Ashley Thomas (Alissa Filoramo) is the main villainess from the 2022 Lifetime film, How to Live Your Best Death (airdate September 30, 2022).
Backstory[]
Ashley Thomas' backstory revealed that she was once a psychiatrist, but she ended up losing her license due to malpractice suits against her, as she was accused of obsessively controlling her patients. She became a life coach afterwards, but her controlling nature continued to be displayed towards her clients, with her latest one (prior to the film's events) being Cari Pruitt. Ashley would control every aspect of Cari's life, and when she became dissatisfied with the results, the deranged villainess murdered Cari and staged her death as a suicide.
Events[]
In the film's events, Ashley became the life coach for main protagonist Kristin Adams, who was feeling overlooked at her job. Under the advisement of Ashley, Kristin quit her job and took another one at a different company, though the interview with vice president Bill Kelly didn't go as Kristin planned. Ashley, who had been throwing out a lot of Kristin's junk food, decided to visit Bill's office when he was away, and after learning that Bill was adulterous, the villainess decided to seduce Bill before blackmailing him into hiring Kristin, with Bill giving in.
Kristin celebrated her success with Ashley and Sara Adams (the latter being Kristin's sister), but when Kristin attempted to hook up with a man at the club, Ashley voiced her thoughts against it, with Sara coming to Kristin's defense. After seeing Kristin with the same man, Ashley took the unnamed man to the bathroom and attacked him by smashing his head on the mirror, threatening him to stay away from Kristin. The villainess continued taking more of Kristin's things, including her favorite mug; all the while, Sara had become suspicious of Ashley's obsessive methods and performed an online search, which uncovered Ashley's villainous past. Sara's investigation led her to sneak into Ashley's apartment, but after finding Kristin's mug and a collection of identification cards, Sara heard Ashley enter and attempted to escape. However, Ashley had known that Sara was in the house, and after thorough search, the villainess caught Sara and strangled her to death with her purse strap.
After killing Sarah, Ashley continued stalking Kristin and controlling her every decision, including ordering Kristin to end her budding relationship with her co-worker, Kevin Shane. Also, Kristin was competing against her former co-worker, Gus, for an important account, and after Kristin voiced her belief that Gus may have stolen the account from her, Ashley appeared to Gus under the claim of presenting an important document for him to sign. Gus later saw that the document was a suicide note, and it was followed by Ashley bludgeoning Gus with a golf club and sending him falling off the roof of the building, and to his death.
Climax and Arrest[]
Ashley holding the knife wielding the film's climax to kill Kristin Adams
Gus' death resulted in Kristin getting the account, and as for Ashley, she invited herself to the celebration, much to the shock and dismay of Kristin, who began to back away from Ashley's obsessive behavior. Ashley tracked Kristin and Kevin and took photos of the couple before sending them to their boss, Diane Vance, who scolded the pair for their relationship, though Diane later voiced her approval to Kristin privately. Later on, the evil Ashley confronted Kevin and ordered him to break things off with Kristin, and when Kevin refused, the madwoman injected Kevin with a poisonous chemical, which resulted in Kevin being placed in a coma.
Kristin learned about Kevin's hospitalization, and later received a text from "Sara" (Ashley posing as Kristin's murdered sister) regarding a meeting at her house. Upon arrival, Kristin spotted Ashley, who revealed that she killed Sara and had been behind everything else, under the claim that she was doing everything for Kristin, who fired Ashley as her life coach. The enraged Ashley attempted to attack with the same poison-filled syringe that she used on Kevin, only for Kristin to toss hot water at the villainess before escaping.
Ashley, now wielding a knife, ranted about her name meaning excellence, and stated that she wouldn't tolerate anything less as she continued pursuing Kristin, who made it out of the house. The villainess spotted a car heading to the house, and later saw that it was Diane, leading to Ashley threatening Diane inside Kristin's house. Unbeknownst to Ashley, Kristin snuck back into the house and overheard the argument, which included Diane informing Ashley that she had called the police, and it was at that moment that Kristin took Ashley's syringe and punctured it into the villainess, subduing her. Ashley was arrested and placed in jail, with the final scenes showing the maniacal villainess in her cell, claiming that she continuously helped her clients.
Victims[]
- Cari Pruitt (method unknown, staged her death as a suicide)
- Unnamed man (banged his head on a mirror, but critically injured)
- Sara Adams (strangled to death)
- Gus (bludgeoned and fell to death)
- Kevin Shane (injected with a poisonous chemical, sent to hospital and placed on a coma)
- Kristin Adams (attempted and failed)
Trivia[]
- Earlier in the year, Alissa Filoramo also played villainess Vanessa VanDeBerg in Nightmare PTA Moms, and she later played psychotic madwoman Violet Benson in 2024's She's Obsessed With My Husband.
Gallery[]
