They are saying, “Hell hath no fury like a girl scorned,” however is that the case with Kaitlin Armstrong?
Lifetime delivers one other “Ripped from the Headlines” movie dedicated to the tragic homicide of a bicycle owner by a yoga trainer that was deemed the “Love Triangle Homicide.”
Caity Lotz stars in Yoga Trainer Killer: The Kaitlin Armstrong Story alongside hubby Kyle Schmid, and it actually illuminates an unsettling story.
A Perfunctory, Sensationalized Account of a Tragedy
Hear, Caity Lotz is a unbelievable actress. She has gifted us unbelievable performances, significantly as Sara Lance in the whole Arrow Universe.
She was no much less affecting as Kaitlin Armstrong, channeling one thing akin to Lizzy Caplan’s efficiency within the remake of Deadly Attraction.
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The movie ticked all of the bins of taking us by way of the highlights, for lack of a greater phrase, of Kaitlin Armstrong’s world main as much as her brutally murdering Moriah Wilson and the follow-up as she fled the nation, received cosmetic surgery, received captured, and evaded arrest.
In contrast to another renditions of Lifetime Movies, the place they deep dive right into a fictionalized model of an precise occasion, this movie did not spend an excessive amount of time including any actual context to the main gamers.
They felt like caricatures, which is an odd assertion to make after we know they’re all impressed by real-life human beings.
Along with being a mouthful, Yoga Trainer Killer was so simple in its method that it may have served as a documentary reenactment.
And that is no shade in any respect to the forged.
Caity Lotz does a beautiful job of enjoying up the unhinged, if you’ll, nature of Kaitlin Armstrong.
As we all know from watching him on Large Sky, Kyle Schmid is simply charming sufficient to make Colin Strickland sympathetic as the foundation of the friction in a love triangle.
And a criminally underused and underserved Larissa Dias of When Calls the Coronary heart acclaim elicits that twinge of discontent from witnessing a younger girl’s life robbed from her in her prime.
Nevertheless it’s total an enchanting conundrum the movie faces.
On the one hand, it by no means leans deeply sufficient into the sensationalized side to be entertaining, even when it does come on the expense of the emotions, sentiments, and truthtelling of the true people the movie displays.
Alternatively, it does not present sufficient context, case information, or aware effort to spherical out the characters and connections to elicit real funding on this tragedy.
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By toeing that line in between, it falls in need of what viewers anticipate from True Crime on each fronts.
Does Colin Strickland Bear Some Blame in Destroying Two Ladies’s Lives?
The movie spins an fascinating narrative in terms of Colin.
What we’re led to consider, as was additionally offered throughout the Kaitlin Armstrong Trial, is that this homicide was motivated by Kaitlin’s love for Colin and jealousy over Moriah.
There’s sufficient emphasis on Colin’s function in courting each girls that the implication is that he inadvertently is the reason for the ugly homicide.
They even dance alongside the strains of whether or not his temporary relationship with Moriah constitutes dishonest.
It is difficult as a result of the movie goes out of its option to maintain Colin accountable in little methods, together with having his finest good friend finish their friendship after the homicide and having detectives name him to the carpet for his mishandling of issues and the lies.
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However in the identical breath, the movie additionally goes out of its option to lean into how Kaitlin Armstrong was an unstable girl obsessive about a person and unwilling to let him go or ever name issues quits.
It is one other occasion the place they attempt to cater to each narratives to keep away from taking a powerful stance, and it merely does not work out properly for the movie and its depiction of this story.
It was evident that Colin was much less invested in his relationship with Kaitlin than she was.
He voiced his emotions on the place they had been and the way little they appeared to be figuring out many occasions, however it was as if she couldn’t acknowledge or hear any of it.
Setting apart the eyebrow-raising decade-age distinction between Colin and Moriah and their “instantaneous” connection that got here throughout as superficial in its portrayal, she’s who he appeared to construct a bond with.
From the TV Film’s perspective, his preliminary intentions had been sincere: to finish issues with Kaitilin and see the place issues may go along with Moriah.
However then he comes throughout as a dick for happening dates with this new girl earlier than he is even moved out of the place he shared with Kaitlin.
He comes throughout as horribly insensitive when he opts to present issues with Kaitlin one other go regardless of their relationship surpassing its expiration date and leaving Moriah within the lurch.
No good can come from participating in a relationship with somebody mere days after they supposedly got here out of one other.
There may be trigger to argue that he strings each girls alongside and leads them on.
It is not a superb look on him that he continues to spend time with Moriah behind Kaitlin’s again and does not inform her something.
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His intentions probably weren’t the purest, so he hangs out with Moriah and adjustments the title of her contact info on his cellphone to maintain Kaitlin at the hours of darkness.
It is evident that he is at the very least conscious that he is doing one thing incorrect; in any other case, there would not have been a lot deception within the first place.
However even understanding all of that, it appears patently unfair that there is a narrative of Kaitlin doubtlessly being a superbly regular, blissful girl who received pushed so far by the actions of her on-and-off-again boyfriend.
It shifts blame to him in a way that also feels uncomfortable regardless of him dancing inside the strains of infidelity.
Is Kaitlin Armstrong’s Therapy a Product of Societal Sexism or Enabling It?
It appeared as if there was a aware effort to acknowledge some inherent sexism at play with Kaitlin’s story.
She was a girl deeply in love with Colin and wished to start out a household and transfer ahead together with her life.
Kaitlin’s sister implied that Colin had spent years losing her time, seemingly retaining her in limbo with their relationship, not transferring ahead or backward.
Kaitlin’s organic clock was ticking, and her reference to Colin grew to become deeper just because she invested a lot time in that relationship and wished one thing to return from it.
Her needs are completely cheap, but the depth of how she displayed them had secondary characters treating her as if she was loopy or “an excessive amount of.”
It is legitimate to indicate that there is some sexism in how folks reply to that.
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Nevertheless it’s additionally irritating that she may very well be seen as even the slightest little bit of a sufferer as a result of some man led her on, and she or he did not have the wherewithal to name him out, acknowledge that the connection wasn’t assembly her wants, and go away.
She additional falls proper into the inherent sexism of the love triangle scenario by discovering that Colin and Moriah dated whereas she and he had damaged up and opting to carry Moriah accountable for that moderately than Colin.
As a result of the girl is all the time at fault, proper? Is not that what society teaches us?
Yoga Trainer Killer Performs Closely into Psychological Sickness Tropes
From the second we’re launched to Kaitlin Armstrong, the general sentiment is that she’s overwhelming, full-on, and “an excessive amount of.”
Each different shot round her is of individuals postpone by how intense she comes throughout and reacting to her behaving as if she’s simply barely “off.”
She’s the drained trope of the crazed, obsessive girlfriend who makes her whole character and existence revolve round loving Colin.
We noticed them on the yoga coaching together with her colleagues, who barely managed to be well mannered as she droned on about herself and her excellent relationship.
She got here throughout as self-absorbed and narcissistic, sending folks operating in the other way.
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Throughout her birthday speech to Colin at a celebration, she targeted on how devoted she was to him and their relationship, which had a few of their pals side-eyeing her.
We’re fed all these bits about how she’s “not fairly proper within the head” and obsessive.
And it colours issues in such a option to paint the image that she’s mentally unstable.
It does really feel like an affordable shot at these with psychological well being points as she closely falls into the class of a girl seen as histrionic.
Nevertheless it’s additionally one thing about her that largely must be addressed regardless of leaning into it.
The entire thing together with her allergy symptoms appears a bit off as a result of one can presume the whole level of her supposedly allergic response to mango was redirecting everybody’s consideration to what she most well-liked.
We noticed all of the scratches over her torso, which had been once more known as her “allergy symptoms” when coupled together with her excessive feelings and anxiousness, felt extra like a byproduct of no matter psychological well being points she was battling.
After all, the physique scratches had been additionally a reference to her scrubbing herself clear obsessively after murdering Moriah in such a chilly and calculated method.
They might volley backwards and forwards between her being a scorned girl and one “off her rocker.”
And the way Kaitlin was undoubtedly a product of the intersection between problematic psychological sickness depictions and sexism.
There was numerous emphasis on her being emotionally unstable and unhinged moderately than sensible.
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Maybe that was to promote the concept she wasn’t working in her proper way of thinking when she killed Moriah and proceeded to flee the nation in any case of that.
However she was additionally sensible sufficient to evade the cops in some way.
Many of the investigation was puzzling throughout.
The paperwork screwup with them spelling her title incorrect and getting her date of start incorrect, leading to invalid warrants, was irritating.
It did not make a lot sense that she may flee the nation simply with out being flagged anyplace or that regulation enforcement wasn’t retaining tabs on her.
It felt like she escaped the nation too simply.
Conversely, the manhunt to search out her main authorities to Costa Rica was intense.
However Kaitlin even getting far sufficient out of regulation enforcement’s attain when she tried to flee once more throughout her switch was additionally irritating.
In Yoga Trainer Killer, the Actual Sufferer Disappears from the Narrative
Total, the movie was serviceable, however it feels as if the true sufferer received misplaced within the narrative.
Concerning actual information concerning the case, we all know that Moriah Wilson was a rising star, a pro-cyclist headed locations with a brilliant future and many individuals who adored her.
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However there wasn’t sufficient narrative house within the movie for her to really feel like her story was being advised amid all of this.
We barely had sufficient scenes together with her to connect with this girl and really feel the total breadth of her dying, loss, and the devastation unleashed on a neighborhood.
If this had been a piece of pure fiction moderately than impressed by precise occasions, she’d come throughout as a mere plot gadget.
It is not a thought you’d wish to have when watching a movie impressed by true occasions, particularly concerning the sufferer.
Yoga Trainer Killer was serviceable, however it’s additionally a movie that can probably slip your thoughts seconds after the credit roll, which is unlucky.
Over to you, Lifetime Fanatics.
What had been your ideas on this movie? Let’s hear them beneath!
Jasmine Blu is a senior workers author for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching method too many reveals and binge-drinking method an excessive amount of tea. Her eclectic style makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for advanced characters, numerous illustration, dynamic duos, compelling tales, and responsible pleasures. You will undoubtedly discover her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Observe her on X.
