling to conceive, a married couple partakes in one final round of fertility treatment. That gives fashion to Indiana'south kickoff-always sixtuplets and a host of new problems for both partners. Information technology'due south all based on the truthful story of Keith and Becki Dilley.

thirteen / 50

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

- Manager: Vondie Curtis-Hall
- IMDb user rating: 6.2
- Runtime: 90 minutes

A chart-topping song by rhythm and blues artist Toni Braxton became the title of her subsequent memoir and this movie adaptation. Post-obit her meteoric ascent to success, the singer battles with Lupus, a public divorce, and her son'due south autism. What emerges is a portrait of perseverance and self-healing for the sake of family.

fourteen / 50

#37. Bringing Ashley Dwelling (2011)

- Managing director: Nick Copus
- IMDb user rating: 6.two
- Runtime: 87 minutes

A trouble-laden teen (Jennifer Morrison) goes missing and her older sister (A.J. Cook) is adamant 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.

15 / l

#36. Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret (2013)

sixteen / fifty

#35. Montana Sky (2007)

- Manager: Mike Robe
- IMDb user rating: 6.2
- Runtime: 96 minutes

A wealthy stock trader bequeaths his Montana subcontract to his three daughters, who are one-half-sisters and consummate strangers to one another. There'due south just ane catch: the daughters must live on the property together for a twelvemonth earlier they can officially own it. This Lifetime drama is one in a long line of Nora Roberts adaptations.

17 / 50

#34. Betty and Coretta (2013)

- Director: Yves Simoneau
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Runtime: 88 minutes

From the director of "Bury My Middle at Wounded Knee" comes this biographical drama with ever-prescient themes. After the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther Rex and Macolm 10, widows Coretta Scott Rex (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.

eighteen / fifty

#33. Dear Secret Santa (2013)

- Director: Peter Sullivan
- IMDb user rating: half-dozen.3
- Runtime: 88 minutes

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

19 / 50

#32. Lies in Plainly Sight (2010)

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

After 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

#30. Lies My Mother Told Me (2005)

- Director: Christian Duguay
- IMDb user rating: six.3
- Runtime: 87 minutes

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

22 / 50

#29. Kept Woman (2015)

- Director: Michel Poulette
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Runtime: 83 minutes

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

23 / 50

#28. The Trials of Cate McCall (2013)

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

After declining to discover an audience elsewhere, this film was picked upwards by Lifetime and aired in 2014. Kate Beckinsale plays disgraced lawyer Cate McCall, who takes on a pro bono appeal to regain both her credentials and the custody of her daughter. An credible case of wrongful conviction delivers unexpected twists as the drama unfolds. Nick Nolte and James Cromwell also star.

24 / 50

#27. For One Nighttime (2006)

- Director: Ernest R. Dickerson
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Runtime: 89 minutes

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

25 / l

#26. Taken Dorsum: Finding Haley (2012)

- Director: Mark Jean
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Runtime: 85 minutes

No stranger to the premise, Lifetime released nonetheless another missing child moving-picture show 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 down her daughter in a schoolyard...or is it merely someone who looks similar her girl?

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26 / 50

Muse Entertainment Enterprises

#25. Reviving Ophelia (2010)

- Manager: Bobby Roth
- IMDb user rating: 6.five
- Runtime: 92 minutes

Based on Mary Pipher's non-fiction book of the same proper name, this drama chronicles the trials and tribulations of two sisters and their teenage daughters. Wrapped up in the narrative is a taut examination of modernistic adolescence. Like the volume before it, the picture show argues that many teens still come up of age in "a girl-poisoning civilisation."

27 / 50

#24. Love at the Christmas Table (2012)

- Managing director: Rachel Lee Goldenberg
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Runtime: 89 minutes

What better fourth dimension than Christmas for two close friends to fall in love? Those friends are Sam and Kat and their bail goes dorsum decades, to when they used to sit at the kids' table. To quote the movie'due 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

Later witnessing the murder of his family, an Orthodox Jew wanders from large city New York to small-town Alabama. He'due south taken in by the local gospel community and their talented lead singer (Toni Braxton). Awash with religion-based themes, the movie is a attestation to the healing ability of love.

29 / l

#22. The Wronged Man (2010)

- Director: Tom McLoughlin
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Runtime: 85 minutes

Based on a magazine article of the same name, this legal drama depicts the 22-year battle to articulate an innocent man of false rape charges. The homo's name is Calvin Willis and he's played by then-ascent star Mahershala Ali. For both Willis and his pro bono paralegal (Julia Ormond), it's a life-changing journeying from which an unbreakable friendship is forged.

30 / 50

#21. The Pregnancy Project (2012)

- Manager: Norman Buckley
- IMDb user rating: half dozen.6
- 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. Determined to betrayal the stigmas surrounding teen pregnancy, Rodriguez pretended to be pregnant herself. Her experiment is the subject of both this Lifetime drama and an honour-winning memoir.

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31 / 50

#xx. Girl, Positive (2007)

- Manager: Peter Werner
- IMDb user rating: half-dozen.6
- Runtime: 88 minutes

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

32 / fifty

#19. Odd Girl Out (2005)

- Director: Tom McLoughlin
- IMDb user rating: half-dozen.6
- Runtime: 84 minutes

Hot on the heels of 2004's "Mean Girls" came this like-sounding TV movie, in which a teen girl flirts with the object of someone else's affection. At present in the crosshairs, she suffers relentless bullying as a result. The book it adapted likewise brought the disregarded issue of female teen bullying to much wider attention.

33 / fifty

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

- Director: Paul A. Kaufman
- IMDb user rating: 6.seven
- Runtime: 89 minutes

This fact-based melodrama has all the ingredients for a formulaic Lifetime moving picture, including a missing child and desperate female parent. What's surprising is the earnest and authentic commitment, according to i Hollywood Reporter review. It'due south 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)

- Managing director: Vondie Curtis-Hall
- IMDb user rating: six.7
- Runtime: 86 minutes

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

35 / l

#eighteen. No One Would Tell (1996)

- Director: Noel Nosseck
- IMDb user rating: 6.seven
- Runtime: 96 minutes

Sitcom stars Fred Savage and Candace Cameron Bure headline this fabricated-for-TV drama, which chronicles an abusive high schoolhouse relationship. What starts as an unlikely romance takes on mortiferous dimensions when the fellow (Savage) reveals his darker side. Lifetime updated the flick with a 2018 remake starring Shannen Doherty and Mira Sorvino.

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36 / 50

#15. Mom at Sixteen (2005)

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

Lifetime once once more explores teenage pregnancy in this 2005 film about 16-year-onetime Jacey Jeffries (Danielle Panabaker). After giving birth, Jacey attends a new loftier schoolhouse and tries to blend in with the local populace. To hide her hole-and-corner, she pretends that her daughter is really her younger sis.

37 / 50

#14. The Retentivity Keeper'due south Daughter (2008)

- Director: Mick Jackson
- IMDb user rating: six.7
- Runtime: 90 minutes

One of Lifetime's about ambitious efforts adapts a all-time-selling novel and stars Dermot Mulroney as Dr. David Henry. Upon discovering that one of his twin babies has Down 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 human action.

38 / 50

#13. Cleveland Abduction (2015)

- Director: Alex Kalymnios
- IMDb user rating: half-dozen.seven
- 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 watch."

39 / fifty

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

forty / fifty

#eleven. The Trip to Bountiful (2014)

- Director: Michael Wilson
- IMDb user rating: six.9
- 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 former hometown. Both this film and a previous Oscar-winning movie are based on Horton Foote's 1953 play of the aforementioned name.

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41 / 50

Alberta Film Amusement

#10. Dawn Anna (2005)

- Managing director: Arliss Howard
- IMDb user rating: vi.9
- Runtime: 88 minutes

Debra Winger plays existent-life female parent Dawn Anna Townsend in this harrowing drama. While recovering from a deadly brain disease, Dawn loses one of her daughters to the Columbine High Schoolhouse massacre. Bring tissues.

42 / 50

#ix. Living Proof (2008)

- Manager: Dan Republic of ireland
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- 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 / 50

Braun Entertainment Group

#eight. The Gabby Douglas Story (2014)

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

Run into Gabby Douglas (respectively played by Imani Hakim and Sydney Mikayla), the beginning woman of colour to win gilded in the women's all-circular Olympic Gymnastics. This acclaimed biopic highlights the sacrifices she made when going from gifted prodigy to global champion. It was nominated for 4 NAACP Paradigm Awards.

44 / 50

Larry Thompson Organization

#7. Amish Grace (2010)

- Director: Gregg Champion
- IMDb user rating: 7.one
- Runtime: 89 minutes

The schoolhouse shooting epidemic found its style into a small Amish community in 2006, resulting in the decease of five young girls. Rather than demonstrate hatred, the community showed compassion and forgiveness instead. This is their story.

45 / 50

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

- Director: Peter Levin
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Runtime: 104 minutes

Based on the real-life exploits of its title graphic symbol, this inspiring biopic follows Liz Murray (Thora Birch) every bit she flees from an abusive dwelling and lives on the streets. After losing her mother to AIDS, Murray turns her life effectually for proficient. Not only does she complete high school, but she ends up getting into one of the country'due south most prestigious universities.

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46 / 50

#5. Speak (2004)

- Director: Jessica Sharzer
- IMDb user rating: 7.iii
- Runtime: 89 minutes

A pre-"Twilight" Kristen Stewart stars aslope Elizabeth Perkins in this honour-winning drama. Based on a all-time-selling YA novel, information technology follows a mute teenager (Stewart) as she comes of age in the wake of a traumatic outcome. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier arriving on the Lifetime Network.

47 / 50

Craig Anderson Productions

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

- Director: Douglas Barr
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Runtime: lxxx minutes

This historical drama tracks the creation of Childhelp The states, a real-life charity that helps victims of child corruption. Through a series of flashbacks, information technology tells the story of two earth-travelling entertainers turned non-profit pioneers. Also depicted is the journeying of Jacob Fletcher, who comes to the organization seeking help as a young boy.

48 / l

#3. Phenomenon Run (2004)

- Director: Gregg Champion
- IMDb user rating: seven.four
- 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 examination of the stigmas surrounding autism. Zac Efron stars every bit twin Stephen Morgan, representing one of his earliest screen roles.

49 / 50

Braun Amusement Group

#2. A Daughter Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story (2006)

50 / l

#1. Gracie'due south Choice (2004)

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