My Daughter’s Psycho Friend aired in March of 2020 on the Lifetime. I DVR’d it. I’m not sure why I didn’t watch it when it aired. I’d have to go back and look through all my journals to piece together what I was doing on that date in March and, quite frankly, I’m feeling a little bit too rushed to take the time to do that. I’ve got a lot of movies to watch and review of the next few days and, in the end, it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I DVR’d it and I finally sat down and watched it earlier tonight.
Now, before anything else, I should point out that My Daughter’s Psycho Friend is a brilliant title. You see a title like that and you automatically have to watch, which makes it all the stranger that it took me so long to get around to it. It’s not just a good Lifetime title but it’s a good title period. I think anytime when you include the word “psycho” in the title, you’re going to catch someone’s attention. Psycho is just such an extreme term. The full title, “My Daughter’s Psycho Friend,” links it to what I assume would be every parent’s nightmare. What if your child’s best friend did turn out to be a psycho? What if they led them astray or, even worse, put them in danger?
Unfortunately, the title isn’t quite accurate. While Lexi (Avery Kristen Pohl) does invite Sierra (Taylor Blackwell) to hang out with her after Sierra transfers into Lexi’s high school, it’s a bit of a stretch to really call Lexi and Sierra friends. From the start, Sierra seems to be somewhat weary of Lexi and Lexi seems to know that eventually, she’s going to end up having to frame Sierra for all sorts of misdeeds. Also, though Sierra does have a mother, she’s really not that important to the plot. The film pretty much revolves around Sierra. A more proper title for the film would have been My Psycho Acquaintance.
However, the title does get the psych part right. Lexi has some definite issues that go far beyond just being a mean girl in high school. She lives in a nice, big house and she had a glamorous mother (albeit one who makes a big deal about always having to “clean up” after Lexi’s mistakes) and everyone at school wants to be her friend but Lexi still can’t be happy unless she’s playing a cruel joke on someone. For instance, at one party, Lexi drugs someone’s drink and then has a good laugh as that person stumbles away. Of course, once he turns up dead in Lexi’s swimming pool, it’s time for a cover up! And if Sierra is determined to discover the truth about what happened at the party …. well, Lexi’s just going to have to take care of that, as well.
Anyway, this was a typical Lifetime film about teenagers gone wild. Lexi’s house was nice and Avery Kristen Pohl did a good job playing up the whole psycho part of Lexi’s personality. If you’re into Lifetime melodrama, you should enjoy this one.
Through the Shattered Lens 