Lifetime's new movie Pretty Hurts shines a light on teen meningitis

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Credit: Lifetime

Now, we won't go so far as to say that Lifetime original movies are educational (they're a bit too sensationalized for that) but the latest title from the network does shed light on an important topic. As part of GSK’s Ask2BSure Campaign— which aims to raise awareness and kickstart conversations about meningococcal disease, known as meningitis, for parents of teens and young adults—Pretty Hurts includes a storyline centered on meningitis and how the diagnosis affects the life of a young girl.

"To win scholarship money for college, Lauren (Sarah Borne) enters the same beauty pageant her mom (Haylie Duff) once dominated in her youth," reads the movie's official synopsis, per Lifetime. "Lauren is thrust into a dark, toxic world of cutthroat competition and manipulation. Too preoccupied with the pageant, Lauren doesn’t realize that her best friend Rae is falling seriously ill with an uncommon and potentially deadly disease—meningitis B—prompting her to turn the pageant platform into a tool for awareness."

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Along with leads Haylie Duff (Blending Christmas, The Wedding Pact) and Sarah Borne (Newlywed Nightmare, Doom Patrol), the Pretty Hurts cast includes Kaci Barker (Swagger, The Family Plan) as Lauren's best friend Rae; Cyane Gan and Haley Gosserand also round out the ensemble.

Discussing the "layered" drama, star Haylie Duff told TV Insider that she initially thought the film was going to be "lighthearted thing": "Reading the script, it really took me by surprise. It is so layered. It has so many storylines going on. The meningitis storyline really affected me because it was something I did not know about. Obviously, I’d heard of meningitis before. I’m a mom of two young girls, and I was just unaware that it affects people the way it does, as quickly as it does, especially young people...I really loved it has a really strong message to it without it being all about that. I love that you really get to experience this strong bond between a mother and daughter."

Pretty Hurts premieres on Lifetime tonight, June 28 at 8pm Eastern Time—to tune in, you're going to need access to the Lifetime network. Those with cable packages can watch on their local Lifetime channel, but even if you don't have traditional cable, cord-cutters can also tune in online with a live TV streaming service that carries Lifetime, such as Frndly TV, Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and Philo TV. And if you miss the television broadcast tonight, don't fret: Pretty Hurts will also be available to stream on MyLifetime.com beginning tomorrow, Sunday, June 29.

Check out the official trailer for Pretty Hurts before tuning into the new Lifetime original movie tonight at 8pm ET.