Cruel Instruction (2022 Lifetime)

Cruel Instruction (2022 Lifetime)

📺.  Stream/Watch the Movie (Ad): Watch Cruel Instruction

Cast: Camryn Manheim, Cynthia Bailey, Kelcey Mawema,

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Kidnapping in the Grand Canyon Lifetime Movie, Top National Parks, and antibiotics? Lifetime Uncorked

We missed you! This month we are recapping/reviewing another Lifetime Movie with Dan and Bran! This month we talk about Lifetime's Kidnapping in the Grand Canyon. Starring: Gina Vitori, Philip Boyd, Katrina Rosita, and Ryann Bailey Will we "Pour it up" or "Put a Cork in it"??? Lifetime Uncorked and Deck the Hallmark collide on this monthly podcast covering your favorite TV movies! Brandon (Bran) Gray & Daniel (Dan) Thompson join Lifetime Expert Patrick Serrano to break Lifetime's TV Movie lineup for 2023. Follow us on social media for more content @LifetimeUncorked & @HallmarkPodcast Donate to Patrick's Cable Fund: https://ko-fi.com/patrickserrano Read Patrick's Recaps/Reviews: https://lifetimeuncorked.com/ Listen to Patrick's latest single: https://patrickserrano.hearnow.com Check out other Bramble Jam Podcasts: https://bramblejampodcast.com/ Subscribe to our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYuQwUKBmS2MouRnVhRLyig Watch Patrick's Lifetime Movie: Old Flames Never Die, starring PATRICK SERRANO! Business Inquiries | podcast@lifetimeuncorked.comFollow the Podcast @LifetimeUncorked & @hallmarkpodcastFollow the Host @PatrickMiguel Support Lifetime Uncorked with a monthly donation:  https://ko-fi.com/patrickserrano — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lifetime-uncorked/message
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Synopsis (via Lifetime)

Inspired by actual events. The story of 16-year-old Kayla Adams (Kelcey Mawema) whose mother, Karen (Cynthia Bailey) is advised by the school’s counselor to send Kayla to get treatment at a youth residential treatment center after she gets expelled from school. Kayla arrives at the Utah facility on the same day as her roommate Amanda (Morgan Taylor Campbell), a treatment program veteran who knows exactly what the girls were in for. Led by headmistress Miss Connie (Camryn Manheim), the staff uses draconian methods including force-feeding medications, arbitrary punishments, solitary confinement, verbal and physical abuse to keep the students in line. After being pushed to their limits and stripped of their lifelines, including any ability to freely communicate with the outside world, the two young women must band together to survive and fight to expose the abuse before it’s too late. (2022)

Recap/Wine Thoughts

Kayla Adams is a bullied teen who struggles with dyslexia. 

She is suspended from school for pulling the fire alarm. Her parents are upset with her daughter even though she is exhibiting signs of severe anxiety and depression. Kayla’s parents send her to a residential behavior center for teens against her will. 

Amanda Scheff is another “troubled” teen in an academy for girls. She is also kicked out of school for assaulting a teacher and diagnosed with ADHD and bipolar. Amanda is sent to a mental health facility in Utah. 

Kayla and Amanda are picked up from the airport by enthusiastic administrators and teachers. Miss Connie is the head of staff and subjects them to a strip search/drug test upon arrival. (Including a vaginal search?!?) Kayla is shocked at the treatment, but Amanda isn’t phased by anything.

Kayla demands to speak with her parents, and Miss Connie doesn’t take kindly to backtalk and sits her in a chair facing the wall. She misses dinner but later is smuggled food from her roommate Amanda. Amanda tells Kayla to find her “guiding star.” for Amanda, it is when she turns 18 and is free from a system of juvenile detention centers disguised as schools for troubled teens. 

In class, Mr. Seckerling notices that Kayla has dyslexia and tries to help; she thinks he is a beacon of light and confides in him about the abuse. He doesn’t want to hear it, but a classmate overhears the conversation and tells Miss Connie.

In group therapy, the girls are forced to reveal intensely personal traumatizing details and then victim-blame one another. Kayla refuses to participate. In one on one therapy, she opens up about feeling like no adults in her life support her and fears she is a terrible person. The therapist assures her that she isn’t a bad person. Kayla earns a supervised phone call with her family after FIVE MONTHS.

Amanda is put in solitary confinement for talking back. Leaving Kayla on her own for her phone call. Kayla tries to tell her parents the truth about what is going on, but the therapist cuts her off and threatens to tell Miss Connie about insubordination.

Kayla finds her guiding star in another classmate named Juanita. They spend time holding hands and are caught by Dawn. Juanita is transferred to another unit, and Kayla’s parents are notified about her “homosexual behavior which will be fixed with Jesus’s love.” Kayla can’t live without Juanita and tries to kill herself. Amanda finds the body. (Wow, that was an intense turn I did not see coming. .) Kayla is put into observation which is solitary confinement for two weeks. 

Miss Connie doesn’t report the suicide attempt to Kayla’s parents or the authorities. She doesn’t want to lose the insurance money they are getting from Kayla. Miss Connie has a male staff member keep an eye on her. (Bryce is also a sexual predator who takes advantage of the underage girls.) 

Kayla celebrates her sixteenth birthday with a parent visit. They have no clue what has been going on, and Kayla is distant. 

Amanda starts coughing uncontrollably and is clearly sick. Miss Connie doesn’t care and thinks she is teaching the girls a lesson. Kayla tries to get medical treatment for Amanda, who is coughing up blood and has a 104 fever. 

Kayla is transferred to another unit, but that doesn’t stop her from trying to get help. (It also reunites her with Juanita.) The girls sneak out to try and phone for help. Kayla is captured and sedated, but she does manage to call Amanda’s mother.

Amanda’s mother demands to speak to her daughter and threatens to call a lawyer. Amanda is admitted to the hospital with a collapsed lung. Miss Connie blames her staff for neglecting Amanda. 

Kayla is relieved to hear that Amanda is getting help, even if that means she will face punishments. She is placed in observation indefinitely. 

Amanda’s mom calls Kayla’s mom, and Karen rushes to remove her daughter from the school. Kayla and Amanda are reunited to celebrate Amanda’s 18th birthday. 

Side Note

Minority Report: Kayla, Karen, Ray, Jaunita, EMT, Hot Male Nurse, 

Inspired by true events learn more at BreakingCodeSilence 

📺. Stream/Watch the Movie (Ad): Watch Cruel Instruction

➡️ Check out our Youtube Channel: Lifetime Uncorked: Lifetime Movie Reviews

🎧 Listen to the Lifetime Uncorked Podcast: https://anchor.fm/lifetime-uncorked

🍷 Support the show with a $5 tip: https://ko-fi.com/patrickserrano

📚 Read the book this movie is based on: https://amzn.to/35Aol7Q 

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*** I’ve updated the rating system moving forward. Knives represent # of kills. Wine is over enjoyment (NOT a value judgment) on a 1-5 scale.

 I will use the following tags for those who want to know whether to watch or skip: Pour it Up (Would Recommend) or Put A Cork In It (Would Not Recommend). 

Overall rating

Number of Kills: Not THAT kind of Lifetime Movie (0 Knives)

Enjoyment Level: 🍷🍷🍷🍷 (4 glasses of wine.)

What did you think of the movie? Let me know in the comments or on social media @LifetimeUncorked

*Photo Credit: © 2022 Lifetime® | A+E Networks®

Live tweet along with @LifetimeUncork using the hashtag #CruelInstruction

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