The world of cinema is always evolving, and one genre that has the ability to hold an audience’s attention for decades is the thriller. Thrillers have the ability to keep their audiences on the edge of their seats from the very beginning until the credits roll thanks to their intricate storylines, multifaceted characters, and pulse-pounding action. Today, we are going to discuss a thriller movie that came out recently called “House of Deadly Lies.”
Spoilers Ahead
‘House of Deadly Lies’ Story
Michael (Jonathan McLaren) and Paige (Katy Breier) Johnson live happily with their son Tanner. Everything was going well until one day Paige’s friend from her high school days, Joslyn (Leah McKenney), couldn’t find a place to stay. Joslyn was having a hard time because she was expecting a baby and her boyfriend, Rex, had just kicked her out of the house. Since Paige had a good relationship with Joslyn in the earlier days of her life, and they had a spare bedroom, she decided to let Joslyn stay with her for a while. Once the baby was born, Joslyn could easily find a different place to crash. However simple it may sound, the whole situation doesn’t sit well with Mike (Michael). He somehow managed to establish the idea that Joslyn must have done something wrong, which is why Rex had thrown her out of the house. In simpler terms, Mike doesn’t want Joslyn to stay in their house. Paige is unaware of this growing tension between him and Joslyn until one day; she hears Mike threatening Joslyn to get her to leave the house. Paige started to notice that Mike was behaving oddly since he was busier at work than before. Also, there’s one thing worth mentioning: Mike and his son Tanner both have the same birthmark on their belly. This information will tie into a very interesting plot point later.
Anyway, Paige is suspicious about Mike’s odd behavior and his irrational hatred toward Joslyn. While all this is going on, Joslyn gives birth to a boy. This gives Mike even more reason to push Joslyn out of their house. He also tried to persuade Paige by saying they couldn’t feed another family right now. Paige somehow managed to get a week’s time for Joslyn to find a place for herself. That night, Paige, with a heavy heart, went to talk about this with Joslyn. Joslyn broke down in tears, knowing that she now had to find her own place to stay with her newborn baby. Later, when Paige held Joslyn’s baby boy, she found out that he had the same birthmark on his belly as her husband and her son. Well, surprise, surprise, the father of Joslyn’s son was not Rex but Mike himself. This made Paige all mad, and she went to confront Joslyn. Joslyn tells her that she was drunk one night when Mike forced himself on her. Paige, at first, could not believe the words Joslyn spoke, but soon she found more disturbing information about her husband. She learned that Mike hadn’t been working at his old office for some time now. Also, the bartender from the bar Mike often visited told Paige that he was seeing all kinds of bad guys who were involved in the drug mafia. These newfound pieces of information about Mike made Paige very anxious.
Paige’s Visit To Detective Anderson: A Hope To Escape Her Fate?
Paige was not sure what to do next. On the one hand, she needs to know the truth behind the relationship between Joslyn and Mike; on the other, she wants to save her husband from the people involved in wrongdoings in town. So she decided to take help from the law. She meets with Detective Anderson (Justin Nurse) and tells him about Mike’s possible involvement with a wanted man named Roman D’Mante. Detective Anderson understands the seriousness of the matter and tells Paige that he will contact her. However, he doesn’t have much of a case against Mike to help Paige with. After a while, one night, Mike returned home very late and forced himself on Paige. This made Paige realize that Joslyn might not have been lying. That Mike might have actually forced himself on her. She then made her peace with Joslyn and decided to leave the city with her. Paige told her that she would try and get her hands on as much money as possible, and they were leaving the place with their children. Joslyn, however, was a bit hesitant at first, but thinking about the security of her child, she too decided to carry on with Paige’s plan to escape Mike’s reach forever.
‘House Of Deadly Lies’ Ending Explained: What Happened To Mike? Did Paige And Joslyn Manage To Make A Fresh Start Together?
Paige and Joslyn ran away with their sons. Before leaving, Paige broke into Mike’s garage and found a bag full of cash. She grabbed the bag but forgot to bring the passport. Later, when she called her mother to get some help, she asked her to get in touch with her cousin, Raymond. He knew people who could help Paige and Joslyn get over the border. Paige quickly realized that she had to go back to the house to get the passport or they wouldn’t be able to get away. Paige went back and got the passport, but Mike stopped her before she could leave the house. During an argument between the husband and the wife, Paige used a poker to hit Mike. Mike lost consciousness as Paige went back to Joslyn and decided to move quickly. Later, Mike traced the last payment made by Paige through his credit card. He went to the motel where the payment was made and found nothing. He even went to threaten Paige’s mother, but she was already pointing a gun at him. So, that did not go well for Mike. Later, he called Rex, Joslyn’s boyfriend, and found out that they might be in a cabin. Meanwhile, Paige had contacted Raymond, and he had shared all the necessary details with her. Mike soon reached the cabin and found both Joslyn and Tanner there. Tanner was afraid of his father’s absurd aggression, so he ran into the forest. At this time, Paige arrived and rescued Joslyn and Tanner from the clutches of Mike. Detective Anderson finally arrived at the scene with his squad and took control of the situation. However, he had no clue where the bag full of cash went.
Paige and Joslyn knew that they could start a new life. The driving force of motherhood made the two young women take risks that would have been beyond their imagination. They did not think of anything else but the safety of their children. They stole drug money (probably), which was a very risky move, because no one really would want to mess with the people involved in that sort of money. Even Detective Anderson was very cautious about the money. But Paige and Joslyn had to get further away from Mike so that they could live happily without worrying about his aggressive nature. At the end of the film, we see Paige and Joslyn living together quite happily with their children. Mike was obsessed with being a good father to his sons, which perhaps led him to make such drastic decisions at the end of the film. Mike started off his career in the real estate business, but his hunger for opportunity took his good life away from him. All in all, Mike might have lost his family in trying to give them a better tomorrow. In contrast, Paige and Joslyn found their perfect setup to build their future.
