Is Lifetime’s ‘The Good Father: The Martin MacNeill Story’ True?
Lifetime’s The Good Father: The Martin MacNeill Story is Ripped From The Headlines. This movie stars Tom Everett Scott (That Thing You Do, Rise And Shine, Benedict Stone), Charisma Carpenter (Burden of Truth), and Anwen O’Driscoll (Left For Dead: The Ashley Reeves Story, Burden of Truth).
This is a thriller that has layers of lies, deceit, and betrayal. Are you ready to get into the dark story of The Good Father?
What Is Lifetime’s The Good Father: The Martin MacNeill Story About?
According to the Lifetime synopsis, The Good Father follows Dr. MacNeill (Scott) and the incredible life he led. Blessed, he was married to a former beauty queen wife, Michele (Carpenter). The couple had eight children.
A pillar of the community, he was respected and loved by all especially by his daughter Alexis (O’Driscoll) who adored him. She even wanted to follow in his footsteps to become a doctor.
However, everything soon changes after Dr. MacNeill convinces Michele to have plastic surgery. This ultimately led to her drowning while on prescription medication.
Moreover, just a few short weeks after his wife’s suspicious death, Dr. MacNeill brings home Gypsy Willis. She is the new live-in “nanny” for his children but who is in actuality his mistress.
Shocked by her father’s actions, Alexis begins to question everything she has known about him and discovers the depth of his lies, including his bogus medical credentials, falsified military records, and that the man and good doctor she once revered, was capable of murder.
Is Lifetime’s The Good Father: The Martin MacNeill Story Based On True Story?
Lifetime’s The Good Father: The Martin MacNeill Story is based on a story. Part of the Ripped From The Headlines series, this is the true story of Dr. MacNeill.
His story is a roller coaster of crazy lies, forgery, and violence. According to The Cinemaholic, MacNeill lied to get into the military at 17. After his marriage to a beauty queen, he spent those early days in jail for fraud.
After he earned his medical degree, he began to have many adulterous affairs. The roller-coaster ride of emotions continued to worsen as he threatened to commit suicide, or threaten murder-suicide.
Hoping to improve their marriage, she had a facelift. However, she soon realized that he was over-medicating her. He drugged her and drowned her in the bathtub. After she died, he had a nanny move in. It turns out that he had already been involved in an affair with this woman. He also sexually abused his daughter Alexis.
Nancy Grace told TV Line that this story still “haunts her.” However, she is determined to honor Alexis and Michelle. “I became friends with various members of the family, specifically Alexis. I can still remember the night of the verdict and speaking with Alexis. She was telling me how she had gotten married and her mother wasn’t there because her father murdered her. This movie means a lot to me. I don’t like calling it the Martin MacNeill Story. I like calling it the Michele MacNeill story because that’s the real star.”
Be sure to watch The Good Father: The Martin MacNeill Story on Saturday, October 2, at 8 p.m. Eastern, on Lifetime.
