In 2012, Skylar Neese was murdered by two of her friends; in 2014, her story was murdered by Hollywood. Some films are so bad they are good; this one is so bad it gives Below Utopia a run for its money.
My ongoing prayer that Lexi Ainsworth won't make me look stupid by making my prediction of an Oscar for her within a decade or so just took a slight hit, but through no fault of her own. The fate of her character in the film appears a metaphor for the actress's true opinion of the material. Given absolutely atrocious writing, and a nearly-as-atrocious supporting cast, she did her best to save it, but the patient died anyway. In this film, Lexi is like the slow kid stuck at the doorbell after her friends rang it and ran way, leaving her to account for the sins of her peers.
Sara Cowan (Lexi), Jade (Brittany Underwood), and new-girl Ashley (Tiina Ivle) form the titular clique, with one meeting the titular fate. The unattractive Ivlev chews the scenery as if she'd smoked six joints on an empty stomach on her way to an all-you-can-eat buffet. Her impact on the film is that of a nuclear weapon. The exceptionally hot Brittany Underwood reveals that she is a much stronger television actress who comes much more into her own with a long-term role. Her take on Jade seems to be that of "submissive lesbian stoner." As Sara, Lexi mails it in, but does so with first-class postage for a script she could easily have performed in her sleep. The best she could give is what she gave: an absence of even minor mistakes. Having seen both Underwood and Lexi on soaps for years, I know what each are capable of. The emotional range she displayed in the scene she turned in on GH when Mac killed Warren could have won film awards. With compelling material, and a competent cast, she'll shine, but this film has neither.
Ideally, a world-class actress should be able to sit and wait for that killer script, but in the real world the bills have to be paid, and films like this have their place in the profitable true-crime niche, where the confines of the story tend to suffocate an actor's ability to take over a film. Rarely has this been made more apparent to me than here.
