Adolescence perdue

I had this on in the background while going about my day, but something in the dialogue made me pay closer attention. This is NOT your everyday teen fluff piece. It's dark and gritty and real. It slowly builds the story of opiate addiction from innocently getting hooked on oxy's after a painful injury, to the partying that new addicts enjoy, to the resulting reality of getting really sick from withdrawal and the search for ever stronger drugs leading to heroin use and heroin addiction. I don't want to give away anything more but if you happen to see this in your tv listings, you should definitely watch it.

First off let me get this out of the way. Drug movies are one of my favorite genres. Lifetime movies aren't always the best but when they have good story lines, good actors, and good writing they can be a good time. This is the story a teenage girl who after getting injured spirals out of control first on Rx drugs and then heroin. I am not exactly in the age range so I don't recognize any of the main actors but they all played their parts well especially Bella Thorne who played the main character. This of course is a Lifetime drug movie so don't expect any award winning material but it is on the high (no pun) end of what the network puts out and it tells a good story of a group of friends spinning out of control. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good Lifetime movie or anyone who likes a good drug movie. This is both.

This is not super deep or nuanced commentary on substance abuse--this is the classic "fall of the all-star athlete" with contemporary dress and social media in the background. It does highlight the situation of teen athletes getting on the painkillers after sports injuries, but this movie was clearly made for entertainment value and not to preach any message deeper than "careful with those Vicodin and never do heroin."

I see some reviewers seem to report strong emotional resonance from the movie.. I just didn't feel that, and it's not because I haven't lost any friends to drugs. The film's exploration of fake friends, teen partying, parents difficulty relating or understanding etc. Are all well executed, but again this is definitely a movie for TV fun--one that you can apparently construe some personal meaning from, too! I just liked it as a Lifetime movie.

At Lakewood High, lead dance troupe member Amanda (Bella Thorne) is part of the selfie obsessed generation. She dislocates her knee and is prescribed hydrocodone. Riley wants a friendly handout. She starts going out with Riley's brother Carson and soon she's pulled into Riley's drug world. She spirals out of control.

Bella Thorne works better as the mean girl. This is a scared-straight afterschool special movie of the week. It hits most of the standard drug tropes. Some are cheesier than others. It's not particularly good nor bad. I do appreciate the misdiagnosis by her mother as an eating disorder but by the end, she's a little slow. This is not breaking any new grounds. It travels very familiar roads.

I love this movie because it has the balls to show the real side of addiction. I cried because the acting felt so real. Yes, MOST all LM are the same but few hit home like this one did. As a former addict to pain pills I wish someone would have sat me down and MADE me watch this movie. I think this would be good movie for teens asking about peer pressure and drugs.