In a timeline where Norman Bates is dead, his asylum buddy Alex West inherits the Bates Motel—that's a good idea, right? Nobody ever went psycho in that motel before. It suggests that there might be some supernatural forces at play which is a welcome idea. A decent premise with potencial on paper and the direction it goes is good actually but it's so slow, gets a little boring at times, has some clear writing issues and there's NO KILLS. No Norman either. Alex and Willie are an interesting duo of very distinctly different personalities that mostly do the entire charm of the movie. Some good acting too. On a filmmaking level it has nothing interesting to offer though and it lives up to it's "made for TV movie" tagline. And actually, it feels like a TV pilot for an anthology-type series which might explain a lot. The no kills part really brings it down but judging it for what it is, it's not terrible, just really different.

*Free to watch on YouTube*