Director Haylie Duff’s ‘I Am Your Biggest Fan’ Is a Predictable But Watchable Kidnapping Thriller [Review]

It’s hard not to think of the Nickelodeon heyday of the early 2000s when watching Lifetime’s I Am Your Biggest Fan, a film that traffics in the usual abduction themes with a ‘reboot’ twist.

Fifteen years ago, Delilah Douglas (Meghan Carrasquillo, last seen in Tubi’s Til Death Do Us Part) was the lead on a bog standard family sitcom called From the Hart. With her days as a tween star far behind her, Delilah is happily teaching high school students about Shakespeare when she gets the call: the sitcom has found new life in the age of streaming and the Hollywood suits have greenlit a contemporary reboot with the original cast reprising their roles.

The problem? Delilah has no interest in going back to acting. As revealed in flashbacks, Delilah’s acting career wasn’t her choice; her actions were being dictated by her emotionally abusive momager (Denise Gossett) who berated her for being exhausted or forgetting her lines.

Naturally Delilah’s decision to decline the offer draws the ire of both hard-core fans, as well as the frustration of several of former co-stars. This includes Cody (Colton Tapp), who played her TV boyfriend Danny, and has been struggling to book more prestigious gigs than anti-fungal foot commercials.

But Internet hatred and annoyed co-workers don’t hold a candle to the real-life threats on Delilah’s safety, which begin with online harassment before escalating to vandalism and threats to her safety. Naturally the cops don’t take her concerns seriously, advising Delilah to move until things cool down. The problem is that she has nowhere to go.

In an ill-advised move of desperation, Delilah accepts the offer of a kindly barista named Ellen (Lauren Cole) that she has recently befriended. The offer: stay a few nights at Ellen’s parents’ remote country home. Never mind the fact that there’s no wifi or cell coverage. What could possibly go wrong?

The biggest challenge plaguing I Am Your Biggest Fan is that there are few, if any, surprises. It’s evident from the start where the danger is coming from and why, so when Delilah winds up drugged and in shackles at the end of the first act, it’s less of a twist than a simple confirmation of our suspicions.

Unlike recent titles such as Trapped in the Spotlight, Murder at the Lighthouse or Trapped in Her Dorm Room, this kidnapping movie never shifts gears beyond its initial conflict. The remainder of the film finds Delilah struggling to retain her composure, negotiate with her captor, and desperately seek out opportunities to escape (which inevitably fail…because that’s how these films work).

Kidnapping films are tricky to execute because they require a constant (re)negotiation of stakes, as well as dynamic actors to guarantee audience investment. While I Am Your Biggest Fan struggles in the first capacity, it is mostly successful on the latter point; Carrasquillo and Cole are both solid and compelling leads (though one wishes that Cole was allowed to go full psychotic).

Alas, Emily Golden’s screenplay is resolutely classy, almost to a fault.

There’s a trashier version of the film that could have leaned into the camp and been much more successful and entertaining. Consider that Delilah is held captive on a recreation of her sitcom set and forced to perform as “Chelsea” in order to guarantee her safety. There’s huge potential in this set-up…but, for the most part, I Am Your Biggest Fan resists exploring any salacious, campy possibilities in favour of playing things straight.

Disappointingly the film also avoids tackling (in a Quiet on Set-esque way) the devastating psychological and social impacts of making and consuming teen content. There are hints of something bigger and deeper, particularly in the scenes in which Delilah-as-Chelsea reenacts dialogue and plot lines from the show. These moments evoke the entitlement and fan service that audiences of legacy sequels and reboots demand. They also hint at the inherent power of watching Chelsea confront and overcome her childhood trauma while living through a fresh round in adulthood.

Unfortunately Golden’s script holds back from truly engaging with this intriguing narrative premise. Instead what we get is a traditional narrative that opts to swing baseball bats and pick handcuffs with bobby pins. It’s not bad, but it is also quite conventional.

Thankfully it’s still extremely watchable – thanks in no small part to its two competent lead performances, as well the expected but still welcome “twists,” and an amusingly over the top action climax (which director Haylie Duff admittedly struggles to stage convincingly).

Ultimately I Am Your Biggest Fan is safe and pat, but the movie still checks all of the boxes for a Lifetime kidnapping flick.

I Am Your Biggest Fan is now available on Lifetime Movie Network.

The post Director Haylie Duff’s ‘I Am Your Biggest Fan’ Is a Predictable But Watchable Kidnapping Thriller [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.