Gift of Murder

No pun intended - I have been told I am voting way too ... well that I am being way too nice to too many movies (or shows for that matter) ... seeing how people voted here ... I think I can plead not guilty to everything I have rated - without anyone having a right to tell me differently.

Now just to be clear if you watched this trainwreck of a movie (I understand it probably was made for TV - still no excuse, even less so considering the year it was made) ... and felt entertained by it ... good for you! And I mean that wholeheartedly! I am also not going to dismiss any of the actors in this ... anyone can have a day off ... or multiple ones (I assume this was not shot in one day and I will not even suggest "quality" wise it would be more than possible) ... that said, the cliches, the over the top villain we are being served ... incredible for all the wrong reasons.

I am actually being kind in giving this 2 stars ... the German title of it maybe deserving a bit of that ... "The Cheerleader - Killer Queen" ... although that sounds like a way better movie than what we have here.

You pretty much know what you're getting yourself into when you sit down to watch a Lifetime movie. Some are better than others but they're never as bad as people think. "Gift of Murder" is a pretty good Lifetime movie. (Although, I have to say that I like the alternate title, "Psycho Sweet 16", a lot more than "Gift of Murder".) "Gift of Murder" has an appealing cast and a crazy plot. What more could you want from a Lifetime movie. I enjoyed this one. (IMDB has a six hundred character minimum. Sometimes that easier to satisfy than others. There isn't that much to say about Lifetime movies. They are what they are.)

So far so good. This movie gave me my super sweet psycho 16 (2009) vibes but it was a lot tamer and not a slasher unlike my super sweet psycho 16 (2009) but gift of murder aka psycho sweet 16 (2022) was a thriller/drama. Yes its your typical lifetime high school stalker thriller/drama flick and nothing new with the stalking tactics but it does have good high school drama in it and some good pranks pulled by the evil mean girl Tiffany. No actual violence so far other than Mr Dixon being pushed down the stairs. Im only an hour and 10 minutes into it though. I recommend this if you are a fan of stalker flicks like I am. Like I said above I got my super sweet psycho 16 (2009) vibes mostly cause of the high school drama in both movies and cause of the alternative title of this one being psycho sweet 16. Also one good thing is the high school meanie kind of has motives in a way to be mean because of the divorce between her parents unlike most lifetime high school meanies. Nothing to brag about in the long run but its ok for a few times watch and something to watch when you are bored and if you want an ode to teen thriller/drama movies.

I usually don't care for the high school ones since I'm in my 30s, but this one reminded me a bit of the movies and shows from the 90s with this kind of theme. I won't give spoilers other than to say it's played very straight to the synopsis, and I, for sure, expected a twist with another character that didn't pan out. I was rather relieved by that because it would have been illogical and overly complicated.

I agree with the other contributor...the movie benefits from not being a slasher and typical psycho movie. Thankfully, the villain is not all-seeing/all-knowing/superhuman. Every escalation in this story made sense for the villain's character. The one fatality was kind of expected when you see that character's first scene (whenever a character has "something" going on, it will play into the movie). Tiffany, the mean girl, reminded me of Taylor from She's All That and what the character would be if that movie wasn't a comedy. What a spoiled brat. Her mom was an absolute clueless doormat and if her dad was the same way (they're divorced we learn), it's no wonder she's got such a nasty personality. Dylan's actress was ok, kind of dry, but it mostly worked if you look at it from the POV that Tiffany was getting more and more outrageous while Dylan didn't react to her shenanigans the way she wanted. The other kids were fine. It seems like Lifetime actually cast people who could pass as teens instead of the usual 30 year olds.

The weakest part of the movie was the mom's "hacking." It wasn't technically a deus ex machina since the first couple of scenes told us her line of work, but it did play out like they gave the mom that nondescript job so she could use it later.

It kept my attention. Not a fan of the title, Psycho Sweet 16, but it aired in the US as The Gift of Murder. The former gives you a clue at least that you're watching a teen movie, so maybe it is the better title.