I liked this movie until a little over half-way through (which is why I gave it a 6 rather than lower). As others have mentioned this seemed more about shaming the girls. The parents of the main girl are terrible. First they wipe out her college fund (really late into the game too so she really had no hope of getting the money to go to the college she was hoping for in such a short time) saying how they hope they'll get loans to pay her back and then when she went to drastic measures (not agreeing with what she did though) they say how disappointed in her and that they didn't raise her that way. Unfortunately what this movie tells us is even in this day and age the girl still seems to take the brunt of the stigma.
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daisyrose-5871725 July 2016
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filophillips4 October 2015Not too bad for an 'awareness' film. It definitely depicts the good and bad that can happen in these particular circumstances, BUT...
So much time seemed to be spent on setting the scene (i.e. making sure the audience knows how stunning the cast is - which they totally are!) and I felt more time could have been spent on the film's pinnacle moments. It would've had a much more lasting impact.
Towards the end it felt rushed - like I had to put pieces together to figure out what was going on, and it didn't seem to be a realistic time line. I've seen a few other movies with the same type of themes - albeit much more raunchy and seductive in comparison to Babysitter's Black Book - and those others I was hooked into watching right to the end, where as this one only made me want to watch it to the end to know how it all miserably played out.
It was a really good idea for a film, especially with kids these days growing up way too fast - shows them how even the most glamorous lifestyles and mistakes do come with a price. It highlights the issues with America's Higher Education System and what it causes families and individuals to be pushed to do.
Worth the watch, something I would be able to recommend to someone, but it isn't something I'd choose to watch again. -
Stoshie22 November 2018By which I mean formulaic and predictable. Those reviewers who saw moral lessons shown here are deluding themselves. This is just meant for pure mindless entertainment, with a few hot girls thrown in. I would think by now people would know how these movies are structured, and not look for any deep lessons in them, or great film making.
Speaking of which, it baffles me as to how anyone can give any of these Lifetime moves a "10" rating. That mean they are as good as anything Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and a dozen other directors I could name have produced? Give me a break.
Oh, and another Lifetime move, "Sugar Babies" has much the same theme, only with college girls, not high school girls, and not babysitters. But overall, the same premise. That's another Lifetime standby; use the same plots over and over again, changing some details to make them look different. But hey, look at the number of movies they churn out every year. There is no time for the writers to be very original, so they have a checklist of plot points to use in each movie.
I gave this 6 stars. That might be generous. -
kosmasp11 February 2017Well not really, at least not explicitly shown on screen. But yeah there is a lot of suggested and off screen affairs going on. Because this was made for TV (and not HBO TV with all the freedoms), you won't see too much, but then again that's not why the movie does not deliver on all ends and promises.
It's more because the story does not have that much to give. Yeah so the main actress has some money issues, but who doesn't? And then we have the whole affair with ethics and what you are allowed to do and where you cross the line. It doesn't seem to affect people that much, until almost the very end. Very predictable, very tame and very boring overall. Pretty people though -
fluffset18 September 2015I don't know if this movie is a remake of 2007 movie, "The Babysitters" starring John Leguizmo & Katherine Waterston or not because they never said so, they just said its a movie with the same premise. So, the premise is really similar, about a bunch of high school girl who work as a babysitter, job doesn't paid well so they just turned to prostitution, the oldest job ever. The only different is this TV movie is more sexier, prettier and hotter. Who cant resist Spencer Locke and Lauren York? One of the reviewer said that this movie is purposeful made to show off this hot girl, hot girl sells right? And I can say its more easy and light to absorb than the movie one. I check the real story, yeah its bad and the worst thing that can happen to our family so I don't think this movie can deliver some moral advice to the audience. I like it, its fun to watch but its just some fun rebellious hot teen movie. No hard feeling.
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professorjeffreypbrown10 August 2020After i realized what the film was going for, i turned it off. And after awhile, under-age sex for dads hits too close to the national crisis of under-age sex slaves. Just gross
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phd_travel4 March 2015Although they learn their lesson in the end, there is a slightly exploitative quality to this Lifetime movie about high school girls getting paid for sex (instead of babysitting) in order to pay for college. The squealing and parading around is a bit annoying and everyone is a bit too pretty. Feels kind of satisfying when they get busted.
Spencer Locke from 'Resident Evil' plays a good girl who can't pay for college after her parents have to use her college fund so a kind father of the kids she is babysitting gives her money for sex. Ryan McPartlin plays against type as the lecherous father. At first it's a bit hard to see him as predatory after his goody role in 'Chuck' but he's alright here.
There have been a few of these high school hookers stories done on TV so it's nothing terribly new but okay for some mindless entertainment. -
NuttyBaby24 February 2024This film started off okay and almost made me think it was about the money issues with the family and getting into the right college. Along comes the father of the kids the main character babysits for, then he offers her a shoulder to cry on, then he manipulates her into getting a place at a much more better college if she helps. Soon she becomes his bed partner, while her school chums are sleeping with rich men for nice money.
The whole thing was very disgusting. These are kids being used by older men. Sadly, it was the schoolgirls who were punished and not the actual abusers. Not only that but the film makers wanted to turn this into a fantasy by putting on a handsome dad, who doesn't even look like the average man in real life, to play the predatory sleaze who blackmailed the young girl. This was to remove any horrible from the film. If he was played by an ugly balding fat older man, that would've been more realistic and yet they wanted to make it nice. -
lavatch11 March 2021"Babysitter's Black Book" was evidently based on a true story about four enterprising high school students who started a group called "Family Buddies." The team of four young women swapped babysitting duties to earn extra money in preparation for college. Then, one member of the group decided to diversify, turning it into a lucrative call girl operation.
"Family Buddies" was initially Ashley's idea. But it was Rachel whose brilliant idea it was to start pulling tricks. Gilli was the member who refused to participate. But Ashley and Janet went along with Rachel's plan. Inevitably, the truth came out with disastrous consequences for all parties.
In the main subplot, Ashley links up with Mark while serving as babysitter to his children. Mark makes promises of paying Ashley's tuition at Pressman College in return for a long-term "arrangement." Ashley backs out of the deal when Mark becomes jealous and controlling.
Ashley also has a rival at school named Harper, who is competing for admittance to Pressman. After Ashley is accepted and Harper is wait-listed, Harper retaliates by blowing the cover of the Family Buddies operation.
It was surprising that Rachel was given jail time, while Mark was let off with a slap on the wrist. But apparently the filmmakers were attempting to be faithful to the true story. They also sympathetically portrayed the plight of gifted high school students for whom too much pressure was placed on gaining admittance to elite universities.
In the final analysis, Ashley attended community college, and her future actually looks brighter than if she had been accepted at the over-hyped Pressman. Having learned from her mistake, she now has some decent values in her life and a clear direction for the future. -
What made this film so good was the ramifications resulting from everyone's behavior. Here, we are basically talking about decent people whose lives were subsequently ruined by the bad decisions they made.
It just tells you how high college tuition must be for girls to first start a business of babysitting and then be lured into prostitution for the big money. The guys are no better. Family men, lawyers et al who saw this as an opportunity to fulfill lost sexual desires that they had in their marriages.
Yes, we see the partying, the laughing and all that occurs within our typical high school, but we see much more. We see the eventual discovery and lives torn apart by what has happened. -
hoops-534362 May 2021Decent story....easy on the eyes.....scenery alone rates it a 10.