"Her Only Child" (a.k.a., "Maternal Obsession") has the feel of a real-life story. The realism was never in doubt in the portrayal of the overly dependent mother Inez Stanler on her conflicted daughter Lily.

The structure of the film is economical with the overwhelming emphasis on the mother-daughter scenes and those of the new man in Lily's life, Larry Nowack. Inez had been instrumental in sabotaging her daughter's previous romantic relationships with Johnny and Michael, in one instance, hiring thugs to administer a savage beating to persuade Michael Benton to stop seeing Lily. Will she now repeat the pattern with Larry?

The performances was first-rate, including the entirely credible mother in the grip of prescription drug addiction and dependency issues. But the film really belongs to the sensitive Lily, who finds it difficult to say "no" to her mother or to take a leap by moving out of her mother's home to lead a more independent life. Nicholle Tom was successful in capturing the mental tug-of-war that was preventing Lily from breaking free of here mother who would relentless cling to her.

The filmmakers took some risks in relying essentially on the triangle of Inez, Lily, and Larry to carry the film. Despite the limitations, a brisk pace was maintained due to the psychological nuances in the character interactions, as well as a genuine interior conflict of Lily. In the end, she could only move forward with a declaration of her autonomy from a loving but damaged parent.

I stumbled upon this quite by accident - awake early one morning, flipping through TV channels and I happened to find this at the opening credits. I didn't know any of the cast, and the title (the one I saw in the listings when I checked it out was "Maternal Obsession,") seemed a bit unimaginative, perhaps giving too much away. But I decided to watch it - aside from news, what else is there at 6 in the morning? It was a pleasant surprise. Don't get me wrong. It's not a masterpiece, but it's not bad. It does rankle me by hitting on my pet peeve - a Canadian movie that has to try to pretend to be anything but Canadian by being set in the United States (in this case, Philadelphia) - but still, it's not bad. Yeah, the title gives it away. It's about an obsessed mom trying too hard (WAY too hard!) to control the life of her only daughter and prevent her from growing up and moving on. The whole "control freak" concept is a bit cliché and maybe overdone in movies, but the lack of originality is made up for by pretty decent performances by the two leads.

Gwyneth Walsh was actually pretty impressive as the obsessed, unbalanced and mentally ill mom, who simply can't bear to let her daughter have any sort of life, going to extremes when necessary to break up her daughter's friendships and relationships, trying to isolate her and prevent her from ever leaving home. She captured the essential creepiness of the character well. Nicholle Tom was also pretty good as her daughter Lily, controlled by her mom's manipulations and guilt-trips, gradually becoming more and more aware of just how truly disturbed the woman is.

This is moderately suspenseful, although the ending struck me as a little bit of an anti-climax. Given how these types of movies always develop, there's a sense of nervousness about poor Binky (Lily's little dog) right from the beginning of the movie that really does manage to heighten the suspense! All things considered, it's not that bad. (6/10)

The leggy eldest daughter on "The Nanny," Nicholle Tom, is all grown up now and "Her Only Child" in this 2008 film also starring Cameron Daddo and Gwynyth Walsh. Tom plays Lily Stanler, unlucky in love, who lives with her suffocating wreck of a mother (Walsh) who is terrified of bugs and of her daughter leaving her. She's the type of mom who makes cookies when her daughter is on a diet and wants to see a movie on Saturday night when she knows her daughter has a date that evening. When Lily meets the handsome Larry (Daddo),mom has a knife injury requiring stitches in the middle of one date, and during Lily's romantic weekend with Larry, her dog gets into the garbage back home and is possibly poisoned (I was nervous about Binky all during the movie). Add to that the fact that Lily's past relationships have ended somewhat suddenly, Mom always being there to pick up the pieces takes on new meaning - mom's the one creating the breakage to begin with. Does Lily need a sledgehammer over her head before she figures this out? Or does Binky or her new beau have to die before she gets a clue? Tune in and find out! Walsh is so obviously a whacko that it's impossible to believe her daughter would think she was even semi-normal. Still you can't help but feel sorry for the manipulated Lily character - the beautiful Tom has a sweet presence, and you just want to throttle her to get a life. Daddo, of "F/X" fame is hunky as ever.

Very ordinary, very typical Lifetime movie. Lifetime rotates the same three or four plots and changes the cast - and we keep watching. Now who's crazy?