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.
3 Reviews
Actually pretty good.
CranberriAppl18 March 2022
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.
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.
Average, maybe a tiny bit above average
haroot_azarian24 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
OK so this was an average Lifetime movie. Story's been done before in various ways, but still there were some aspects of this one which made it different.
So Dylan has to move to another town to her aunt and uncle's because her mom has booked herself in a rehab after crashing the car she was driving while under the influence of pain meds. And Dylan starts in a new school and immediately makes eye contact with Jonah who is going out with Tiffany the school's queen bee.
I won't go through the details but suffice to say there were some flaws in the movie. Clearly Tiffany had psychological issues rising from her parents' divorce, especially having a seemingly unfit and uncaring mother. And Jonah her boyfriend was not much help either, instead he was happily getting closer to Dylan.
I think Tiffany's actions could have been prevented if 1 - Dylan had not been so flirty with Jonah, 2 - Jonah not caused any encouragements for the flirting to continue, 3 - Tiffany's mother try to do a better job at being a mother and be supportive of her daughter and sought help for her.
Jonah was very quick to break up with Tiffany and at his house after the oil spill accident, he confesses to Dylan that even though he just broke up with Tiffany he likes her, Dylan should have stopped him there. In real life if a boy is that quick in moving on from one girl to a new girl, it should raise alarm bells that he might do it again if and when he gets bored or someone new catches his eye.
Tiffany was indeed mentally ill, but she did not kill anyone. The chem teacher just stumbled backwards on the stairs and fell to his death. She did other harmful things too and she should get punished through therapy at a psychiatric facily and not a prison. Anyway like I said it was an average movie and tolerable to watch.
So Dylan has to move to another town to her aunt and uncle's because her mom has booked herself in a rehab after crashing the car she was driving while under the influence of pain meds. And Dylan starts in a new school and immediately makes eye contact with Jonah who is going out with Tiffany the school's queen bee.
I won't go through the details but suffice to say there were some flaws in the movie. Clearly Tiffany had psychological issues rising from her parents' divorce, especially having a seemingly unfit and uncaring mother. And Jonah her boyfriend was not much help either, instead he was happily getting closer to Dylan.
I think Tiffany's actions could have been prevented if 1 - Dylan had not been so flirty with Jonah, 2 - Jonah not caused any encouragements for the flirting to continue, 3 - Tiffany's mother try to do a better job at being a mother and be supportive of her daughter and sought help for her.
Jonah was very quick to break up with Tiffany and at his house after the oil spill accident, he confesses to Dylan that even though he just broke up with Tiffany he likes her, Dylan should have stopped him there. In real life if a boy is that quick in moving on from one girl to a new girl, it should raise alarm bells that he might do it again if and when he gets bored or someone new catches his eye.
Tiffany was indeed mentally ill, but she did not kill anyone. The chem teacher just stumbled backwards on the stairs and fell to his death. She did other harmful things too and she should get punished through therapy at a psychiatric facily and not a prison. Anyway like I said it was an average movie and tolerable to watch.
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