The Choking Game (Review)

The Choking Game

Choking Game Lifetime
2014
Teleplay by Jen Klein
Based on the book
Choke by Diana Lopez
Directed by Lane Shefter Bishop

Choking Game Lifetime

Just massaging my neck really really really tightly!


Lifetime is the fertile crescent of exploitation drama, and The Choking Game is yet another entry into the canon. Once again, a dangerous teen fad threatens the lives of everyone and everything, particularly our main character Taryn. The fad is teens choking themselves, by which they get a brief high when fresh oxygen rushes into their brains. This method has been around for ages, I remember people talking about it when I was in grade school back in the 14th century. But thanks to the power of people writing books about it, and then promoting their books by showing up on news program scare segments, things have taken a life of their own. Unlike things like rainbow parties, people actually do choke themselves, and like much of what teenagers do, it is pretty darn stupid.

The choking game is presented by temptress Nina as the ultimate way to be in control, because if you are in control of your breathing, you are in control of your life. Plus the oxygen high boost gives you lots of self-confidence without the problems that drugs and alcohol bring to the table. It’s basically the perfect way to get high, provided you don’t do it over concrete and fall down and hit your head like a scrub. The way the choking and trust aspects are handled in the film, you could subscribe all sorts of sexual subtext to it, making Taryn and Nina’s secret also a lesbian relationship. Perhaps an alternate title should have been Blue is the Chokest Color

Choking Game Lifetime

A scene from The Craft is breaking out here!


The biggest problem with The Choking Game is it takes a while to get going. We spend a lot of time with Taryn listening to her complain about her life before we get to the choking. When it does get going, it gets pretty fun, even if it is heavy handed (with multiple characters giving multiple speeches about how Taryn changed, most notably Ryder at the party). The Choking Game handles social media well, showing it’s presence with some popups, but not having it be the focus, just an aspect of life.

Forget those facts and things, we’re here for the Lifetime trainwreck spectacle, so let’s bring on the life ruining! It’s choking time! (SPOILERS below for those of you who worry about being spoiled about a Lifetime choking movie!)

Choking Game Lifetime

At least the choking game is more fun than Scrabble!


Taryn (Freya Tingley) – Taryn is a typical high school senior dealing with the pressure of being a high school senior with not a lot of bad things happening in her life, thus it’s the worst life ever! Taryn doesn’t have anything in her life figured out, and doesn’t even know what she wants to do after school. She does brag that she’s totally been to third base, for real. She enthusiastically embraces choking and the choking lifestyle, even as it destroys her life. For some reason she plays Tauren when playing World of Warcraft.
Nina (Alex Steele) – Nina is the mysterious new girl with a secret, the secret being she loves to choke herself 24/7. She trashes high school culture in a way that throws Taryn for a loop, but makes her instantly attracted to her. It’s all choking, all the time with Nina, and soon Taryn, as Nina introduces her to a whole new world. Nina’s mom is single and on a date with a different guy each night, leaving only frozen dinners and no attention.
Elena (Beverly Ndukwu) – Taryn’s best friend who also has plans for Taryn to be her roommate in college. Advice: never be roommates with your best friend. Elena begins to freak out when Taryn begins spending all her time with Nina and not Elena.
Heidi (Peri Gilpin) – Taryn’s over-bearing mother who is over-bearing out of concern and not because she’s manipulative or anything. Heidi raised Taryn as a single mother and feels guilt over Taryn being a latchkey kid for so long. I did appreciate how they made her more three-dimensional than usual. Is married to Will (Ray Galletti), who is constantly trying to get her to not be so hard on Taryn.
Ryder (Mitch Ainley) – The guy Taryn has been crushing on forever, now newly single and interested in Taryn, though neither one bothers to ask the other out. You know Taryn and Ryder are made for each other, because they both have useless Y’s in their names!
Courtney (Ferron Guerreiro) – Courtney is the coolest girl in school, and she is always seen with a pack of girls following her as she snarks on the GPs (the General Population, aka the not-cool kids). Courtney is also way into choking herself because she really has low self-esteem.

Choking Game Lifetime

Look, play the choking game all you want, but make sure you win, dammit!


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The Choking Game brings the squeeze to Lifetime!

The Choking Game Lifetime

This sucks, let’s go to that Rainbow Party instead!


[adrotate banner=”1″]Remember when you were a kid and your teachers would warn you of the dangers of kids who were choking themselves to get high, even though you never knew anyone who was doing that and it just seemed like a weird thing to mention? And then you saw the movie Rising Sun and choking got even more confusing? Well, I guess it really happens, at least to the point where someone wrote a book about it, which Lifetime snapped up to make into their latest original movie – The Choking Game! Unlike a real game, there isn’t a princess in another castle, only death. DEATH!!!

Based on the book “Choke” by Diana Lopez. Taryn finds herself gaining much-desired popularity when the charismatic new girl at school claims her as a “breath sister,” teaching Taryn about the Choking Game. Hiding it from her ever-present mother, best friend, and teachers, Taryn sees choking as a way to build self-control and grab an easy high. But, as the stakes are raised through each subsequent ‘flight’, Taryn has no idea that she is actually putting her life in extreme danger.

Yes, choking is a game so sophisticated, it has it’s own lingo. Be a breath sister and fly today! Or just buy some crazy glue and a paper bag, it’s probably safer.

The Choking Game stars Freya Tingley, Peri Gilpin, Alex Steele, Ray Galletti, Ferron Guerreiro, Kristen Harris, and Mitch Ainley. It’s directed by Lane Shefter Bishop (who directed some softcore films under the name Cameron Davis), and written by Jen Klein, who is significant to us because she cowrote Bratz: Passion 4 Fashion – Diamondz! We are so excited, we can hardly catch our breath!

The Choking Game premieres Saturday, July 26th on Lifetime!

via Lifetime