Who Killed Our Father? is a 2023 Creator/Lifetime Movie of the Week Thriller, directed by Roxanne Boisvert and written by Melissa Cassera.
Leila Moore (Kirsten Comerford) is a young Atlanta woman who'd been raised by a foster family, and is currently in a chaotic romantic relationship with Brad (Mikael Conde). After her foster sister gets murdered, Leila decides to take a DNA test and learns that her biological father is a Philadelphia millionaire real estate developer named Scott Hyatt (Jeff Teravainen). Shortly after that, she's horrified to learn he that he was killed in a hit-and-run accident while out training for a marathon. The death also devastates his now-orphaned 17-year-old daughter Violet (Devin Cecchetto), who's already lived through the death of her mother. Leila goes to Philadelphia and approaches Scott's family, learning that she has a half-sister in Violet, but Nora Hyatt (Joanne Boland), Violet's stepmother and Scott's widow, is suspicious of her and keeps Leila at a distance. In the aftermath, Violet and Leila learn that Scott had a very sketchy past, and realize that certain details about his death don't add up. Meanwhile, other deaths happen in Scott's and Nora's circle, and Leila and Violet are determined to solve the mystery.
Who Killed Our Father contains examples of:
- Death by Woman Scorned: One of Nora's motives for killing Scott was due to his affairs.
- Gambit Pileup: Brad trying to get money to pay off his debts and the string of deaths surrounding Nora and Violet collide when Nora kills Brad when he tries to take a watch from her house.
- Gold Digger: It gradually becomes obvious that Nora married Scott for his money.
- Half-Sibling Angst: Violet and Leila both aren't sure how to react at first when they learn they have a previously-unknown half-sister. They eventually become close, though.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Violet is very close to Hazel, the personal assistant Scott hired after his first wife died, but she dies suddenly and mysteriously not long after he died.
- Questioning Title?: Violet and Leila really want to know who killed their father.
- Really Gets Around: It's revealed that Scott was having affairs with several different women.
- "Rear Window" Investigation: Unsatisfied with the slow progress of the police investigation into her dad's death, and Nora's standoffishness, Violet starts investigating things on her own, starting with a jewelry receipt she finds in his clothes.
- Sacrificial Lamb: The death of Hazel is what really kicks off Violet's investigation.
- Stalking is Love:
- Brad follows Leila all the way to Philadelphia, which creeps her out, though it's also partly to hide out from the people he's in debt to.
- Also an unusual Stalking is Sisterly Love example. Rather than immediately introduce herself to Violet, Leila follows her around at first and spies on her at school.
- Trapped by Gambling Debts: Leila's boyfriend Brad owes $50,000 to a bookie (which is implied to be one of the reasons that Leila's foster sister was killed), and she breaks up with him after he reveals it.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: At the start of the movie, Violet is distressed that she never sees her dad, who's supposedly busy with both a "work project" and training for a marathon.
- Wicked Stepmother: Even when Scott was still alive, Violet's relationship with Nora was cold. Once Violet starts investigating her dad's death, Nora becomes openly antagonistic with her.
