Lifetime Review: 'Who is Killing the Cheerleaders?'

While some people may have fond memories of high school, Ellie Oliver's (Ella Cannon) certainly aren't. That's because her senior year at Mosier High was marred by a serial killer targeting the school's cheerleading team; a savage killing spree that left Ellie as the sole survivor. Now ten years later, Ellie is back in town and has applied for a teaching job at her old school. While her return is met with whispers and gossip, Ellie hopes coming home will allow her to fully move on from her dark past, even deciding to apply to become the school's new cheer coach.

But Ellie's road to recovery takes a sharp turn when the girls on her squad start getting attacked, with their assaults mirroring the decade-old murders. Terrified and struggling to piece together her memories of the night she narrowly avoided death, Ellie fights to uncover the killer's identity before history repeats itself. But can she finds the answers before another cheer squad bites the dust?

For the finale to their latest cheerleader movie marathon, Lifetime couldn't have chosen a film with as finale-appropriate a premise as Who is Killing the Cheerleaders?. In addition to promising intense drama and maybe even a high body count for all you Lifetime murder hounds, there was a lot of potential for this marathon closer. The fact that this Lifetime version of a slasher flick premiered so close to Halloween made its slot in the marathon all the more fitting. For the most part, Who is Killing the Cheerleaders? makes great use of its potential, becoming a fun whodunnit thanks to its well-crafted script and talented cast. While the movie definitely drops the ball when it comes time to solve the mystery (more on that later), its strengths heavily outweigh its weaknesses.

When it comes to the main mystery, two things contribute to its impressive strength. First, there's how quickly the audience is thrust into it. By the first commercial break, the first present-day cheerleader has been attacked and everyone frets over the possibility that the original killer has returned. That leaves plenty of time for the whodunnit aspect of the film to be constructed, with everyone in the cast playing their parts very well. That leads into the second strength: how excellent fledgling Lifetime writer Lauren Balson Carter is at writing suspects. Just about every character in Who is Killing the Cheerleaders? is given potential means and motivation to be behind the slayings/attacks, making it a fun guessing game as to who's guilty and who's innocent. With so many options at her disposal, Carter had the opportunity to come up with a creatively twisted resolution.

WARNING: Spoilers Below

Much to my disappointment, though, Carter thoroughly whiffs that opportunity by settling for the most obvious culprit and giving them the most obvious motive. As soon as Jonathan began talking about his unsuccessful attempts to ask Ellie out, I had him pegged as the killer in the back of my mind. I hoped and hoped that he'd turn out to be a very nicely handled red herring, but sadly, it wasn't to be. After being presented with so many suspects and hinting at so many compelling motivations, seeing the culprit be revealed as your standard entitled psycho lashing out at women for "rejecting" him was like a knife to my writer's heart.

To twist that knife deeper, we have Jonathan's cringey bits of dialogue to sit through. At times, it felt as though Carter was pulling quotes from an old r/niceguys forum to use for Jonathan's climactic rant. Despite that, Austin Freeman gives a decent performance before and after this unsatisfying revelation. He makes Jonathan effectively unassuming (to Ellie) as he's striking a false friendship with her and brings a sense of malice to his character's at-times laughable ramblings. Freeman's commitment to the role and moments of delectable scenery chewing even help lighten the blow left by the movie's letdown of a mystery resolution.

Spoilers Over

Alongside the cast member mentioned in the Spoiler section is a consistently on-point set of actors, some of whom help contribute to the film's darkly upbeat atmosphere. While she may be most well known for her minor recurring role on iZombie, Ella Cannon makes for a fantastic leading lady as Ellie Oliver. As the movie presses on and Ellie's traumatic past is thrown back in her face, Cannon effectively sells her character's emotional turmoil. The well-shot flashbacks to Ellie's past allow us to see the massacre that Ellie narrowly survived years prior, so seeing the new string of attacks upend her chance at moving forward (in more ways than one) makes it easy to sympathize with Ellie. Cannon gives just as strong a performance during Ellie's upbeat and charming moments, allowing you to root even harder to see her escape this latest psychopath with her sanity. The only time Ellie's likability took a dip for me was when she lashed out at her cheer team for being afraid to be on the squad after the first attack. Given how she shares their belief that the original killer is back, you'd think she'd understand and sympathize with their fear.

Speaking of the new crop of Mosier High teens, they all proved to be surprisingly fun characters who bring a lightheartedness to the murder mystery. While it would initially seem they're your standard collection of vapid high school stereotypes waiting to be axed by the killer, they instead evolve into moderately likable kids trying to uncover the truth behind their school's infamous mystery. While I wish the film had more evenly divided between time spent on Ellie and time spent on the new Mosier High students, it still made for an enjoyable back-and-forth while it lasted.

Ava stood out as my favorite teen character of the movie thanks to Summer Madison's snarky performance and Ava's status as the unofficial Velma Dinkley of her friend group. Grace Patterson's Chloe was another highlight thanks to how well her character was written. While she's introduced as the average Alpha Bitch archetype, we ultimately see that beneath her occasional cattiness, Chloe is a genuinely good person who cares about her friends. SPOILER ALERT The fact that she ends up entangled with pervy teacher Forrest (played with the perfect mix of sleaze and deceptive charisma by Greg Corbett) in addition to a violent psychopath only adds to her sympathetic qualities. Spoilers Over

(Also, props to costume designer Abbey Wolf for the choker necklace getup Summer Madison wears at one point. It's hands down the best outfit of the film and maybe even of the whole Fear the Cheer saga)

In the last of the film's noteworthy supporting roles, Kayla Fields is adorkably likable as meek teacher Lisbeth. Fields definitely shines best as Lisbeth becomes Ellie's friend and confidante throughout her nightmarish ordeal, bringing a heartwarming sweetness to the demure Lisbeth. With such a stellar cast and excellently written mystery, it's a shame Who is Killing the Cheerleaders? stumbles in terms of that mystery's resolution. Had the culprit and their motive been something to complement the build-up to their villainous reveal, this could've been a shining example of what a Lifetime mystery should be and served as a perfect marathon finale.

But even with the underwhelming answer to its whodunnit, Who is Killing the Cheerleaders? remains an exceptionally fun watch. The consistent pace keeps the action and drama moving, and its large cast is filled with capable actors who bring life into even the most minor roles. The understatedly lighthearted atmosphere allows Who is Killing the Cheerleaders? to almost match up with 2017's The Stalker Club when it comes to being a Lifetimey version of a slasher film. While the payoff for its superb mystery building falls short, the entertaining thrill ride that leads up to it makes the watch more than worthwhile. And with an ending that ties everything together, Who is Killing the Cheerleaders? still makes for a great movie to cap off Fear the Cheer.

Score: 8 out of 10 mini chess boards.