Shuvrajit Das Biswas
Despite being known for relatively low-budget productions, for the most part, Lifetime has thrilled millions over the years with their movies. One of Lifetime’s latest offerings, ‘Ruthless Realtor,’ promises to be an interesting watch. While the name might be a bit misleading, ‘Ruthless Realtor’ is a crime thriller that revolves around an obsessive realtor. The movie’s theme – the realtor-turned-criminal – has many wondering whether the film is based on real life. In this article, we dig deep to see if it is.
What is Ruthless Realtor About?
‘Ruthless Realtor’ tells the story of a couple whose dream of moving into a new house becomes a nightmare due to their obsessive realtor’s unwelcome and intrusive presence.
The movie starts with a happy couple – Ralph Savage (played by Brian Ames) and his wife Annie (played by Lily Anne Harrison) – moving into the house of their dreams. However, their dream move starts to turn into a nightmare when their eccentric and obsessive realtor, Meg Atkins (played by Christie Burson), starts taking an unhealthy interest in their relationship. Despite efforts by the Savages to push Meg away and enjoy their new life in the privacy of their new home, Meg continues to be persistent and intrusive. She even claims that someone is out to kill the Savages, at which point the police get involved and arrest Meg.
Following her arrest, Meg tells Annie about specific events to prove that the previous homeowners had been targeted by a deadly assailant, leading Annie to wonder whether Meg is trying to save their lives. Following is a dangerous game of cat and mouse, which you will have to watch to discover what happens. We’re avoiding giving out spoilers here.
Ruthless Realtor is a Work of Fiction
Given the premise of ‘Ruthless Realtor,’ it’s natural to wonder whether it is a true story or is based on real-life events. The simple answer is that it is not a true story, but that does not mean it hasn’t drawn inspiration from crimes of greed and cultural productions dealing with the same.
While the real-estate business is undoubtedly a lucrative one, it isn’t exactly clean – fraud, money laundering, and even murder have been tied to the real-estate business in the past and continue to be so even today. Therefore, it is unsurprising that many movies have dealt with the real-estate business over the years. Some of these movies – such as ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ (1992), ‘Pacific Heights’ (1990), ‘The Big Short’ (2015) – are rather famous.
On the other hand, some are less renowned but hold their own as movies dealing with the linkage between real estate and crime. Lifetime’s 2016 release, ‘Backstabbed,’ deals with a real estate agent trying to make a living in the cut-throat industry, and the movie showcases the dark depths to which one could descend while in the business. While ‘Backstabbed’ is also a work of fiction, it appears to draw its inspiration from many real-life cases where people would pose as home-buyers and realtors to get illegal access to other people’s houses for criminal purposes. It is, therefore, quite possible that ‘Ruthless Realtor’ has taken a similar approach.
Hence, despite ‘Ruthless Realtor’ not being a true story, the movie is indeed a reflection of the society that we live in and serves as a warning to potential home buyers who could be at risk from such individuals.
