Real Estate Gets Ugly In This Lifetime Movie

The title of Backstabbed alone should give you a hint that this movie, premiering on Lifetime on Saturday, Sept. 3 at 8 p.m. ET is probably going to be one of the more intense flicks to ever hit the network. And indeed it is, as the film follows a housewife named Shelby (Brittany Underwood) who strikes up a seemingly lucrative partnership with a real estate agent, Paulette (Josie Davis), when she's strapped for cash. But since this is Lifetime and not HGTV, so you know there's got to be a major sinister twist. It's so dark that it'll make you wonder if Backstabbed is a true story — and hope that it's not.

If you read the synopsis for Backstabbed or view its trailer below, you'll quickly discover what that twist is. Paulette has Shelby do some unethical things in order to sell homes, such as pose as a potential buyer. However, once Shelby finds out that Paulette will do anything to sell a house, such as forcing Shelby to use her sexuality or frame her husband for cheating, she wants out of the biz. Unfortunately, Paulette will have none of that, and it looks like only one of them (at the most) will stay alive by the end of this movie.

Well, there's no mention of Backstabbed being based on a true story in either the film's trailer or its synopsis on Johnson Production Group's website. That's something that's typically pointed out in a movie's materials, so Backstabbed appears to be a work of fiction.

But believe it or not, there have been reports of people posing as potential home buyers — though the reports are nothing like what happens in Backstabbed. For instance, it was reported in August that code compliance officers in Hollywood, Florida, were allegedly posing as potential buyers in order to gain access to residents' homes and look for violations, according to Local 10. A former real estate agent in Auckland, New Zealand, Scott Perry, was accused of pretending to be a potential buyer in order to help him establish a rival water supply business in 2013, the New Zealand Herald reported. (Bustle has reached out to Perry for comment on these allegations.) The Real Estate Agents Authority found Perry guilty of unsatisfactory conduct by and fined him $5,000. And a couple in Chandler, Arizona, pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary after allegedly posing as a realtor and potential buyer in order to get into homes, Tuscon Local Media reported.

The fictional plot of Backstabbed is something we've seen before too, because movies love them some con artists. So if you like Backstabbed, you can take your pick of the con-filled litter for your next film selection. In particular, Backstabbed is giving me some vibes of another Lifetime movie that also starred Davis, Accidental Obsession. The movie follows a successful lawyer who gets into a traffic accident with a woman who is not at all who she seems to be.

Outside of the Lifetime-verse, A Fish Called Wanda is a con comedy classic that also features hustlers turning on one another, as they do in Backstabbed.

But if you want to watch something that features the world of real estate in a dubious fashion, as Backstabbed does, then Glengarry Glen Ross is the movie for you. The film follows the trials and tribulations of real estate salesmen who stop at nothing to make deals in this cutthroat industry. The "Always Be Closing" speech is one of the most intense moments in cinematic history, too.

Is it quite as intense as Backstabbed? You'll have to tune in Saturday night to find out.

Image: Lifetime