Film / Dying to be a Cheerleader

Left to right: Darcy, April, Taylor. The fact that Darcy's arm is touching Taylor might explain the sour look on April's face.

Dying to Be a Cheerleader (also called Killer Cheerleader) is a 2020 Lifetime Teen Drama Thriller, directed by Tom Shell and written by David Chester. It was part of the network's 2020 Fear the Cheer movie event.

Darcy Daniels (Dominique Booth) is the new girl in school, having moved in with her aunt, high-powered real estate agent Cassandra Tuxford (Ashlynn Yennie). Fascinated by the school's cheer squad, the Amazons, she tries out and impresses Coach Phillips (Casey O'Keefe), but quickly runs afoul of the squad's Alpha Bitch Taylor (Kalen Bull) and Beta Bitch April (Nicolette Langley), who use their influence to exclude her from the team. Darcy eventually makes the squad, but only after the mysterious death of another member, Madison (Grace Patterson). After more deaths and mayhem (including several students terrorized by a drone), Taylor becomes convinced that Darcy has a deadly vendetta against her, while Darcy believes Taylor is trying to frame her. But they both get blindsided when they learn the identity of the real culprit.

Dying to be A Cheerleader contains examples of:

• Alliterative Name: Darcy Daniels.
• Alpha Bitch: Taylor, who thoroughly dominates the Amazons, has Coach Phillips in her pocket, and antagonizes Darcy, who she perceives as a threat.
• Bait-and-Switch: A very audacious one in the final scene—We see a flashback with Darcy at the motel where Coach Phillips was killed on the same night, leading us to think that Darcy will be revealed as the murderer after all, but it was actually Darcy visiting to honor her mother, who also died at the motel.
• Beta Bitch: April is always by Taylor's side, plots schemes against Darcy with her, and is her devoted friend. Too devoted, as it turns out.
• Blackmail: Taylor knows that Coach Phillips is having an affair with the principal, and gets her to reverse her decision to make Darcy an Amazon by threatening to reveal it.
• Bully Turned Buddy: At the end, we learn that Darcy and Taylor have become Fire-Forged Friends.
• Cat Fight: Darcy and Taylor get into fisticuffs at several points.
• Chekhov's Gun: After she's officially added to the Amazons, Darcy borrows a drone from her aunt Cassie (which she apparently uses to inspect potential properties she's looking at), which she'll use to take aerial footage of the team's routines. Then someone steals it from her locker and uses it to buzz Taylor while she's jogging and attack Taylor's ex-boyfriend Brandon.
• Child-Like Voice: April has one, which matches her doll-like appearance.
• Chronically Killed Actor: This isn't the only 2020 Lifetime movie in which Grace Patterson (Madison) plays a somewhat snotty cheerleader who gets murdered early in the film—it also happens in The Pom Pom Murders (though in that one she's a member of a pro basketball dance squad that most certainly isn't supposed to be the Laker Girls).
• Coincidental Broadcast: Cassandra just happens to see a TV news story about the death of Coach Phillips.
• Creepy High-Pitched Voice: This comes into play at the climax, when April has her Villainous Breakdown.
• Cute and Psycho: The Reveal in the final act that sweet Girly Girl April is an obsessive psychotic murderer.
• Danger Takes a Backseat: Coach Phillips meets their end when the killer strangles them from behind when they enter their car.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Darcy has been arrested several times, something she hasn't even told Cassandra, but Taylor and April find out about it and use it against her.
• Deadpan Snarker:
  • Darcy pretty much defines "tart-tongued".
    Madison: You know, I'd watch my back if I were you.
    Darcy: Watch my back all you want.
  • Taylor has her moments too.
    Darcy: I have a boyfriend!
    Taylor: With that face?
• Eating Lunch Alone: Darcy couldn't be a New Transfer Student in a Teen Drama without a scene of her having her lunch at a table by herself.
• Evil Is Hammy: Taylor and April do a bit of scenery chewing in the scenes where they plan their schemes against Darcy. Then April becomes a screaming psycho when she kidnaps Darcy and takes her to the cabin.
• Extreme Doormat: Coach Phillips is this for Taylor. She's a grown woman who lets herself get bullied and intimidated by a teenage girl.
• Fanservice: Besides three attractive lead actresses who spend most of the movie parading around in cheer outfits, there's also Ashlynn Yennie, who, alongside her Lifetime work, has carved out a career as Ms. Fanservice in horror and erotica. Aunt Cassie gets a nice array of clingy business casual attire.
• Heel–Face Turn: Taylor starts to reconsider her attitude toward Darcy after Darcy tells her that she's leaving school, then it gets kicked into high gear when she realizes that April has kidnapped Darcy and plans to kill her.
• Informed Ability: The Amazons are supposed to be a super elite cheer squad, but the few routines we see are just kind of ho-hum. Goes double for Darcy's tryout, since it's supposed to blow Coach Phillips away and be a bit of a Mic Drop moment that proves she belongs on the team, but it just consists of a few basic moves.
• Meaningful Name: April is the cruellest month, indeed.
• Motive Rant: At the end, Darcy hears a detailed explanation from April as to why Madison and Coach Phillips were killed and why she's next.
• My God, What Have I Done?: In the climax, Taylor is horrified to learn that she's unwittingly inspired April to go on a violent spree.
• Nephewism: After the death of her mother, Darcy moves in with Cassandra, her mother's younger sister, and becomes a New Transfer Student at the local high school.
• No Medication for Me: April gets constant texts from her parents reminding her to take her meds.
• No-Tell Motel: Coach Phillips was murdered at one, where she was conducting her affair with the principal.
• Non-Indicative Name: The two lead Amazons, Taylor and April, are both petite, and Darcy is the only really tall member of the squad.
• Sacrificial Lamb: Madison doesn't make it past the first act.
• Sacrificial Lion: Coach Phillips is murdered after a motel tryst with the school principal.
• Satellite Love Interest: Warren has next to no characterization outside of being a Nice Guy and Darcy's love interest.
• Shout-Out: The movie takes place at Locklear High School.
• Single-Target Sexuality: Could well be the case with April and her obsession with Taylor, though Psycho Lesbian is another possibility.
• Yandere: The movie climaxes with The Reveal that April is obsessed with Taylor, and seemingly in love with her as well, and the various murders and acts of violence were in revenge for perceived slights toward Taylor.
  Darcy: Why are you doing this to me? I was always nice to you!
  April: You were, but you weren't nice to Taylor. And every time you hurt her, YOU HURT ME!! Taylor is perfect, but you can't seem to understand that, can you?
• Tiny Tyrannical Girl: April gives off this vibe with her screaming fits during her Villainous Breakdown at the climax.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Darcy is a bold girl who's not afraid to stand her ground and even gets into fights, but she also loves the ultra-feminine world of cheerleading and She Cleans Up Nicely.
• Troubled, but Cute: Darcy, who's moody, has had brushes with the law, and possesses model-level looks, is a female example.
• Voiceover Letter: Darcy's farewell letter to Cassie is presented this way.