Lifetime Review: 'Sorority Nightmare'

Two years after her sister Jill was killed in a crash while picking her up from a night of drunken partying, Sarah Marsh (Sierra McCormick) is off to college ready to focus on her future as her sister advised her shortly before her tragic demise. Now dedicated to pursuing computer programming, Sarah's arrival at college has her checking out sorority Psi Kappa to appease her mother Alice (Bridget White)—who was a former member of the sorority.

While initially wary, Sarah finds herself drawn to the seemingly close-knit sorority and their charismatic leader, Daisy (Cassidy Gifford), and pledges to join. Sarah quickly integrates herself into the sorority, feeling welcomed by Daisy and her fellow sisters and enjoying the privileges her placement in the sorority brings her. But lurking beneath Psi Kappa's pristine front is a dark web of control, with Daisy running the sorority with an iron fist and using her influence to wrap the university around her finger. When Daisy's twisted manipulations threaten to destroy her life, Sarah works to take her former friend down—only to discover that the dark side of Psi Kappa goes deeper than she could've realized.

When it comes to slow boiling Lifetime movies, they have something of a tightrope walk to traverse, striking a balance to where the plot flows at a good pace that allows the plot to unfold while keeping the movie interesting for the viewer. Sorority Nightmare (originally titled Twisted Sisters by MarVista) mostly succeeds in this balance, building up suspense around the titular sorority while leaving some ambiguity as to how far down the rabbit hole it all goes. It's not until the third act that things reach a dramatic crescendo, pushing Sorority Nightmare into truly Lifetime-ian proportions that fans will eat up happily after two acts of rationed tension.

That tension comes mainly courtesy of Daisy, who is played to exceptional insanity by Cassidy Gifford. Starting from her first scene, Gifford injects Daisy with an artificial kindness and charisma that allows you to believe that people would be charmed by her, while dropping hints throughout to her true hidden nature. Gifford excels most when Daisy lets her true colors show, with her over-the-top nastiness towards anyone who gets in her way or displeases her being a marvel to watch. The film's directorial choices also help build up Daisy's sinister influence, with the white outfits worn by the sorority members for ceremonies to a well done shot of the girls robotically joining Daisy in a toast after a telling off speech painting Daisy as being akin to a cult leader—which is not an unfair comparison given the manipulative and vast influence she has over seemingly the entire university.

WARNING: MAJOR spoilers below

Joining Gifford in excellently acted villainy is Katie Sarife as Maria, a fellow sorority member who turns out to be infinitely times worse than Daisy, with the third act revealing that Maria killed Daisy and had been setting Sarah up to look like her killer. In a fantastic villainous reveal, Maria drops her ally persona and boasts of how she'd managed to manipulate everyone in the sorority, even Daisy, into believing her to be harmless, visibly proud of her vast deceptions. As opposed to the catty Daisy, Maria proves to be a legitimately dangerous sociopath, and Sarife plays Maria's evil side extremely well, making it all the more satisfying when Sarah uses Maria's only weakness to expose her.

Spoilers over

Sarah, meanwhile, is where Sorority Nightmare's emotional depth lies, with Sierra McCormick (in one of her first roles outside of the Disney Channel after her stints on A.N.T. Farm and Jessie ended) playing Sarah's emotional journey throughout the film's twists and turns with poignant strength. As the still grieving Sarah enters Psi Kappa and finds friendship in Daisy and her fellow sorority members, you smile at Sarah's newfound happiness, while cringing at knowing it's all about to crash down on her. As Sarah's life is mangled by Daisy's toxic pressure, which ends up isolating her from everyone she cares about, McCormick sells Sarah's dismay with such power that seeing Sarah's unraveling might hit some viewers like a gut punch. The third act also sees Sarah bounce back to reclaim what she lost and put an end to the toxic nature of her sorority, making Sarah a rounded and easy-to-root-for character.

The side cast doesn't slouch in their own respective roles, with Sara Kapner and Bridget White both sharing strong chemistry with McCormick in their roles of Sarah's friend/original roommate Jodi and her concerned mother, with White sharing two well-handled emotional scenes with McCormick where a light is shined on their estranged relationship. Jordan James Smith is sympathetic as a professor who gets caught in Daisy's malicious games, and Anthony Del Negro is likable as Sarah's boyfriend Liam—though one major complaint is that he is all too easily forgiven for abandoning Sarah once he falls victim to Psi Kappa's dark side (we don't even get a scene of him apologizing to Sarah for that).

Along with that pet peeve, Sorority Nightmare's slower build-up might prove a turn off for some in Lifetime's viewing audience, but if you stick around for the ride, you'll be rewarded with a strong third act that gives some excellent twists and turns that are delivered exceptionally by its cast. Trust me, Lifetime thrill junkies, you will not be disappointed.

Score: 9 out of 10 diet pills.