Dead Girl Summer (2025 Lifetime Movie)
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Cast: Sydney Hamm, Savoy Bailey
Director: Patricia Frontain
Writer(s): Ashley O’Neil
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DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearlySynopsis (via Lifetime)
Avery and Jade, recent college grads, return to their childhood summer town by the lake and reconnect with old friend Will, only for Jade to go missing under suspicious circumstances that eerily mirror a past tragedy involving their friend Mia’s death.
Recap/Wine Thoughts
The movie begins with someone running through the woods. I think it’s a boy this time! That is different. It isn’t someone running for their life; it is a kid running to a dock to go fishing with his dad. It’s all feeling very not Lifetime, until they fish a female body out of the water.
Cut to college friends, Jade and Avery, on a road trip back to their childhood summer spot. Their friend Will still lives there and has a hot girlfriend named Daniella, and Avery is selling her parents’ cabin. Party girl Jade is tagging along to help her friend and probably die first. (It is the Dead Girl Summer, after all.) They haven’t been back since Mia was found dead in the water.
Speaking of Mia, the dead friend, the movie seems to be flashing back to her last summer four years ago. (These grown adults, playing teens, is something!)
There is one person who isn’t happy that Jade and Avery are back. A guy named Eric tells them they shouldn’t have come back.
Avery and Jade go to Will’s bonfire, and he is surprised to see them. They are confused because Will texted them to come since he has new information about Mia. Will denies sending a text and tells Avery that she must have been high. Avery shows him the messages, and his girlfriend Daniella says it could be an AI scam. Eric shows up at the party, and Jade kicks him out.
Suddenly, Avery gets very drunk and pukey. Will offers to take her home and put her to bed. She dreams of a bonfire that Mia was at four years ago, and they were peeing in the woods???
The next morning, Jade hasn’t come home and isn’t answering her phone. The Sheriff finds Jade’s phone and wallet by the lake, just like Mia’s four years ago. Insert flashback here.
The Sheriff is surprisingly blasé considering that Jade’s disappearance is exactly how Mia’s went down. The police ruled Mia’s death an accident. Cliff diving gone wrong. Avery is convinced that someone is after them and is blaming them for Mia’s death. Will and Avery could be next.
Avery’s dad has a bad fall, and it just adds to her stress. She is jumpy and paranoid and thinks she sees someone in her backyard. There is also a break-in. Has Jane come back? Is Eric out for revenge? No, it is just Daniella with some coffee. Daniella also recently lost a friend.
The movie continually flashes back and forth, and honestly, we need a cyron or more obvious transition/color filter to determine the timeline. I’m losing track here!
There is a search party for Jade that turns up nothing. It is similar to when Mia disappeared. The police question Eric again, and he is upset that he is a suspect. Avery has completely lost it and blames herself for both Mia’s and Jade’s disappearances. The clues continue to add up, and it appears that someone is copying the four-year-old case, down to a missing bracelet found on the dock.
Daniella is straight up CRAZY, grabbing Will and holding him at knife point as foreplay. He laughs it off, but it is clearly a RED FLAG. Daniella has been helping Avery find clues, but could she also be responsible for planting them? Daniella leads Avery to review footage from the dock, and it shows Will’s truck. Could Will be the killer?
Will begs Avery to believe him, but she locks him out of the house and calls him a liar. The lines of the past and present blur when Avery thinks she sees Mia in the backyard and chases after her. Whoever it is, a ghost, or something, leads Avery a boat shead and locks her in. Avery breaks out and finds Eric at the dock. Eric helps Avery break into the police station to pull Mia’s file by reporting a break-in.
Avery takes pictures of the files, and is almost caught by the Sheriff. Eric and Avery go over the files and learn about red splinters found in Mia’s back. She was being held at the barn. Avery and Eric rush to the barn in hopes of finding Jade, but she is nowhere to be seen. Well, that is because Jade is hidden under the floorboards with some hay bales.
Jade is alive, and she says that Daniella kidnapped her. Daniella is Mia’s cousin and is getting revenge for her death. Daniella sent the text message, spiked Avery’s drink, and planted all the copycat evidence. Daniella’s relationship with Will was a ploy to get close to them.
Eric is knocked unconscious, and Avery fights with Daniella over a shovel. Avery is knocked to the ground and gets orange paint on her sleeve. It triggers a memory of the morning Mia went missing. Will had the same paint on his shoulder. Jade says that Mia carved Will’s name into the wood where he kept her.
The movie flashes back to Mia rejecting Will, and he goes into a rage, shaking Mia and throwing her to the ground, where she hits her head. He hides Mia’s body under the floorboards, and when they later search the barn, Will is the one who clears the area. He throws her body into the water to cover up the crime.
Back in the present, Will tries to explain, and when Avery tries to call the police, he attacks her. Daniella knocks Will out with a shovel while Jade calls the police. Detectives arrive and are like, “MY BAD!” Daniella and Will are both arrested.
Avery and Jade pack up the house and leave town. Eric is out as well, who knew he was a nice guy the whole time? One thing is for sure. It is a summer they will never forget.
STRAY Thoughts
The timeline jumps and storytelling structure were sloppy and confusing.
I REALLY, REALLY like Sydney Hamm, and she should be in more of these.
Overall rating
Number of Kills: 🔪(1 knife)
Lifetime Tropes: Murder Mystery
Enjoyment Level (1-5 scale)
🍷🍷 (2 Glasses of Wine)
Should you watch it?
Put a Cork in It (Skip It!)
What did you think of the movie? Let me know in the comments or on social media at @LifetimeUncorked and @patrickmiguel.
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*Photo Credit: © 2025 A&E Television Networks, LLC
Let me know what you thought of the movie in the comments below or @lifetimeuncorked
I liked the actors playing Will and Daniella.
They should be in more lifetime movies.