Before Your Father Finds Us Review: Faith, Fury, and Maternal Instincts — Alexa PenaVega Goes Full Warrior!

Alexa PenaVega takes center stage in Before Your Father Finds Us, the second film in Lifetime’s faith-based slate, which features powerful, strong women embracing their faith during challenging times.

Coming off the heels of the Faith in the Flames ripped-from-the-headlines films, this one, while not inspired by real events, still has a great deal of heart, and Sophia shows so much grit and gumption.

It results in an intense ordeal and equally as intense watch!

Thus far, Lifetime’s Faith slate has been light on the faith. It’s not a criticism, just an observation given that these stories were all meant to have this strong theme.

I’ve been surprised by how safe they’ve played it on that front. Here, we open and close with Sophia/Alex and her daughter in church, and there are two distinct moments when Sophia prays, but these moments also don’t feel different from any other film.

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We’ve seen those casual references to faith in the usual Lifetime films before. There’s nothing unique that feels worthy of typing it to such a heavily themed slate.

Outside of that, this was another story about a woman who was virtually on the run from her dangerous ex-husband, and a momma bear would fiercely protect her child.

When we met Sophia, it was evident that she was a woman with secrets, guarding her heart and on high alert. I loved those little moments when she couldn’t keep her mask from slipping — like cutting those vegetables while having dinner with Steve.

It was apparent that behind a seemingly docile woman was a formidable person with a dark past and a deceptive ferocity.

The excitement came from learning that she was in the military alongside her husband, Mason. While it was nerve-wracking to see that he was a mentally off-kilter man in prison with a myriad of specialized skills from his military work, the relief came in the revelation that Sophia/Alex possessed those skills, too.

It was exciting to know that as the film progressed, we’d have a fair fight, not another movie where a woman had to run from danger and sometimes rely on another male to save her.

Sophia, coming face-to-face with Mason for the first time in a decade, had all that palpable tension that made you hold your breath. I especially loved PenaVega’s silent performance there because she truly captured what it’s like when a woman is fearful and trying to play it off as best as she can.

But my favorite was how she immediately shifted into combat mode. She pulled that go-bag out like a woman on a mission, and it was like we saw a gear switch in her.

The decade she spent looking over her shoulder, seemingly coming across as a meek woman, slipped away, and she became a warrior determined to do whatever it took to protect her daughter.

And she was smart enough to know that the FBI had a leak and mostly kept them at arm’s length throughout most of the film.

Sophia was a force, and I loved every second of it, from her exit plan from her home to how she set up that cabin to ensure everday obects would alert her if he stepped foot there.

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Her transformation into this total bada** was a true highlight of the film.

We learned that she’s an honorable woman who couldn’t look the other way when Mason participated in and fueled some shady activities with his military unit. She didn’t hesitate to turn him in and testify against him.

It resulted in her and Emily in WITSec, but it was a necessary evil in exchange for their safety.

I almost wish she could have let her daughter in on more about her past, though. Emily came across as a bit too naive, and worse yet, she seemed hesitant to take her mother’s word for it when Sophia told her how dangerous Mason was.

She also seemed to view Sophia testifying against him as a possible betrayal. It didn’t seem to click into place just how much her mother was protecting her and how serious the matter was until Mason showed up and tried to kill Sophia and take Emily.

Things finally clicked into place for Emily around then, and from then on, she was as fierce as her mother.

The same could go for Sophia’s best friend. I loved that she had this endearing woman whom she could confide in and be her true self with. And beneath everything else in this film, there was something to be said about the power of friendship, especially female camaraderie.

There was an unspoken solidarity between them as women and mothers that was a beautiful thread woven through the film, making it enjoyable.

She put her own family and life at risk trying to help her friend, and she was a force to be reckoned with even when she was afraid. I love that both Sophia and Emily had these friendships that grounded them during such trying times.

Frankly, I could’ve done with just the women as heavy hitters in this regard rather than having Steve around. Bless his sweet heart, he meant well so many times, and he was clearly a great guy, but more often than not, he was just in the way.

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I wanted him to sit still, stay put, and keep to himself until Sophia handled things, but in his quest to help, he just became a liability over and over again.

It made me cringe when he attempted to clock Mason, and instead, he opened himself up to a horrific beatdown that I was primarily grateful took place off-screen.

As a side note, I loved the direction of this film. There were wonderful and intricately filmed shots and scenes.

But back to Steve, who was just in the way for most of the movie, like a genderbent “Damsel in distress.”

I’m happy Steve survived because he probably should’ve been dead a hundred times over by the film’s end.

Outside of Penavega’s strong performances, I adored how absolutely menacing Tahmoh Penikett was as Mason. His previous Lifetime film had him opposite Teri Hatcher and playing a more subdued role.

However, after speaking with him about that role last year, one thing I genuinely appreciated was his passion for the craft and how transformative he is when he takes on projects.

He absolutely nailed it — delivering such a chilling performance as Mason that it was hard to shake off when the credits rolled.

I also loved that Riverdale’s Lochlan Munro was actually a good guy here.

I’ve seen that man play baddies so often that he had me second-guessing whether or not he was the FBI agent compromised, especially when it seemed like they were more focused on finding Sophia than trying to capture Mason.

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Overall, it was a strong film with great performances. It worked as an action thriller that took on some of Lifetime’s usual flair and even elevated it.

Over to you, Lifetime Fanatics. How do you feel about this one?

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