Cruel Instruction (2022 Lifetime)
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Cast: Camryn Manheim, Cynthia Bailey, Kelcey Mawema,
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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
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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.)
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Great movie but how did Amanda get sick because clearly she was sick from day 1