The cheerleaders that eventually become friends to Autumn are also played well by their actors, with Tedra Rogers and Mya Lowe standing out as they bring palpable sincerity to Heidi and Samantha. Maddie Phillips and Ryan Grantham are solid as journalist outcasts Kara and Max and play well off of Wallace, and Andre Anthony makes for a charming and likable love interest for Autumn as sweet-natured jock Jordan Dunn. This conflict is carried by a strong performance by Kayla Wallace, who brings emotional depth to Autumn as the film progresses and she finds herself tangled in a frightening situation she could never have imagined getting herself into. As such, Autumn grows to truly care for the people she was initially pitted against by her new friends, allowing an understated conflict to arise that will tide viewers over until the major conflict arrives. Even the Regina George-esque Jenny is a rather subdued Queen Bee, with most of her bullying remarks being treated with a grain of salt or called out for what they are. In an interesting subversion to the film's Mean Girls-inspired path, none of the cheerleaders display the same over-the-top cattiness as their big screen counterparts. The drama regarding the harsh treatments endured by the cheerleaders is kickstarted quickly, with a combination of solid pacing and strong acting keeping the action engaging. A major difference comes in the fact that rather than going undercover to destroy Jenny and her fellow popular friends from the inside, Autumn goes undercover to expose the toxic practices going on within the cheer squad.Дespite having similarities to a far more popularized movie, Undercover Cheerleader manages to take the beats it borrows from Mean Girls to craft an entertaining story for itself. Because as the film began, all the basic beats from the classic teen film were there: teenage girl moves to a new town and high school, meets school's snarky outcasts as well as the residential Queen Bee, and befriends the outcasts before agreeing to go undercover to join in with the Queen Bee's clique. Given how inherently dramatic and Lifetime-ian the film is, I'm surprised it's taken this long for Lifetime to make a straightforward Mean Girls: Lifetime Edition film. When the tension leads to murder, Autumn works with her newfound allies to find the killer before they succeed in silencing her for good.

Autumn's anonymous articles on the abusive treatments take the school by storm-and attract an anonymous figure who is hellbent on silencing the mole.

Soon after getting a spot on the team, Autumn bears witness to the harsh bullying and pressure inflicted on the cheerleaders, orchestrated by Coach Dot (Sarah-Jane Redmond).

While reluctant to try out for the team, Autumn is convinced by Kara to go out for cheerleading as an undercover journalist for the school paper, hoping to expose the culture of cruelty within the cheer team. But soon after arriving at her new school, Autumn finds herself making fast friends with social outcast Kara (Maddie Phillips), as well as attracting the attention of cheerleader Jenny (Samantha Schimmer).

Autumn Bailey (Kayla Wallace) is disheartened to find herself starting over at a new school, having had to move with her mother Cynthia (Kehli O'Byrne) as part of her new job.

Undercover cheerleader