Disturbing true story behind new Lifetime movie that was inspired by a Michigan mom who bullied her own daughter online with harrowing messages that told her to 'kill herself'

A new Lifetime movie has laid bare the horrific case that saw a mother secretly bullying her own daughter online for years. 

The film is inspired by Kendra Gail Licari, who was sentenced to between 19 months and five years behind bars for assuming a false identity and cyberbullying her teenage daughter and her boyfriend. 

Mommy Meanest premiered on Lifetime on May 11 and the true story behind the film has left viewers stunned at the extreme lengths the 42-year-old Michigan-based mom took to inflict fear on her child without any known motive.

A year after Kendra pleaded guilty to two counts of stalking a minor, Lifetime decided to showcase the disturbing case in the film inspired by the mom - played by Lisa Rinna but is named Madelyn in Mommy Meanest - who relentlessly targeted her own child and even accompanied her child to the police station to report the crime.

A new Lifetime movie has laid bare the horrific case that saw a mother secretly bullying her own daughter online for years

In the film, Lisa plays a divorced high school chorus teacher named Madelyn.

Madelyn's daughter is played by Lisa's real daughter Briana Skye, who is known as Mia in the film.

The movie follows Mia and her high school boyfriend who are viciously bullied by an online stalker who sends messages to the teen girl instructing her to 'kill herself.' 

However, the cruel bully wasn't a stranger at all. In a shocking twist, the person sending texts to Mia telling her she was poor and ugly, amongst other vile statements, was her mother. 

The film's real-life inspiration, Kendra, captured the nation's attention last year when she pleaded guilty to the crime.

In April 2023, Kendra was sentenced to a minimum of 19 months in prison after admitting to two counts of stalking a minor, according to The Morning Sun.

At her sentencing, Judge Mark Duthie admitted that the 'truly horrible' case had shown him the 'worst in human nature.' 

He added: 'I can't imagine any parent saying such horrible things to her own daughter.' 

The film is inspired by Kendra Gail Licari, who was sentenced to between 19 months and five years behind bars, for assuming a false identity and cyberbullying her teenage daughter

The documentary is titled, Mommy Meanest, and premiered on Lifetime on May 11

Kendra was arrested in December 2022 after she sent thousands of messages cyberbullying her daughter over the course of many months. 

An arrest warrant obtained by NBC News at the time, noted that the text messages were 'specific in nature.'

'Most messages contain hateful speech and contain language like, "kill yourself...." A lot of the messages repeat this same language,' the report read. 

Kendra went to extreme lengths to try to cover up that she was the mastermind behind the messages, even manipulating them to look like they had come from a victim's phone.

While Kendra didn't reveal the motive of her crime, in the movie the reason the mom bullies her daughter is because she doesn't want her to become more independent. 

At the time, Isabella County Prosecutor David Barberi described the texts as 'demeaning, demoralizing, and just mean,' while speaking to WKRC.

He noted that it was 'almost hard to believe' as they complied more than 349 pages of evidence against her.

Once arrested, Kendra made a full confession and accepted a plea deal, which led to the prosecutor dropping the three additional charges against her: one count of obstruction and two counts of using a computer to commit a crime. 

The movie follows Mia and her high school boyfriend who are viciously bullied by an online stalker who sends messages to the teen girl instructing her to 'kill herself.' Pictured is Lisa 

At her sentencing, the Michigan-based mom admitted that she was 'ashamed, remorseful and embarrassed.'

Kendra's defense attorney revealed that she had begun taking parenting classes as well as counseling. 

The attorney also revealed that the mom suffered from a mental illness after taking a psychiatric exam.

According to Michigan Department of Corrections, Kendra will be eligible for parole on November 3, 2024.

The mom's maximum release date is April 3, 2028. 

Fans can now tune into Mommy Meanest on Lifetime.