The Moonlight Murders

The Moonlight Murders is really one of the more novel serial killer thrillers that Lifetime has broadcast, many of which are just standard fare with a series of similar killings. Here, the use of the phases of the moon really adds something to the story, by Taylor Warren Goff (Murder in the Dark) & Ken Miyamoto (The Bear Lake Murders), with a screenplay by Miyamoto. Fun fact: in astrology, the phases of the moon do have meanings but I believe the writers have created their own set of meanings to apply to the story, some phases being a harbinger of the victims paying for their misdeeds, such as the woman Zeke finds who had been cheating on her husband with a co-worker (how the Moonlight Murderer knows these things about the victims is not really addressed, but it's entertaining enough that we go along with it). Goff and Miyamoto have really created some interesting characters here, namely Zeke and Poppy, two sort of lost souls who many would dismiss as not being all there, but Zeke is a college graduate. He's just never been able to earn the respect he deserves because his behavior is just a bit off-putting. Only Poppy appreciates him, having known him since high school as a friend and someone who defended her. Sweet Poppy has always carried a flame for Zeke, and while it's never made explicit, we have to wonder if it really was just by chance that she happened to move into the same building, directly across the hall from him. Is she a stalker, or just a desperately love-lorn soul who sees him as a kindred spirit? These really are two of the most interesting characters we've seen in a Lifetime movie in quite some time. The story also succeeds in that it never plays its hand early, and while we never really believe Zeke is the killer, his violent streak certainly makes us question those beliefs. But with a limited number of characters with speaking roles -- May, Franco, Poppy, Detectives Doyle and Foster, Quentin -- we know it is one of them, but it's almost imp...