The evil Allesandra Caleb
Allesandra Caleb (Annie Heise) was the main villainess from the 2020 Lifetime film, The Au Pair Nightmare (alternately titled, The Au Pair; airdate May 17, 2020).
Backstory[]
Allesandra Caleb was the wife of pediatrician John Caleb, though their marriage wasn't always perfect, as Allesandra began to feel neglected by John and his occupation. To make John jealous, Allesandra claimed that she had an affair with actor Brad Hardwick, and once their daughter, Emily, was born eight years prior to the events, she falsely claimed to John that Brad was her biological father. Her deception later included portraying Brad as being controlling to the point where he would try to take Emily from them, leading the Calebs to move to a remote location to avoid being found by Brad.
Events[]
Allesandra's evil glare at Taylor
The film's events had the Calebs searching for a live-in au pair for Emily, with main protagonist Taylor taking the job (while still processing the sudden death of her fiancée). After John welcomes Taylor, Allesandra gives a chilly introduction and voices her displeasure over potentially hiring her, only for John and (especially) Emily to recommend her and eventually hire her. Allesandra was introduced as needing inspiration for a new book she was working on, and while John gave a tour of the house, he stated to Taylor that his wife's office was off-limits, as she is not to be disturbed.
The film also established Allesandra as being strict regarding Emily, to the point where she adminoshes Taylor for playing games with Emily. However, the couple later danced in celebration of Allesandra having finished two chapters of her book, but when John told Taylor to change the selected song, Taylor played the song, Love Kill, which was revealed as a song from one of Brad's films, which brought a chill to Allesandra. The deranged blonde's antipathy towards Taylor increased, though on the following day, she engaged in a strange conversation with Taylor about the previous night, while also informing Taylor that John was interested in her and that she would allow Taylor and John to have an affair, claiming that the married couple had an arrangement.
Allesandra later lashed out at Taylor and Emily for watching one of Brad's movies, and she even tracked them to an ice cream shop where Luke, the family's grocery shopper and cook, worked; glaring while watching the three of them converse. After John was sent to talk to Taylor, he returned to Allesandra and informed her that she was right about her suspicions that Brad sent her, after which the couple abducted Luke, with John killing Luke under his evil wife's orders. Taylor's suspicions regarding the couple increased after seeing a different grocery shopper, and she had begun to sense that Brad was Emily's biological father, leading to Taylor entering Allesandra's room and taking Emily's hair from a comb, with the villainess catching her inside, though she wasn't able to figure out Taylor's plan.
Climax and Death[]
Allesandra brandishing a knife at Taylor
Taylor sent the hair to Mark to give to Kara (Mark's wife and Taylor's sister) for a DNA test, and the film's climax saw Taylor being informed by Allesandra that she and John would be out for the evening, with Taylor in charge of Emily. Taylor took the opportunity to go inside Allesandra's office, which was revealed to have a shrine of Brad inside, as well as a note revealing that the couple set a trap that Taylor walked into. The couple tied up and gagged Taylor, with John removing the gag and allowing Taylor to speak, only for Allesandra to disbelieve her claims that she had never met Brad. The villainess informed Taylor that she had an affair with Brad due to being neglected by John, and that Emily was the result, with John voicing his guilt in his wife's affair.
The three of them were interrupted when Kara appeared with the results, but their attempts to convince Kara that Taylor was out with Luke fell flat when Taylor (having been freed by Emily) emerged. Kara gave Taylor an envelope containing the DNA results, informing her sister that Brad was not the father before being tossed down the stairs by John (Kara survived). Afterwards, the evil Allesandra appeared with a knife, and later took Taylor outside, where the couple revealed that they killed Luke, with the psychotic madwoman blaming Taylor for what happened to Luke and Kara.
Taylor later gave John the envelope and told him to open it, while questioning the claim that Brad was Emily's father. Despite Allesandra's attempts to stop her husband, John opened it and learned that he really was Emily's father, and expressed his astonishment and anger that Allesandra lied to him for eight years regarding Brad, who she had never even met, while adding that he killed Luke because of his wife's deception. A regretful John untied Taylor, only to end up stabbed to death by Allesandra, who remained trapped in her own delusions and accused John of letting Brad and Taylor get to her.
Emily later arrived next to Taylor and voiced her own recognition that Allesandra was the "boogeyman" she had feared all this time, practically disowning her mother. The sudden event of Emily disowning her mother led Allesandra to break down completely, and made a last-ditch effort to kill Taylor by tackling her and sending both of them inside the pool. Their struggle was short-lived, while Allesandra's last attempt to kill Taylor failed and her ultimate comeuppance occurred, as Taylor had grabbed the knife prior to the attack and used it to stab Allesandra to death.
Trivia[]
- Allesandra Caleb is similar to fellow Lifetime villainess Emily Brown, as both were women who had delusional obsessions with a famed celebrity, and also involved and victimized their live-in nannies. In addition, their children were part of their delusions, as each one claimed that the object of their obsession was the true biological father.
- This was Annie Heise's first villainous Lifetime movie role.
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