Naman Shrestha
Lifetime’s ‘Sins of the Preacher’s Wife‘ is a thriller film that centers upon Beth, a young mother looking to find her place in the new town while taking care of her newborn child and being a dedicated wife to her ever-so-busy husband. When she stumbles upon a highly popular local church where she is welcomed by the preacher’s wife named Marion, she decides to enroll her baby in the church’s daycare program with Marion at the helm of it. Gradually, Marion’s true intentions surface as she takes over as Beth’s baby’s main caregiver and deems her unfit to be a mother.
Featuring impressive performances by a talented cast comprising Anna Marie Dobbins, Vanessa Angel, Judson Mills, and Jason Cook, the film’s story deals with the realistic and predominant themes of deceit and the dark secrets that religious institutions tend to harbor under the pretense of religion. Since these subject matters hold significant weight in real life, it is natural for many of the viewers to pose the question — is ‘Sins of the Preacher’s Wife’ based on true events? Well, let’s explore the same together in detail, shall we?
Sins of the Preacher’s Wife is Entirely Fictional
‘Sins of the Preacher’s Wife’ is not based on a true story. However, there have been several cases when religious institutions are discovered to indulge in questionable activities that conflict with their teachings and belief system. So, it is possible that the screenwriter Kendall Anlian took some inspiration from that and decided to pen a script highlighting such instances. Putting her brilliant penmanship to good use, she managed to come up with an intriguing yet realistic screenplay for the Lifetime thriller.
One of the primary reasons why you find ‘Sins of the Preacher’s Wife’ quite realistic and familiar is that it not only explores themes and elements deeply rooted in reality but these subject matters have been highlighted in a number of movies and TV shows in the past. For instance, Serge Rashidi-Zakuani directorial, ‘Pastor’s Wife,’ also focuses on a preacher’s wife named Monique, as the title suggests. Just like Marion in the Lifetime movie, Monique also commits some questionable things after giving in to her feelings.
Another apt example has to be that of the 2018 film ‘Baby Obsession,’ which is directed by Ruth Du. Starring Linsey Godfrey, Jessica Blackmore, Alicia Leigh Willis, Jordi Vilasuso, Preston Jones, and Lesli Kay, the narrative follows a pregnant woman named Anna Gray, who is excited to start a family with her loving husband, Jon. However, Rachel, whose baby died from SIDS while Anna babysat her several years ago, has been plotting and waiting for the day when she can take back what Anna took from her.
In the Lifetime production, Marion also obsesses over Beth’s baby and tries to keep them apart for selfish reasons, which is somewhat similar to what Rachel does to Anna. Thus, by taking into account all the above-mentioned things, we can come to the conclusion that despite having quite a few seemingly true-to-life themes and elements, it doesn’t change the fact that ‘Sins of the Preacher’s Wife’ is nothing but a work of fiction.
Read More: Where Was Lifetime’s Sins of the Preacher’s Wife Filmed? Who is in the Cast?
