Evil teacher/cult leader Maria Delgado
Maria Delgado (Malone Thomas) is the hidden main villainess from the 2024 Lifetime film, My Fatal Social Following (originally titled, Instacult; released on Lifetime Movie Club on June 7, 2024).
Introduction[]
Maria Delgado is a teacher at a high school attended by main protagonist Julia, whose close friend, Nina Reynolds, suddenly disappeared. Julia had been facing accusations from Brittany of killing Nina, and regarding Maria, she consoled Julia after her class ended. The film's progression saw Julia receive texts from a mysterious group known as "The Family," with Julia also being given several tasks from a person only known as "F," with one of them including exposing the town mayor's misdeeds.
Julia's search for Nina saw included a revelation that Matt, Nina's boyfriend, was also seeing Brittany, though Matt was also looking into The Family, as he suspected that they had something to do with Nina's disappearance. Regarding Maria, she was visited by Julia, who found a phone connected to "F" at her house, though Maria claimed that she confiscated the phone from someone else. Julia received her latest task, which involved her friend Adam, though Julia warned Adam about the task before she was suddenly abducted by The Family.
Reveal[]
Maria's reveal as the leader of "The Family"
The film's climax saw Julia seeing that The Family was a group of teenage girls, and during this moment, Maria turned heel and revealed herself as the cult's leader. Following her heel turn, Maria revealed that the family consisted of wayward girls, and she was using them as part of her plan to eliminate men, stating that women have been less than in every country in the world. In a shocking twist, Maria took Julia to a barn and revealed that Nina had been alive and part of the faction all along, and afterwards, the maniacal villainess presented Adam to the group and ordered Julia to kill Adam, while chastising Julia for humanizing Adam and all men.
Julia refused and attempted to fire the gun at Maria, only to discover that it wasn't loaded. Afterwards, the evil Maria ordered Nina to lock her in the barn to "re-educate" her, and after Nina acted loyal to Julia, she removed the facade and informed Julia about Maria's insane demeanor and her brainwashing of the other girls. However, Maria overheard Nina's statements and scolded her for her statements against the villainess, who was tackled by Julia, only for Maria to attempt to kill Julia after overpowering her. Nina knocked out Maria and escaped with Julia, all while Matt and Melissa (the latter being Julia's mother) rescued Adam. Police later arrived at the scene, and afterwards, Maria was arrested (off-screen).