“I really like these tales that no matter you suppose is going on — it’s not that,” says Betsy Brandt. And this psychological thriller suits the invoice: “It’s a unbelievable story, and it’s not what it seems to be like.”

Should you’re acquainted with final yr’s true crime blockbuster The Curious Case of Natalia Grace and its 2024 follow-up, Natalia Speaks, you’ll acknowledge the bones of the jaw-dropping story that’s The Unhealthy Orphan, premiering Saturday, June 22 at 8/7c on Lifetime. Within the new movie, Karl (Mark L. Taylor, Reacher) and Jessica (Brandt) — already mother and father of a daughter named Rhiannon (Eve Edwards, The Good Physician) — spend years attempting to broaden their household. They finally undertake an 8-year-old orphan who is perhaps extra troubled than they first thought.

“They’re like, that is what we’d like. We don’t really feel like our household’s full,” says the Breaking Unhealthy and Higher Name Saul actress, who’s additionally an govt producer. “They undertake this lovely baby, after which the rug is pulled out from below them.” (Within the real-life case of Ukrainian Grace, who has dwarfism, her adoptive mother and father in Indiana believed she was truly an grownup and a harmful con artist.)

Jessica’s suspicions about Gabby (Chloe Coco Chapman, above proper, with Brandt) begin slowly as she notices actions that appear just a little off. “Gabby does some issues the place Jessica says to herself and to her husband, ‘It simply doesn’t add up,’” Brandt reveals. “However then there’s at all times a purpose. It’s lots of forwards and backwards of their minds.”

Jessica finds it tough to reconcile her doubts together with her maternal instincts. “As she questions this little lady she adores, it’s tugging at her heartstrings. It doesn’t matter what Gabby does, she seems to be at her and needs to mom her and love her,” Brandt says.

Gabby is the first-ever TV position for newcomer Chapman. “Chloe made my job extremely straightforward, as a result of she is simply unbelievable and a very particular individual. We had been extremely fortunate. I don’t suppose this film may have occurred with out her,” Brandt says. “Each these characters do issues the place they’re not their finest selves. I leaned over to her after the primary desk learn and mentioned, ‘It’s enjoyable to be unhealthy, isn’t it?’” It’ll be enjoyable to observe too.

The Unhealthy Orphan, Authentic Film Premiere, Saturday, June 22, 8/7c, Lifetime