This is no ordinary movie it deals with real life situations, hence it being on lifetime. In all, this movie brought me to a deeper understanding on the teenage life sequence and teaches you who your real friends are.
It begins on an ordinary day at school, Vanessa played by Alexa Vega hangs with her 'friends' Stacy and Nikki. The beginning defines the whole movie; people are on their cell phones and the internet, spreading whatever rumor they could for their own amusement. We are then introduced to Tony, a potential love interest for Vanessa, involved in a fight, the girls are seen as popular as Stacy calls Tony out to talk to him, but he only shows interest in Vanessa.
This movie deals with jealousy, popularity and control, and Nikki wanted to take control and push Vanessa out of the picture; Vanessa was good at soccer, a straight A student and even got the guy, Nikki obviously felt threatened. Fifteen minutes into the show and already you would be hooked.
Vanessa is your ideal school sweetheart and can be very gullible at times, obviously if you believe someone to be your best friend would you tell them all of your secrets, Stacy used that to her advantage to bring Vanessa down. I think subconsciously Stacy had it out for Vanessa until her moral kicked it. This movie shows you how truly mean girls can be.
Soon enough, Tony, remember the guy whom liked Vanessa, asked her out, after Stacy asked her to put in a good word for her. That was when they began to turn on Stacy and where Nikki saw it as an opportunity to bring her down *hmmm what are friends for right*. That was the first time the word 'slot' in reference to Vanessa was made. Nikki began her tantrums and pretty soon Vanessa was eating lunch at what was seen as the loser table, and Tony no longer spoke to her anymore. Still Vanessa thought that maybe she had said something or done something to offend Stacy, hence making the disturbing situation her fault, finding means to justify her 'best friends' actions. What I like about this entire plot is that all the characters are kept realistic, even though Vanessa still holds on to hope that maybe Stacy has a justified reason for being mean, no friend should have a justified reason for calling you names and condoning it for the entire school's benefit, but how could a best friend hurt you so deeply, easy, they are not your best friend or even a friend at all.
Vanessa's true friend, Emily, was right in front of her the entire time, but she was labeled as being an outcast and even Vanessa saw that as being uncool even when she was uncool. Still, the people saw as her friends continued to betray her and threat as if she were nothing at all.
Soon enough Vanessa went from being a high school sweetheart to having a broken heart. What was upsetting was still she confronted Stacy, hoping that if she caught her alone, things might be different, and Stacy pretended, lied, manipulated and deceived her again, her justification; it was probably pay back time for Vanessa for stealing a boyfriend that wasn't hers to begin with, or it was probably because she 'could' hurt Vanessa. The teasing continued and what broke Vanessa into pieces was that she still trusted her 'friend' but it crushed her when Stacy knowingly invited Vanessa to a party she knew no one would go to. Vanessa's mother was very moving as well. This movie also shows the value of parenting and what a parent would do for their child.
What amazed me was the fact that Stacy felt bad for Vanessa and she still continued to bring her down, even when she was on the ground, she just mashed her some more. Vanessa also gave the school a lot more to talk about when she cut her hair and Over Dosed in her bathroom.
The Internet and cell phones that were shown in the beginning were being used against Vanessa. Horrible emails, messages and video manipulations was being distributed across the school base. Why? All because she got good grades and was genuinely a good person. Wow that just shocked me, it made me realize how teenage cruel girls can be to others. I even asked the question, did Nikki feel like the better person even after every thing had gone as planned? Because it seemed like she planned this scheme from the start.
After Vanessa Over Dosed, the only person that came to visit her was Emily the same 'outcast' mentioned earlier. she gave Vanessa the hope she needed to survive another day in school until graduation. Vanessa's pride was not crushed enough, at least not in Nikki's mind. After Vanessa returned to school, she began to trust Stacy again and even the apology she gave was not as heart felt, she was automatically returned to 'best friend' status. They spoke to each other online and Stacy's idea of a sweet laugh-off was to send it to Nikki, she took the next leap to embarrass Vanessa one last time on graduation day. Nikki read the email out for the entire school in front of Vanessa, and this time she did not run away crying, she faced her main opponent, Stacy.
The end was sweat, but I did not get that feeling of relief, it showed the step's in Stacy reclaiming her life with her true friend by her side, but it ended too soon. They spent the entire movie demeaning Vanessa, but took the last few minutes to uplift her and it wasn't that satisfactory. I would still recommend this movie to anyone willing to watch this kind of true life story, you would not be disappointed.
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