The evil Grace Hutchinson
Grace Hutchinson (Ashley Alexander) was the hidden main villainess from the 2023 Lifetime film, The Baby Swindler (originally titled, A Deadly Surrogacy; airdate March 31, 2023).
Introduction[]
Grace Hutchinson is the wife of Andrew Hutchinson, who is the brother of main protagonist Susie Ashcroft. In the film's events, Grace served as a friend to Susie, even more so following the passing of her husband (and Andrew's business partner), Mike Ashcroft. Susie had acquired a surrogate, Lorna Morgan, to carry a baby from the former's frozen embryo, and Grace supported and helped her through the process.
However, it was revealed that Grace and Andrew were also having problems conceiving, with their latest IVF procedure failing because Grace was unable to have a child. The film's progression saw both Susie and Lorna being stalked and pursued, with the latter eventually abducted. Grace, upon learning about what was happening, claimed to Susie that she saw Mike with another woman.
Heel Turn & Death[]
Grace holding Susie at gunpoint
In the climax, Susie was stunned to find evidence that her deceased husband Mike was apparently behind everything, with his actions later including killing Susie's close friend, Helen. She later learned that Lorna's brother, Paul Morgan, was involved. Andrew appeared to save his sister from Paul by killing him, only for Susie to be abducted and taken to a warehouse where she found Lorna, whose real name was revealed to be Madison Clark. Madison also revealed that Andrew was behind the abduction, and that he had been forging Mike's signature to steal money from their business to pay off loans from dangerous people. Andrew used Madison to run grifts (using her own debt to keep her in line), with their main target being Susie, as he enlisted Madison to claim to be Paul's sister and agree to become Susie's surrogate so he could obtain his sister's life insurance policy.
Andrew pursued both women and later took out a gun, only for Grace to arrive and appear to talk her husband down, while also taking the gun from him. At that moment, however, Grace turned heel and pointed the gun at Susie, while revealing herself as the true mastermind behind everything that occurred, which included sending Paul to try to run down Susie and Helen's murder. The evil Grace informed Susie that they needed her money to get away and hide, while also planning to take her baby as their own, adding that Madison's life depended on how compliant she was. The villainess ordered Susie and Madison to head towards the rooftop, where Susie knocked down her evil sister-in-law, allowing Madison to escape.
As the women brawled, Grace revealed that Andrew killed Mike as part of the scheme, and voiced her plan to kill Susie and take her baby. The maniacal villainess responded to Andrew's protest that Susie was his sister by shouting that she was his wife. Afterwards though, Susie sent Grace over the rooftop, resulting in the villainess falling to her death.
Trivia[]
- This was Ashley Alexander's first villainous Lifetime movie role.
Gallery[]
