Marnie (The Shoplifting Pact)

Marnie (Gracie Doan) is the true hidden main villainess from the 2022 Lifetime film, The Shoplifting Pact (originally titled, Stealing in Suburbia, airdate October 14, 2022).

Backstory and Introduction[]

Marnie was the childhood best friend of main protagonist Skylar "Sky" Phillips, who was returning to school. Despite being close to Sky, Marnie had harbored jealousy of Sky due to the fact that her parents were together and very close to Sky. In contrast, Marnie's parents were divorced, and she was living with her mother, Becky, after her father had a new family, with Marnie feeling ignored by her mother.

At some point, Marnie began a relationship with schoolmate, Trey, who later engaged in a brief affair with Sandy Evans, the high school's girls' basketball coach. Trey posed as a 22-year-old, only for Evans to learn about Trey being a student when she spotted him in one of her classes. Marnie turned heel afterwards, as she used the affair as part of her plan to get money from Evans, with Trey being an accomplice in her greedy scheme.

Events[]

Marnie secretly manipulated Evans, as well as teammates Heather, Tabitha, and Vera into organizing a shoplifting ring after Trey blackmailed Evans--demanding $50,000 for his silence on their relationship. As part of the plan, the girls would steal expensive clothes from various stores, while another teammate, Sherri Williams, would list them for sale online. Entering the film's opening, Sherri voiced her desire to want out of the operation, but at that moment, Marnie appeared in a masked disguise and strangled Sherri to death.

Regarding the events, Sky ended up recruited to replace Sherri, with Marnie being tasked by Heather to recruit Sky. Marnie does so, under the claim that the clothes were her mother's and that she wanted them sold due to a desire to discard them. During one of their missions, the quartet was confronted by Tara Clark, Sherri's mother, who pleaded with them to help her find Sherri, only for the girls to walk off. Later that evening, the evil Marnie tracked Tara and strangled her to death.

Publicly, Marnie voiced her trepidation over Sky being involved in her scheme; only to continue to secretly embezzle from their stash, as well as appear to Sky under her masked heel persona to intimidate her. After Sky figured out that the clothes were stolen, Marnie broke into Sky's home and smashed a vase to keep her from telling her mother, Nicole Phillips, and she continued to act as a worried friend and attempt to plead with Sky to get out of the ring.

Climax and Reveal[]

Heather and Marnie later revealed that their motive for shoplifting was to help Evans pay off her blackmailer, revealing that Trey had been demanding money from his ex-lover. Sky later quits, but afterwards, Marnie attacks Nicole and leaves an ominous message in Sky's room, forcing Sky back into the ring. The film's climax saw Heather, Tabitha, and Vera stealing from another store, only for a pair of police officers to track them, as they were contacted by Marnie, who appeared and knocked out Heather with a crowbar. Once Sky appeared to confront the attacker, she was shocked to see that Marnie was the villainess, right before she was knocked out by her evil former friend.

After Sky woke up and untied herself, she confronted Marnie while learning that the villainess was in a relationship with Trey, and that Marnie had masterminded the shoplifting ring and stealing from their stash to fund her escape with Trey. The villainess revealed her anger over her parents' divorce, as well as her mother not paying attention to her, while also voicing her envy over Sky getting immense attention and protectiveness from her own parents. Marnie demanded the PIN number for the account where the money from their thefts was connected to, only for Sky to fight back against Marnie and Trey and return to the bedroom, where she called Nicole.

Sky fought off and knocked out Trey, only to end up facing Marnie again, with the villainess holding Sky's inhaler as her asthma was acting up. Despite being against harming Sky, Marnie threatened Sky with a knife and attempted to kill her, only for Nicole arrive with her husband, Kevin Phillips, as well as Becky, with Marnie lashing out at Becky before shoving her away and attempting to kill Nicole. The villainess ended up accosted by Sky, who fought Marnie for the knife, which ended with Marnie being stabbed with her own weapon. Marnie was shown being carried away on a stretcher, having survived the stabbing, and being placed in an ambulance, while also being arrested for her various crimes.