‘CrimeTime Freefall’ Ending Explained & Movie Recap: Who Actually Killed Sam Davis?

When CrimeTime Freefall was given to me, I thought it was a full thriller movie, but it turns out it is more of a fun-surprising light movie. I could not predict anything from the title, but it was a win-win for the detectives. It was kind of predictable, but also not predictable, if I am making sense. It gets kind of boring in the middle, but it really picks up the pace during the climax. One can totally watch CrimeTime Freefall with family on a weekend night. 

Spoilers Ahead

What Happens In The Movie? 

CrimeTime Freefall is about an actress who plays the role of a detective and is laid off from her show. She moves to a small town from LA and gets her hands dirty on a real-life murder mystery. She also meets a cute detective officer while investigating. This is honestly giving Legally Blonde vibes, but in a more serious version. I could imagine the actress saying to the police investigation, ‘Like what? It’s hard’. Let’s find out together whether our protagonist really cracks the code or if the notion ‘that actresses have merely any knowledge about real life’ is true. 

Who Is Hadley Warner, And How Is Her Life Going To Change?

Hadley is a hot, curly-haired girl who is the lead cast member at CrimeTime. The opening scene is in a garage, where Hadley is trying to shoot one of the scenes. Unfortunately, Saudner has decided to close the show now because the audience wants new things. Hadley is kind of passionate about collecting memories of people who are rude to her, and she is also a slight kleptomaniac. Hadley Warner is a single mom to Rain and Hendricks. Hadley has decided to move to another city since she has been laid off and can’t afford LA. They are going to have a hard time; I can already smell that. As soon as they have entered the small town, they see that a guy named Sam Davis is missing. The police are all over the case, and everybody is looking for him. They have met Mr. Jay Bax, who is a realtor and also seems to be a big fan of Hadley. Hadley and her children have successfully moved into a new place and reunited with their grandma Donna. At night, they hear these goats screaming and also miss the life they had in LA. The Warner family seems anxious and nervous to start this new chapter in their lives. 

How Is Hadley Connected To Shawn Caden? 

In the middle of the night, goat noises suddenly turn into gunshots, and the Warner family is scared to death. There is a knock on the door, and it’s Shawn Caden. Detective Shawn is a young, handsome police officer. There is a lot of chemistry and a little conversation between Hadley and Shawn (ooh, we are excited). Saudner has offered Hadley a job as a writer to earn some cash, but it looks like Hadley is nothing without her assistant, Skylar. (Everybody deserves a Skylar who can make their lives easier.) Of course, I mean, actors cannot go back to living a normal life. They are so used to the chaos that the silence can eat them alive. 

Hadley discovers a body in her backyard, which could be the missing guy. The police arrive as soon as they can and suspect this is a case of homicide. Hadley’s mom brings Sam Davis’s mom home to console her. But Sam’s mom encourages Hadley to look into the case, as the police are not doing a great job. She wants her son to get justice. Hadley has put up a security system, along with a security man named Steve, for her house. 

Is The Actor Hadley Going To Be A Detective? 

Hadley has started her investigation with the knowledge she has gained on the sets of CrimeTime. She has to consider everyone a suspect to reach the real one. So she starts looking out for Sam’s wife and business partner. She starts by putting security on her house and asking questions of the people nearby. She is not going to stop here; she goes ahead, looking out for the place where he was seen the last time. 

Hadley calls up Saunder to tell him what is going on with her, and he suggests she should create a book out of it and, of course, exploit the experience. (Sounds so much like Kardashians.) Meanwhile, Shawn is carrying out his real investigation and questioning Sam’s wife. Meanwhile, Hadley has been extremely persistent about solving one thing at a time. She thinks she is going to win the case. Hadley crosses paths with Shawn as she is here to get intel about Sam from his wife. The haters-to-lovers bond between Hadley and Shawn is too cute to not pay attention to. The cheerful attitude of Sam’s wife, Jen, is a major red flag. Like, lady, your husband was brutally murdered. Maybe cry a bit. She tells Hadley that Sam had a restraining order against Kirk, who works at the diner now. The entire Warner family is involved in the case now. 

Shawn is at the diner to ask Kirk more about Sam. At the same time, Hadley is there to build a relationship with Kirk so she can know what exactly happened between him and Sam. Hadley and Shawn are back in the picture, and it looks like Shawn has a love language of being mean to the person he likes. [They are adorable.] Hadley manages to get some clues from the fame she has gained. She runs straight to Shawn to tell him about it when suddenly there is the guy, who is the neighbor of Hadley. Hadley has always suspected him, as he had a rifle, but suddenly he is at the station to confess that he killed Sam Davis. [What the hell]

Who Actually Killed Sam Davis? 

He explains how he accidentally shot Sam Davis. But it turns out it was an honest mistake. Hadley goes to a trivia night with Kirk and gets to know more about Sam Davis. She comes home and tries to put everything together with her kids, and she ends up with a major clue in the case. She thinks Sam’s business partner, Anton, is the murderer. She goes to see Anton, and a very surprising sight is in front of her. Sam’s business partner, Anton, and Sam’s wife, Jen, are holding hands, and not out of sympathy. Anton threatens Hadley to forget what she saw and move on. Everybody is so confused with all of this now, but Hadley needs solid evidence to prove to Shawn about the actual killer or if it was a partnership between two people. 

Hadley is reunited with her old photographer friend, Lloyd. He was sent by Saunder to capture the real-life documentary of Hadley. While having conversations, he brings up how he was talking to people around and finds that Kirk was at Sam’s house earlier in the morning when he was killed. Back at Shawn and Handley, dancing together, and that sizzling chemistry. Somebody already found the killer and asked them to get married. 

Is The Killer Ever Going To Be Found??

Shawn is working on an investigation where he is dealing with Anton. He has put a lot of clues together and asks him to tell the truth. He somehow tells him that he went to pick up Jen because he loved her, but they did not see Sam there. They could have become the prime suspects, so they kept this thing under the carpet. 

Hadley has somehow brought her research to one point. From there, Kirk looks like an ideal murderer. She is trying to play and recreate the exact same scene as the start of the movie, where she is laying a trap for the suspect to slip in smoothly. But as it turns out, Kirk went there but did not kill him. Hadley is left with no choice but to go to Jen’s place and see what she has been up to. Anton is in Jen’s house and comes out at her, asking why she is behind them. Somehow, Hadley is feeling slightly confused as she finds bond glue in her dustbin. Jay Bax has been acting weird and telling Hadley that maybe he is the one because he wanted to live and experience a CrimeTime episode. This is not the scary part because the REAL murderer is the security man named Steve, who was fond of Banjos. OMG, how did he plan all of this? As soon as Hadley finds it out, he grabs her from behind. She somehow manages to escape, but then he enters the house and points a gun at her. 

The Murderer Was Found!!

The conversation is going on between the killer and Hadley, and guess what? The first scene of CrimeTime Freefall and the climax are the same!! Shawn enters the house, and it turns out he has watched all episodes of CrimeTime. Hadley wants to continue with the small town because, wherever Hadley and her family are, it is home. Hadley and Shawn did not kiss in this part of the movie, but maybe there should be another part where they kiss. It feels like there are going to be a lot more sequels to this movie, and there should be. Actor Hadley has finally turned into Detective Hadley. [Elle Woods must be so proud right now].