User Reviews

Every cheerleader movie I've watched so far has this set-up: trouble young girl with daddy issues moves to a new school, decides to be a cheerleader despite never doing it before yet because she's a dancer, she's amazing at it, then someone who should be her new best friend screws her life up and someone either dies or comes real close to it. Resolve and credits.

This is coming from the guy who has watched 542 slashers.

Ava lost her dad, got into trouble - she did Adderall! - and then went to a new school and her mom Denise Richards is convinced that she's going to go back to being a bad girl. Homecoming queen and cheer captain Katrina doesn't want any new girl getting in her way and she has an arsenal of evil tricks and initiations to take out our heroine.

Director Peter Sullivan's IMDB page goes between horror, Lifetime movies and Christmas films, which is pretty much the only movies that make money. This one is decent, but I was really hoping for even more insanity. Then again, the majority of my watching is devoted to giallo and regional films, so I'm pretty desensitized.

This teen drama from Lifetime is an acceptable take down the mean girl hazing witch cheerleader captain. There are some snappy dance cheer numbers. The lead actress is quite sweet. The mean girl isn't pretty enough. Denise Richards is nice to see again and her face looks slightly different.

I saw this on Lifetime, and was surprised it was good for a chick flick. Cheer leading was never my thing; because I thought it was too girly. I was involved in my schools Varsity basketball, softball, and track teams. In my school cheer leading was about image, clicks, who's dating who; and the obvious. So is the cheer leading image true, who knows? What I do know is some will do anything to belong.

The Secret Lives of Cheerleaders is about the dangers of hazing and it's consequences. The story takes place in California at Roosevelt High School, home of the Lions. The school has the best cheer team in the state, and the veteran cheerleaders are queens of the school. They can get anything they want, because they are the best. Their cheer captain is Katrina Smith(Alex Deberry), she is very controlling and loves to haze the newbies. These hazing rituals range from binge drinking, locking newbies in cages til their breaking point, spreading rumors, and forced stripping. None of the veteran members will stand up to her, they just let her do what she wants. Sure they will talk behind her back, but they know she unstable. Katrina will do anything to stay on top, no matter what. The coach Ms. Sinclair( Josie Daves) knows what goes on but all she cares about is her legacy as the best cheer coach.

When the new girl , Ava( Savannah May) begins at Roosevelt High, she's upset no dance team. Her mom Candice( Denise Richards) tells her she should go out for the Cheer team. Candice was a Captain of her team; and would love it if her daughter follows in her footsteps.

When Ava makes the team she loves it at first. She develops a relationship with Patrick( Gunner Burkhardt). Katrina starts to get jealous, and tries to break up the two. Patrick tells her the initiation process will be quick, and he had to go through it in football. So at first Ava goes along with it, but when it starts to cost people their spot on the team she gets concerned. One night the hazing goes way too far. Katrina has Tiffany( Gracie Bradley), Julie (Scarlett Cowan), and Ava Strip down to almost nothing. They don't realize Katrina is uploading it to the football team and the guys are voting for the best bod. Ava has enough and slaps the I-Phone out of her hand.

Allison( Laury Speights), a former cheerleader who Katrina hazed so bad Allison was arrested. Allison and Ava are Chem. partners and she warned Ava she made a big mistake. She told her Katrina will make her life a living hell, and she does. One day Ava overhears a conversation about her and Katrina. She is shocked and realizes she needs to stop Katrina. So she gets a plan underway.

The next day Tiffany calls Ava & tells her she can't locate Julie. She believe she has Allison, and Julie at the same place they were hazed at before. When they arrive Katrina has Allison walking on top of the ledge trying to get her so nervous. When Ava arrives with another cheerleader they get Katrina talking. Katrina starts talking about all the hazing, about what they did to Allison, among other things. In the background Patrick walks up holding an I-Phone. It is recording everything Katrina has said and it's been live streamed to the cops. The ending is classic when she is taken into custody. While being led away in cuffs, her boyfriend walks up to her and says " I think it's about time we break up". A great ending with a crowd of students watching.

"The Secret Lives of Cheerleaders" is about initiation rites. On the surface, the rites are those abhorrent practices of hazing of the members of the Roosevelt High School cheerleading squad. But on a deeper level, the rites of passage pertain to a movement from adolescence to adulthood for Miss Ava Scott.

Ava has transferred to Roosevelt after a painful experience of loss at the death of her father. Ava began to use Adderall, and she landed herself in a program for troubled teens. Ava's caring mother Candace tries to be supportive. But Candace also does not listen thoughtfully to her daughter or honor her with much trust.

Ava' great adversary in the film is Katrina Smith, the head of the cheerleading team and the darling of Coach Sinclair. Katrina lords it over the other team members and conducts late-night initiation ceremonies that are blatant examples of hazing. No one will stand up to Katrina because cheerleading appears to be so much a part of the lifeblood of the school.

The filmmakers were successful in developing the conflict between Ava and Katrina. When Ava begins to realize that she is becoming like the superficial Katrina, she takes action to define her own identity. The team nickname for the cheerleaders is the Lionesses, and Ava begins as a cub. But by the end of the film, she has emerged as a lion in her own eyes to become the genuine pride of Roosevelt High.