Dina Gardner (Cary Lawrence) was the hidden main villainess of the 2004 film Deception.
About[]
Dina Gardner was the wife of Max Gardner, with Max helping Dina turn the store she ran into a successful boutique. By the events of the film, however, Max and Dina's marriage had begun to suffer, leading Dina to suspect Max of being unfaithful to her.
Dina ultimately hired the services of a private detective agency to test Max's faith, with Max being charmed by the agency's decoy Erin Greer (the film's main protagonist). Dina angrily confronted Max when he and Erin arrived at her hotel room, with Dina claiming Max had betrayed her despite her attempts to salvage their marriage. Later on, though, it was revealed that Dina's motivation for hiring the agency was to prove Max was unfaithful and thus have grounds for divorce--which would allow her to not have to split any of her money with Max.
Heel Turn & Death[]
Dina preparing to kill Erin Greer
Later on, when Max and Erin became romantically involved, Dina turned heel and began committing murders in an attempt to frame Max. Dina's first victim was Erin's co-worker Denise Sandler, who approached her in an attempt to blackmail her regarding her arrangement with the agency, stabbing her to death. She then met with Erin and her boss Jack, proclaiming that Max was a charming sociopath and claiming he had threatened to kill her if she tried to take his money from him, and later shot and killed Parker, another employee of the agency. Dina later broke into Erin's apartment with the intent of killing her, but instead, the maniacal villainess attacked and stabbed Erin's roommate Julie (though she ultimately survived her injuries).
Dina's manipulations initially worked, with Erin and Jack coming to believe Max was the killer and the latter warned Erin to run after calling her as she was at Max's apartment. But as Erin held Max back at gunpoint at a nearby construction site, the evil Dina appeared behind her in a hooded disguise, armed with a gun. The appearance revealed Dina's heel persona, but before she could succeed in taking her revenge, however, Max managed to convince Erin to give him her gun and proceeded to use it to shoot and kill his villainous wife.
Trivia[]
- Dina Gardner is similar to Hitchhiker villainess Dawn Wilder, as both were women who were married to (potentially) unfaithful husbands, and resorted to murder in an act of revenge. Their fates are a huge difference: Dawn survived and got away with her murderous actions, while Dina ended up shot and killed by Max before she could complete her vengeful mission.
Quotes[]
- "It doesn't stop, does it, Max? It just never stops!" (Dina Gardner's angry response to seeing Max and Erin together, foreshadowing her eventual heel turn)
Gallery[]
