Villainess Review: Samantha Sloan (Are My Friends Killers?)

Like with most Lifetime films, I learned about Are My Friends Killers? months ago back when it had its original title, Secrets on Campus, and I had been eagerly excited for this film ever since. Yet another gem from Marvista Entertainment, the film opens with college student Lauren Price jogging, until she suddenly collapses and passes on. Her best friend, Zoey Connors, received the tragic news from Lauren's mother, and after the funeral service, Mrs. Price made an offer for Zoey: she would pay for a full tuition for Zoey to attend Woodford--the same college that Lauren attended--doing so in memory of her daughter.

Zoey's arrival sees her encountered by a pair of students: Samantha Sloan and David Devine, with the former serving as the welcoming committee for Zoey. She learns that Samantha and David are members of a group known as The Select, which consists of legacy students, and she also learns something else during her encounter with Mrs. Price. As it turned out, the tuition was only partly in Lauren's memory; her real objective for getting Zoey in to Woodford: find out who killed Lauren. The quest starts out difficult; for one, she's charmed by David. Secondly, she's followed by a mysterious hooded figure. Third, she has a fellow student, Adam, warning her about David. Fourth, Mrs. Price actually threatened to cut off Zoey's funding if she didn't fulfill her end of the deal. And fifth, Ming--Lauren's former roommate--refused to give any details on Lauren's death.

No pressure, though.

After a while, Ming does reveal that Lauren was on the verge of writing an exposé on The Select, which would expose all of their criminal activities--with Zoey learning first hand what they were all about. Sadly, Ming ends up eliminated by the same hooded figure, and as for Zoey, her mourning is cut off by Samantha's warning that Zoey was "one of us now." Zoey and Adam managed to find some damning evidence in Samantha's room: Ming's prescribed potassium chloride pills. So Samantha was behind Lauren's death, as an overdose of that chemical could look like a heart attack. However, it was not enough; Zoey had to get hardcore evidence, and she was on the verge of doing so when she danced with David and had Samantha watch. Unfortunately, Samantha was on to Zoey; she pulled out Zoey's recording phone and ejected Zoey.

They were not aware that Adam was recording, and during this point, Samantha revealed to David that she killed Lauren and Ming, as they were a threat to themselves and to The Select. The pair caught Adam and arranged a meeting with Zoey, where Samantha appeared and revealed her murderous actions, adding that Lauren was on the verge of ruining The Select. Zoey later showed Samantha a copy of Lauren's story, leading to a fight between heroine and villainess, with the latter set to kill Zoey with a shotput ball. She is thwarted by Detective Todd, who arrested the pair, and as for Zoey, a year passes, and she finds love in the form of Adam, with Mrs. Price appearing and thanking Zoey for getting justice for Lauren.

Are My Friends Killers? aired on Lifetime Movie Network on September 9, 2022, and featured Shaylaren Hilton as the evil Samantha Sloan. For Hilton, this was her second Lifetime film (she appeared in 2021's Pom Poms and Payback), but more importantly, it marks Hilton's first time as a Lifetime villainess. As soon as I read the synopsis, I just knew that Samantha would be villainous, and Marvista's trailer (as well as the Lifetime promo) gave us a glimpse of Samantha's heel persona, much to my delight. She definitely didn't disappoint; Samantha was insanely obsessed with her quest to cover up The Select's shady history--she was ruthless, vicious, and immensely remorseless, and she masked it all with a cheery and warm personality. Hilton's performance, in my view, truly stole the entire film. She acted out Samantha's sweet nature very well, but when her evil side came out, that was Hilton's most shining moment, as she completely went all in and all out in regards to Samantha's villainy in the film's climax.

Other than her Lifetime films, Shaylaren Hilton also appeared in an episode of HBO's Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, and was recently in an episode of the Hulu series, Reboot. I truly hope Hilton does more Lifetime films; she definitely proved she could play a villainess very well, and she would be golden as a lead protagonist as well!

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Click here for Samantha Sloan's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!