Lisa Frankenstein's Liza Soberano Should Be 2024's Next Big Horror Star
There are few archetypes more American than the high school cheerleader. Typically portrayed as a teenage girl with a megawatt smile, perfect hair, unmeasurable confidence, and an expertly crafted balance between squeaky-clean innocence and sexual deviancy, our society is still equal parts fascinated and offended by the mere existence of the cheerleader. Sure, films like "Bring It On" and the accessibility of competitive cheerleading on ESPN has brought some legitimacy to the sport and artistry, but by and large, cheerleaders are still used as shorthand to mean things like "bimbo, stupid, b*tchy, shallow, prissy," or to make another girl sound more interesting. As a cultural demigod once sang, "She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers."
With this seemingly "untouchable" social status and implied power of influence, it also makes cheerleader characters very easy to hate. Few have ever reached the level of disdain as Megan Fox's Jennifer Check in "Jennifer's Body," despite the fact she was a flag twirler — not a cheerleader. Unfairly maligned and misunderstood at the time of release, the hatred lobbied at the character is easy to understand when considering just how much negativity is deployed toward cheerleaders or other women who participate in spirit squads. Jennifer is evil, but not just "high school evil," implying that even without the whole "indie band failing to successfully sacrifice her and instead inadvertently turning her into a succubus" thing, she'd still be a monster to be around. Granted, if you actually watch "Jennifer's Body," it's clear that the character is far more complex than meets the eye, but it's understandable why so many people fall into the trap of thinking she's a villain.
Getting an audience on the side of the cheerleader and making them genuinely root for the character is not an easy task, but "Lisa Frankenstein" star Liza Soberano pulls it off beautifully.
Liza Soberano is a superstar
While Soberano might be a relative unknown here in the States, the Filipina actress who plays Lisa's stepsister Taffy is a massive star in the Philippines. At the 2018 Box Office Entertainment Awards, she was declared the "Box Office Queen" and was named one of the "TV Queens at the Turn of the Millennium" by the PMPC Star Awards for Television. Soberano is an international treasure with an impressive resume in comedy, drama, and romance, but the genre romp "Lisa Frankenstein" is her big Hollywood breakthrough. It's fascinating that of all the films she could have chosen, "Lisa Frankenstein" is the hot-pink laboratory she wanted to experiment in, and we horror fans should consider ourselves so lucky that she did. "Lisa Frankenstein" feels like it's in conversation with "Jennifer's Body" in regard to how Jennifer and Taffy are both presented, with the latter feeling like a bit of vindication and validation for the true heart of the former.
Not only is Soberano the sweet, empathetic center of Zelda Williams and Diablo Cody's film, but she's also playing a complete subversion of what is expected of cheerleader characters. Is Taffy a perfect stepsister? Of course not, but what teenage girl is perfect? Instead, we have a deeply complex and layered character with sincere intentions and a genuine desire to help and affirm her new sister despite their differences. It's in the film's third act, however, where Soberano really lets her acting chops shine. She spends the majority of the movie with a "Drop Dead Gorgeous" meets "Valley Girl" glow of positivity, only to turn into a blood-soaked ball of dissociative trauma, and unleashes one hell of an impressive scream.
If studios were smart, they'd give Soberano a similar career as Jenna Ortega and let her be the scream queen she's more than capable of being.
We spoke more about Soberano's excellent work in "Lisa Frankenstein" on today's episode of the /Film Daily podcast, which you can listen to below:
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