Blood, Sweat and Cheer (2023)

Blood, Sweat and Cheer (2023). Blood, Sweat and Cheer: Directed by Traci Hays. With Tammin Sursok, Monroe Cline, Kaylan Montgomery, Aliyah J. Vasquez. A suburban divorcée masquerades as her teenage daughter in a twisted attempt to make the dance squad at a local high school.

“This was a fun movie in the vein of almost every Lifetime/Tubi film about high school and/or cheer. It didnu0026#39;t try to be Emmy-worthy, too deep, or even sensical, and for that I truly enjoyed it. My only complaint is that the casting was terrible. The lead actress looks great but she could never pass for a teenager, she looks very much like a woman approaching her 40u0026#39;s, so itu0026#39;s hard to believe so many people took her at face value as teenaged Cherie. But then, you look at the casting of the u0026quot;realu0026quot; teens of the movie, and you sort of get it. All the actors playing teenagers are clearly in their 20u0026#39;s or older, and it shows. Even the daughter looked nearly the same age as the mom. None of the people who are supposed to be youthful reflect that, they all seem too mature. I wish the casting went with someone like Bianca Lawson (or, to be a little biased here, any good POC actress since most tend to look younger than their age like the old sayings go) to play the role of the mother. That wouldu0026#39;ve been convincing, but I guess some of the campiness and unbelievability wouldu0026#39;ve been lost. Either way, I love over-the-top cheesy films like this, so I could overlook this flaw in a Clark Kent/Superman kinda way to enjoy it.”