Dr. Laura Stevens (Michelle Nolden) was the main villainess from Lifetime's 2016 film, Running For Her Life (alternately titled Run to Me).
Backstory[]
Laura Stevens is a physical trainer and a hypnotherapist, but her sinister past revealed that she attempted to kill her stepfather. Laura claimed that it was because he was abusing her mother, but in actuality, he knew that she was mentally unstable and wanted to commit her. It was also revealed that she killed her mentor, Charles McDowell, after she made repeated attempts to contact him. Laura took on Delphine Ricard, a noted athlete, under her wing, but after she became increasingly controlling, Delphine fired Laura. An angry Laura later killed Delphine by drowning her.
Events[]
Laura drugging Alison's wine
In the film, Alison Wynn (the film's protagonist) became Laura's latest client after being sideswiped while running. Alison met Laura at a seminar and quickly agreed to hire Laura as her trainer, despite Laura's warnings about her strenuous methods. Unbeknownst to Alison, Laura set her evil plan in motion, which was to separate Alison from her family, beginning with taking Adam, Alison's husband, out of the picture. After noticing how Brea, the family's young blonde neighbor, acts flirtatious with Adam, Laura planted a pair of women's underwear inside the home on the couch to make Alison believe that they're having an affair, which works.
Laura continued the ruse when Adam called wanting to talk to Alison, making it appear that Adam was threatening her. Later on, Laura spiked Alison's wine, leading to Alison quickly knocked out due to the effects. She later confronted reporter Jake Dorsey, who had been looking for answers regarding Delphine's death, at his hotel room. After Jake reminded her about her dark past, the evil Laura acted as though she were going to have sex with Jake in exchange for his silence before snapping the man's neck, killing him. She later placed his body in his car and set it up to explode to cover her tracks.
Laura later encounters Adam and warns him to divorce Alison or she will ruin his life. When he turns her down, Laura smashes a bottle on her own head and makes it appear that Adam attacked her. By the film's climax, Laura's motive becomes clear. She is in love with Alison; this is confirmed when she makes out with Alison. After Kayla, Alison's daughter, tells Alison that she saw Laura at the house unannounced, a confrontation ensues between Laura and Alison, which leads to Laura attacking Alison, while revealing to her that she killed Delphine. After subduing Alison and trapping her in her sauna, Laura then ambushed Adam she then restrained Adam with her foot on his throat Choking him while she called the police trying to frame him afterwards she told him to stand up and try to persuade him to shoot his wife while she wrestles it way and kills him Adam refused Lauren in annoyance delivers a swift kick between Adams legs hittin his testicles Adam collapses to the floor Laura then begins to sadistically smily and laugh while Adam groans in pain from the blow she just gave to his genitals. Before Laura can continue to enflict more pain to Adam. Alison managed to escape and stop Laura just in time. The women tussled in the pool, with the fight ending when Laura drowned.
Victims[]
- Unnamed stepfather (attempted)
- Charles McDowell
- Delphine Ricard (drowned)
- Jake Dorsey (broken neck)
- Adam (attempted to shoot; Laura drowned by Alison)
Trivia[]
- Michelle Nolden also appeared as the evil Catherine Cray on Designated Survivor.
- Laura Stevens shares similarities with fellow Lifetime villainess Opal Sinclair, as well as Peyton Lane, the hidden main villainess from Designated Survivor's three-episode arc (which featured Michelle Nolden as Catherine Cray). All of them had married women as the objects of their affection, and resorted to murder when they were rejected by the women they loved. One difference is that Opal and Peyton were successful in their attempts, while Laura ended up killed by her female crush.
Gallery[]
