Psychotic murderess Zoey McLaren (aka Elizabeth Carter)
Zoey McLaren, aka Elizabeth Carter (Erica Mena), is the main villainess from the 2022 film, The Stepmother.
Backstory[]
Elizabeth Carter's backstory revealed that she was the mother of Jason Carter, though the identity of Jason's father wasn't revealed. Seven years prior to the film's events, Elizabeth was sexually assaulted by Frank Peterson, who broke into the house and tied up Jason before committing the attack. The house ended up on fire due to a pot being left on the stove, and regarding Frank, he ended up acquitted due to a lack of evidence, as well as Jason being too traumatized to testify in court.
Weeks later, Jason hung himself, with his mother taking him down off of the ceiling fan afterwards. Elizabeth sought revenge afterwards, and she later targeted Frank, tied him up to a chair, and killed him by burning his house down. After killing Frank, Elizabeth became a deranged serial murderess, with her victims being widowed fathers, as Frank was one himself. The maniacal villainess used different aliases to engage in relationships with her victims before killing them in the same fashion, though she spared their sons, because they reminded her of Jason.
Events[]
The film's events saw Elizabeth encounter main protagonist Eddie Linbrook at a bowling alley owned by him and his brother, Harrison Linbrook, with Elizabeth introducing herself as Zoey McLaren. The encounter came a year after Eddie's wife, April Linbrook, passed away, and within moments, Eddie and Zoey began a romantic relationship, which drew objections from Eddie's son, Scott Linbrook. Six months later, Zoey became Eddie's wife and Scott's stepmother, though later on, she overheard a conversation between Eddie and Rudy, with the latter describing a female serial killer he learned about on TV. Despite Eddie dismissing Rudy's statements, Zoey went to Rudy's shop and caused a car he was working on to fall on him, killing him to keep her murderous past a secret.
Zoey later snapped at Eddie and also displayed a demanding demeanor towards Scott, while referring to herself as the new woman of the house. She later attempted to form a bond with Scott, who she referred to as Jason, later claiming that Jason was a student she was helping out, though she also informed Scott that he had to eventually move out of the house. Later on, Zoey was contacted by Vanessa (Eddie's sister-in-law) about her résumé and her lack of information, leading to Zoey handing her info to Vanessa directly. However, Vanessa became suspicion and contacted a PI regarding Zoey, which resulted in Vanessa learning about Zoey's murderous past. Vanessa attempted to call Eddie and warn him about Zoey, only to be shoved down the stairs by the villainess, who had been tracking Vanessa so she could kill her.
Climax & Arrest[]
Scott began to have his own suspicions about Zoey, and afterwards, he and his girlfriend, Jessica, tracked Zoey late at night, only to find her in the arms of another man, named Kevin Smith. The villainess donned a longer wig and was going by Diana Valdez, and also informed Kevin's young son, Dustin, that she was engaged to his father. Zoey informed her potential next victim that she had to tie up some loose ends first, and it was later in the film's climax that Scott and Jessica returned to the latter's house, where Zoey attacked Jessica before doing the same to Scott, who she later tied up.
Afterwards, the evil Zoey ranted to Scott that she wanted a family for her own, while also stating that she had to kill Scott; adding that she normally didn't kill the children. The deranged madwoman informed Scott that she would kill Eddie and Jessica, and when the former returned home, Zoey regained her sweet demeanor until Eddie noticed his wife's new look. At this point, Zoey saw a vision of Frank and started shouting at him, with Eddie being stunned by Zoey's behavior before asking about Scott. The villainess knocked out Eddie with a vase and tied him up, and later lashed out at Frank for his actions, as well as Jason's death, while laughing in response to Eddie's protests.
Scott later appeared and portrayed Jason in an attempt to appease and get through to Zoey, which worked until Zoey stated that Scott wasn't Jason. Scott's attempt to fight against Zoey resulted in him being stabbed by the villainess, who later resumed her attempt to kill both Scott and Eddie, only to be stabbed by Jessica. The film's final scene revealed that Zoey survived the attack, though she sent a letter to Eddie (who she referred to as Frank), which stated that she would see him again.
Sequel[]
The 2022 sequel saw Zoey (referred to by her real name, Elizabeth Carter) hospitalized following the events of the first film, and regarding the subject of her last attempted victims, the madwoman complimented Eddie, though she referred to Scott as "evil." After killing a guard and a doctor, the villainess escaped and headed to San Francisco to reunite with Kevin, while again going by Diana Valdez. While celebrating her and Kevin's engagement, Diana was introduced to Kevin's longtime best friend, Chris Harris, a detective who began looking into Diana and confronted her after catching inconsistencies in her story, as well as showing a pic of the real Diana, who had been deceased.
Diana claimed that she was hiding from Michael, an abusive ex, but after telling her story, she was ordered by Chris to tell the truth to Kevin. All the while, Janet Smith, Kevin's estranged wife and Dustin's mother, visited the house, enraging Diana to the point where she referred to Kevin as Eddie, who she now claimed was abusive to her when Kevin caught Diana in her rage. In addition, Chris' latest visit revealed that Diana never revealed the truth to Kevin and Dustin, and in the confrontation that followed, Diana threatened Chris to stay away from her and her new "family." However, after stalking Chris and learning about his investigation, the evil Diana strangled Chris to death inside his apartment.
The murder was staged as a suicide, and afterwards, Diana wrote a suicide note portraying Chris and Janet as illicit lovers, doing so to drive a further wedge between Janet and Kevin. The climax saw Diana attack Janet before being confronted by Kevin, which was followed by the madwoman knocking out Kevin and tying him up. Diana planned to kill Kevin in the same fashion that she used to kill Frank and in her attempt against Eddie, while also admitting to killing Chris. Just as Diana was about to kill Kevin, she ended up shot by Janet, though Diana survived and escaped.
Gallery[]
