Lifetime brings the classic film Dying to Belong to a whole new generation, with Shannen Doherty, Favour Onwuka (Supergirl), and Jenika Rose (iZombie) starring. Revealing the harsh realities of toxic friendships and sorority hazing culture, Dying to Belong is a remake of the 1997 film of the same name, which starred Hilary Swank, Sarah Chalke, Jenna von Oÿ, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar. Dying to Belong will debut this fall on Lifetime.
When journalism major Olivia (Onwuka) meets Riley (Rose), a shy freshman who suffers from anxiety, they become fast friends. Riley, whose mother Katherine (Doherty) was a legacy Pi Gamma Beta, decides to rush in hopes of following Katherine’s footsteps and is ecstatic when Olivia joins her. Sensing the opportunity to go undercover to write a story about hazing practices, Olivia soon discovers there are deadly secrets involved in being part of the “sisterhood.”
From 1959 to 2019, there has been at least one hazing death reported each year, and thirty reported within the last decade1. 95% of students hazed do not report it to officials2. Due to the pandemic, 2020 was the first year no hazing deaths were reported. Within the first two weeks of students returning to campus in 2021, two hazing deaths have already been reported3.
Dying to Belong marks Doherty’s second movie for Lifetime this year as she also stars in List of a Lifetime, the network’s centerpiece of the Stop Breast Cancer for Life campaign, for which Doherty directed special content that will roll out in October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
As part of Lifetime’s commitment to hiring women in key production roles under the Broader Focus initiative, Dying to Belong is produced by Pink Buffalo Films and Wishing Floor Films with Danielle von Zerneck (The Christmas Set Up) executive producing, Gail Harvey (Gone Mom: The Disappearance of Jennifer Dulos) directs from a script from Caitlin D. Freyers (Wynona Earp). Shawn Angelski (Story of a Girl) also serves as executive producer. The original film’s producers included Frank von Zerneck, Danielle von Zerneck’s father.
1 Source: Nuwer, H. (2021). U.S. Hazing Deaths Database Part 2: 2000-2021. Hank Nuwer Unofficial Hazing Clearinghouse. https://www.hanknuwer.com/hazing-destroying-young-lives/.
2 Source: Allan, E. J., & Madden, M. (2008). Hazing in View: College Students at Risk. www.hazingstudy.org. https://stophazing.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/hazing_in_view_study.pdf.
3 Source: Kennedy, P. (2021, March 3). 2020 was first year in 60 with no hazing-related deaths; 2021 has not started as bright. WTAJ – https://www.wearecentralpa.com/news/2020-first-year-in-60-with-no-hazing-related-deaths-2021-has-not-started-as-bright/.
