You’re Not Supposed to Be Here

You’re Not Supposed To Be Here is a Lifetime thriller. There was basically a 0% chance this thing was going to be good. But at least it’s a watchable kind of bad.

Following a traumatic miscarriage, Zoe is again pregnant and in a constant state of anxiety about it. Her wife, Kennedy is more focused on work than her. Kennedy’s boss offers the use of his cabin for a getaway and the two women agree. This would be a good, and likely last chance to reconnect as a couple before the baby is born. However, Zoe keeps getting creepy vibes from the town. Kennedy tries to write it off as just Zoe’s nerves, but clearly, something is amiss in the town.

I’ll say this for You’re Not Supposed To Be Here, shit happens in this movie. They go pretty full-out with the concept. After so many slow, nuanced artsy films with subtle plot points, it’s nice to watch something that’s all cults and baby kidnapping. I welcome this particular kind of absurdity and insanity in the movie. I’m grateful it wasn’t a thriller that just amounted to Kennedy gaslighting her wife or something. Nah, there’s a full fucked up town on our hands.

But while I’m happy the film went there, it’s not like it did so with good style or execution. Again, this is a Lifetime thriller. So, the plot and any potential twists are drilled into its audience’s head over and over. And while they cover some absurd plot points, none of it is new, really. Also, the film itself seems to stop taking itself seriously in the third act. Suddenly, some of this seems played for comedy and the characters seem to gain some self awareness on how ridiculous this all is. Especially because it comes to late in the film, this isn’t welcome. We all know this movie is silly. But don’t let me see that you have a sense of shame about that! Commit to your silliness without irony!

Obviously, the thing that sets You’re Not Supposed To Be Here apart from other Lifetime thrillers is that its lead couple is homosexual. And this element was integrated really well into the story. On the one hand, this movie is not “about” them being a same-sex couple. It’s a larger thriller about a cult that wants your baby. But nor is the film completely devoid of moments that show Zoe and Kennedy’s relationship as completely the same as a straight one. Notably, the women are constantly concerned about experiencing homophobia in rural environments. And that a few characters try to gain their trust by claiming allyship towards them. Of course, as it turns out, homophobia isn’t actually an issue in their life at this moment. It’s something weirder and much sillier.

What sinks the queer representation is the staggering lack of chemistry between the two leads. There’s literally no evidence these two women have ever had sex. Not even Zoe’s pregnancy because well, that’s not how that works. There’s moments in dialogue that talk about how they used to have a sex life, and Zoe tries to initiate something once or twice. But this is a Lifetime movie, so they’re not gonna go too far in the direction of lesbian sexuality. That’s not what their audience wants. But beyond that, Zoe and Kennedy seem so frosty to each other and lack any sort of attraction to one another. Their relationship really reads as two girl boss besties who are such gal pals they’re going to raise a child together.

The sad thing about Lifetime movies is that they’re incapable of being camp. They’re too cookie-cutter corporate to ever cross that line. And a story like the one in You’re Not Supposed to Be Here would be so much better if it was allowed to be camp. But, the audience for this movie (your 50 year-old single aunt) wouldn’t appreciate that, so the executives on high aren’t going to allow it either. So you’re left with a stupid, ridiculous thriller starring two pretty but sexless lesbians that feels far too rote for how absurd it is. Again, this is a watchable kind of bad, but the assembly line nature of the product is a real downer.

Overall rating: 4.2/10

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