In this fun little romance thriller detective story, Sara (Emma Samms) is a globe-trotting photojournalist who finds out her brother has been killed on a sheep ranch owned by the Hollisters, a rich local horse clan. When she gets there for the services, her spidey sense goes off that it’s murder, not merely accidental death.

So she does the only logical thing: drops everything to assume a new identity and investigate. Posing as a horse photographer of all things, she infiltrates the powerful family and gets hired. She meets everyone in the fam—younger bro, deaf mom, sister-in-law who likes to spend money. The clan matriarch is none other than Hitchcock muse Tippi Hedren. One might believe that she signed on just to be near all these great horses.

Then Sara wanders around the stables only to stumble across the grumpy older brother—Jason (Bruce Greenwood)—who happens to be shirtless and hosing down a stallion. He gallantly carries her across the mud puddle created by the horse-washing, so she gets pressed up against his sweaty chest before she even knows his name. And she never mentions her career again.

“It makes me crazy the way you look so scared of me” <Leans in for a kiss>

As she gets closer to the truth, Jason wants to get closer to her but she won’t let him because she’s a liar-liar-pants-on-fire and thinks he killed her brother. During one of her investigations, in which she is thoroughly unfazed by being shot at but is completely upended when she falls into a river (how can you be a globe-trotting photojournalist and not know how to swim?), he shows up to rescue her, with a rifle, and she doesn’t even question his whereabouts ten minutes before.

So, the taciturn older brother who is ruggedly handsome but can only talk to horses makes her cocoa? He also sneaks into the bathroom while she’s in the shower and steals her clothes to dry, leaving his bathrobe? Talk about setting up unreal expectations.

Ooh Sara isn’t expecting a rich competitor for Jason’s love! She needs to figure out what she’s more interested in—Jason or her brother’s murder. Our leading lady has too much written all over her face to be in the duplicitous business for very long; she would be eaten alive by other femme fatales.

Treacherous Beauties gets sewn up quickly—the murderer was the selfish greedy wife of Jason’s younger brother (of course, so ungrateful); she gets taken care of tout suite. I’m very glad they made Jason shirtless again for the last couple of minutes, and so is Sara. It’s a fairy tale ending, complete with a new baby foal—Jason’s new son.

-MH