La Rentrée de la honte

I wasn't sure what to expect with another sorority movie from Lifetime. Seems like they've been cranking out a lot of them these days. But this one was surprisingly refreshing with some very talented unknowns who won't be for long! Lucy/Miranda actress Taylor Hanks was especially good.

Don't know why I keep watching these kinds of films. Always have a good storyline, but always end up being painfully predictable and badly, badly acted. I'll give this one a few extra marks as the ending was a bit of a surprise. There was kind of a double twist. But all in all, it wasn't very good.

It had great potential but very predictable right from the get go. I kept thinking it was far too obvious and hoped there would be some other twist at the end, but no. It ended exactly as I expected it to.

Overall was still an enjoyable and easy little thriller to watch though. I thought from the opening scene it was going to be bad acting because the actors are playing themselves in the past as students and they looked really old, it didn't really work. But when it moved on to the present day afterwards, they did a good job. A little over dramatic in places with some over the top and random freak outs. But if you can put that aside, the rest of it worked and flowed well.

Not the best of its kind, but definitely not the worst either. But then I quite enjoy the budget thrillers. Perfect to watch of an afternoon while you're doing the ironing. You don't need to pay too much attention to keep up.

This film begins in 1997 with two friends named "Michelle" (Kristi Murdock) and "Kelly" (Holly Tatem) enrolling at a university and trying to join a sorority together. Unfortunately, during the initiation, Kelly consumes too much alcohol and accidentally falls down the stairs, leading to her death. The scene then shifts to 22 years later, with Michelle now a professor at that same university, feeling quite conflicted about her rebellious daughter "Quinn" (Kate Edmonds), who is now considering pledging to that same sorority. However, the issue is that Michelle isn't the only one with strong feelings about Quinn joining this sorority, as it soon transpires that there is a mysterious stranger who intends to punish everyone involved in that event 22 years ago. Now, rather than reveal any more, let me just say that this was one of those made-for-television movies that relied heavily on the element of mystery for its appeal--and it succeeded to a certain extent. Unfortunately, the plot was somewhat unrealistic, and the film lacked the necessary suspense for a production of this nature. At least, that is how it seemed to me. Be that as it may, while I don't consider this to be a bad film necessarily, the faults I just mentioned prevent me from rating it any higher than I have. Slightly below average.

...than most Lifetime movies. But not by much.

Other reviewers here talk about the "double twist" ending. But please, if you didn't know immediately who sent the threatening letters to the moms, you haven't been paying attention to the Lifetime movie formulas. And you apparently didn't know one of the primary rules of all movies (and mystery books, for that matter), which is that the bad guy is never someone who is not already known to us. It's also not the character that is made to look guilty right away. That would be too easy, and not lend any supposed mystery to the story.

As soon as I saw the first letter, I knew who sent it. To me, it was painfully obvious. It could only have been that one person. For that matter, it was pretty much evident as soon as the person was introduced. There was no reason for that character to be in the film except to fulfill that role. Later on, the identity of that person is made even more obvious when another secret about the dead girl is revealed.

Even the final twist wasn't totally unexpected; it was apparent something was up there all along (I'm purposely trying to be vague here because I don't like writing reviews with spoilers).

So, the movie gets 5 stars for being a little bit better than most of these movies. But the usual quick, easy ending spoiled it, keeping it from getting a higher score from me. As did the identity of the bad guy being telegraphed about a half hour into the movie, if not earlier.