The evil Nina Sendak
Nina Sendak (Anita Brown) is the main villainess from the 2020 Lifetime film, Cheer Squad Secrets (airdate October 4, 2020).
Backstory[]
Nina Sendak is a high school cheerleading coach, though her backstory revealed that she was once a cheerleader herself. In addition, she was engaged in an affair with her coach, Chris Albers, who gave a bottle of pills to Nina for her to take as part of her training. As the flashbacks revealed, Nina's affair with Albers resulted in a pregnancy, though a visit to Albers' home resulted in him sending her away and hiding their illicit relationship.
Nina broke her arm during one of her routines, and she confronted Albers afterwards, as he had taken her off the team. Nina pleaded with Albers to change his decision, as she blamed her pregnancy (which ended after losing the baby) for the injury, but when Albers refused, Nina turned heel and ran over her former coach/lover, killing him instantly.
Events[]
Nina became a cheerleading coach and developed a drive to become National Champion, and as the film showed, she had adopted her former coach's methods and gave pills to one of her cheerleaders, Tanya Harrington. Tanya's boyfriend, Ethan Walker, took some of the pills himself, and during a road rage incident, Ethan suddenly collapsed and died. Despite the school grieving Ethan's death and classes being cancelled, Nina had her team practicing, leading to main protagonist Kelly Regan (whose daughter, Amelie Regan, was on the squad) confronting Nina regarding her decision. In response, Nina stated that her girls had plenty of time to grieve, while claiming to mourn Ethan's death--despite referring to him as "Evan."
As the film also showed, Nina bought more of the drugs from a dealer, who demanded an extra $500 on the spot, leading to the villainess stabbing him to death and taking the drugs to make more of her pills. It was also revealed that Nina was engaged in a relationship with school principal Lamar Graham, and she also gave a bottle of the drugs to Amelie, referring to them as "supplements" and adding that they would help her with her routines. While dining with the Regans, Nina revealed her history as a cheerleader, as did Kelly, who won a National Championship.
As the film progressed, Amelie's behavior changed for the worse due to the drugs, leading to both Kelly and Scott Regan suggesting to Amelie that she take a step back from cheerleading--which was met with refusal from both Amelie and Nina. When Graham informed Nina about the controversy surrounding her and added that he could end up firing her, the villainess warned Graham that she would sue him for sexual harassment if she is fired, right before she broke into the Regan house and not only took back the pills, but also stole Kelly's National Championship ring. She ended up confronted by Nat, Kelly's best friend, only for Nina to attack and strangle Nat to death, shoving her body into the pool to make it appear she'd hit her head and drowned.
Climax and Arrest[]
However, Nina faced another obstacle entering the film's climax, as Graham informed Nina that she was suspended without pay after Kelly filed a complaint against her. The villainess repeated her threat to sue Graham for sexual harassment, only to be informed that the school's superintendent filed the punishment. Later on, the evil Nina lured Kelly to the school under the pretense of Amelie texting her, with Kelly arriving and finding her daughter tied up and gagged before she was knocked out by the psychotic villainess. After tying up Kelly, Nina responded to Kelly's pleas by berating her for getting in the way of her goals of winning a National Championship, while also showing off Kelly's ring and stating that it was hers.
The villainess later took out a chemical-filled syringe and attempted to kill Kelly, who broke free from her restraints and took down her captor before freeing Amelie. Just as the pair were about to complete their escape, Nina appeared with the syringe and attacked Kelly, repeatedly screaming at her to die before Amelie knocked out the villainess with the car door. Police arrived at the school and arrested Nina, and as Amelie revealed to her best friend, Lisa, Nina had no choice but to plead guilty to assault and was put under psychiatric care, thus leaving Nina's goal of winning the National Championship in the dust
Victims[]
- Chris Albers (run over)
- Ethan Walker (gave the pills to Tanya who then gave them to Ethan, causing him to OD)
- Drug dealer (stabbed)
- Nat (strangled)
- Amelie Regan (attempted and failed)
- Kelly Regan (attempted to strangle to death, stopped by Amelie)
Trivia[]
- The teenage version of Nina was played by Kiera Klassen.
- Anita Brown also played redeemed villainess Mary Hamilton in A Firehouse Christmas.
Gallery[]
