Spoilers. Lots of spoilers. I'm sorry, but I liked this movie. Yes, I guessed who the murderer was, but throughout the whole thing, I was hoping I was wrong, as she seemed so nice. Well, like the others have said, the heroine is Carly. It starts out with five girls, Rose, Patty, Carly,Abby, and...rats, I forget the last girl's name, maybe because she's hardly in it...let's just call her so obviously not the killer. They are putting their darkest secrets and fears in a time capsule, to be dug up in 10 years. Rose never seemed to understand that point, because she seals her envelope with "the kiss of death", saying it should never see the light of day. Obviously not the killer isn't much better, saying she's glad to be saying goodbye to those memories. Is no one hearing Abby when she makes them all swear to come back in ten years to dig it up? Now, the actual idea of this capsule is a bad idea, sure, but it's also a very teenage girl thing to do, so they can be forgiven for it.
Later, they are at Rose's fancy house throwing a graduation party. There is drinking, there are no parents. Abby is started to act off. The poor girl dies from alcohol poisoning.
Fast forward ten years later. Carly talks Patty, who is now her BFF instead of Abby, because, well, she's dead, into going to their ten year reunion. They've apparently been invited ahead of everyone to Rose's parents house, which I think is now her and Chase's house. It seems Patty and Carly have stayed friends, and Rose and obviously not the killer have stayed friends, but all for of them haven't been together in a long time. Patty is now a lawyer, Carly a freelance photographer, Rose a teacher, and obviously not the killer is a politician's unhappy wife...which technically isn't a job. They meet up with the boys of the group, Chase, who is now Rose's husband, and Shane, who was Abby's boyfriend when she died. They're happy for like five minutes, and then gloomy gus Carly feels the need to remind everyone that not all of the old gang is here. She's never gotten over Abby's death. People feel that now is the time to break it to her that Abby didn't die of alcohol poisoning, she died of a drug overdose that was mixed into her drink. Only Carly sees a problem with this, because a)Abby didn't do drugs, and b)in my own personal opinion, the class valedictorian would know better than to spike her drink with a bunch of pills.
Carly is quick to conclude that one of them murdered Abby. It's a leap, I know, but lifetime has to get to the main story line quickly, for some reason. Which is what i'm now going to try to do. Here goes...
Carly finds documents Rose's dad drew up that stated the fake cause of Abby's death, and someone in a gardening mask thing is stalking outside and looks in her window. She then finds a cd Abby left her in the back of a picture frame. Abby says in it she doubts she's there with them, because she has read the secrets, and think they all have reason to want her dead. Now, she says it so calmly, my guess is she doesn't think they literally want her dead...we all know she was mistaken. Anyway, after advising them to leave the secrets buried, she says if anyone wants to still read them, she's left clues to make it like a scavenger hunt, cos why not? Maybe she's hoping everyone will be over it by now. Everyone just wants to forget about it except Carly, but when she keeps finding clues, they can't help but act a little excited and want to read them, and tell Carly what they mean, as the clues are personal.
The masked person comes back, attacks her in the kitchen, then knocks Shane out when they are in Abby's barn at her house looking for the 2nd key left for Carly to open the box, and steals the clue she finds instead. Chase is called...oh yeah, he's a cop. Obviously not the killer is missing, and Patty very much wants to leave, telling Carly things are getting to dangerous. Chase tells her obviously not the killer called and said she decided to go to her husband's event after all. Carly wants to stay, and so does Chase, as his wife has worked very hard on this reunion.
During the reunion, Chase is quite drunk, and is confrontational with Carly. Abby used to date him, and he claims she was only with Shane to get back at him, but that she still loved him. When Carly says that's impossible, Shane tells her Abby wasn't perfect, and to stop putting her on a pedestal. Carly tells Patty she wants to go home. Patty is a little too relieved. They get in the car, and Carly wants to stop by Abby's grave first and put flowers there. She does, then she swings by her mom's grave to do the same. Innthe flower holder, she find a not from Abby and the 2nd key. Abby mentions she did something unforgivable to Shane, which automatically makes him suspect in Carly's mind. Again, Patty seems too eager to agree. Shane has followed them, and they drive off after accusing him. They go back to the house to get their stuff. While Patty is in the house, Carly is trying to call obviously not the killer, and is told she never showed up. She then finds a shovel with blood on it. She and Rose dig up what they fear is Rose, but find the box instead. Oh, earlier we saw someone hit obviously not the killer with the shovel, and rebuying the box, instead of destroying it, or getting it off the property. Not a very smart killer.
Shane shows up, they freak, they find obviously not the killer's body in the well, freak some more, and Rose hits Shane over the head. Patty gets chase's gun, (where the heck is he, anyway) and puts it on Rose, saying she found the gardeners thing in her car, and something else incriminating, I forget what. Rose insists Carly is framing her (why?) but goes with them and sits down outside while they wait for the cops(again, where is the cop she's married to?!) Carly opens the box with her key, and reads Abby's. She cheated on Shane with Chase, but was planning to make it up to them by staying in the horrid town, and letting Rose and Chase be together. She also intended to flunk her test so she wouldn't be valedictorian, and Patty would (Patty looks too horrified at this). Carly makes Rose read obviously not the killer's one. She apparently got pregnant during a one night stand, and Rose took her to get an abortion, which was botched, and she possibly couldn't have anymore kids, which seemed to be true. Carly reads Rose's. She knew about the affair, and even though she could just kill the both of them, she plans to get even by tricking Chase into marrying her, I forget how (seriously, where is that boy?) patty insists Rose had the motive the kill Abby, she also insists that hers and Carly's secrets no longer matter. Carly finally wises up, and disagrees, reading Patty's. It says she hates Abby. She asked her as a friend to fail her test, because she was poor, and had no other way to get out of that town and not be like her mother without the scholarship. Patty tries to pass it off as blowing off steam, and there were no issues, but Carly doesn't believe her, and moves to stand by Rose.
Okay, she this next part, i'll admit, is over the top, like the other reviewers have said, but come on; no one is calmly going to explain why they killed two people, especially when they've been trying to cover it up this whole time, and keep her bff from finding out. So, Patty loses it. She starts ranting. She also says she killed obviously not the killer because she's found the clue she'd stolen, and had uncovered the box. She gets angry at Carly for not believing her, when she didn't hurt her in those attacks, and went to the trouble of framing Rose for the murders, and she picks up the gun lying on the table that nobody thought to get away from her before this. Shane comes to, and she shoots him. The girls run to a car.
Okay, this is the only part that I didn't care for. It's beyond unrealistic. I usually don't mind unrealistic in a movie, but this was ridiculous. Patty shoots at the car, and it lights on fire. The girls start to get out, but Rose's seatbelt (in this kind of situation, forget putting on the seatbelt!) gets stuck. After a couple of feeble attempts to get it unstuck, she tells Carly to just leave her. I wouldn't have done that. Death by burning is horrible, my worst fear, and I would ask her if she had something sharp on her, attempt to squeeze out of it, heck try biting through it, anything to get out. Well, she doesn't and the car blows up, so at least it was quick. Carly calls the cops on the phone Rose gave her, (ok, is the cop husband dead, and they didn't bother telling us?)
Patty, thinking both girls died, stands over Shane's body, giving his leg a kick to make sure he's dead, (like that'll really make him perk up and say, nope, not dead yet, Patty!) she then begins cleaning up, when Carly reveals that she isn't dead while holding hedge clippers. She then declares just how pissed off she is by saying 'you've killed everyone i ever loved'. Patty tries to fire the gun, saying she just determined not to lose what she's worked so hard to gain, the things they've all taken for granted because they're rich, but the gun is out of bullets. Cue dear in headlights look, which was quite effective, and cue the 'oh, you're so dead,' look, also very effective.
After a little chase, Patty grabs the shovel, and she looks confident again. But confidence ain't gonna beat that look of death, sweetheart! They argue as they fight, which I have mixed feelings about. On the one hand, it seems out of place, but on the other, i'd want to know why my bff would do this to her friends too. The clippers get knocked out of her hands, and land conveniently blade up in the grass. We all know what's going to happen, but personally, I don't care; it's so time for this rhymes with witch to get what's coming to her. Patty losses the tug of war, and lands on the clippers, cue rather gory death. Turns out Shane is alive, they have a little moment. I love lmn!
Review of 10 Year Reunion
