1. I thought Grace was in college and Max was her college-aged boyfriend..... until I saw Bella. Bella appeared too young for college (clothing, the claw nails, demeanor) so I started listening and realized they were high schoolers. Grace's makeup was too much if we're supposed to believe she's a kid. Her mom asked her to not accept a marriage proposal until she was 21...I didn't get under 18 vibes, just a concerned mom not wanting her daughter moving too fast. Also given the fact that she's so obsessed with the restaurant's social media, her mom not enforcing schoolwork first also made her seem older.
2. I knew Max was a red herring. Grace was completely ignoring him at opening night and because her behavior was not targeted at just him, it was obvious that her attention was on someone else. If they wanted to trick us, she should have been ignoring everyone BUT him in a way that wouldn't reveal the (eventual) plot. If you watch enough Lifetime, you know these things. His "meltdowns" at the restaurant were so over the top given his introductory demeanor.
3. Grace is so rude. I'm 15 minutes in and I need a reason to care. I'm not buying her as a teen. They either should have gotten a younger actress or toned down her makeup. Her snapping at her mom out of nowhere was ridiculous. She's not a sympathetic kidnapp-ee. Thirty minutes in and I'm over Grace. We're supposed to believe that Max is unstable, but at the same time 1.she ignores him, 2.openly flirts with a guy, 3.doesn't break up with Max or tell anyone that she's not into him 4. She's clearly not afraid of him
4. The only reason I tuned into this movie was for the Mom. I've seen this actress as a protag and villain, and I like her. The scripts aren't always there, but she's a good actress and can carry a movie. She does a good job here. That said.... Mom couldn't see her minor daughter flirting with that guy? Unless she was an 18 yr old senior, who would leave their kid to entertain an adult at a restaurant? This isn't even a family restaurant in that way, and I don't know that the daughter is officially an employee of the restaurant.
5. Just look at who has Grace's full attention AT ALL in the movie. It's not subtle.
6. Jhey Castles is the detective in this movie and she was just in a movie I watched called Pom Pom Wars. I'd noticed in that movie how much she resembled Olivia Benson. In this movie, as the detective with short hair, she looks even more like her. That gave me a good laugh. How did the police not look under the vehicle they cordoned off in their investigation? Of course it was so that Eve could find it herself and go on her own investigation, but when movies make these choices, why involve law enforcement in the first place?
7. The villain is so in your face by the time Eve realizes it. When the scene from the beginning happens in real time (as usual on Lifetime), it's obvious the person attacking Eve is not Max. There is a bit of a twist that I didn't expect (kudos) and I can see how the villain could be motivated, but at the same time, while the exposition is going on, this could have been discovered by Grace herself. What the character explains, is something I know teens do anyway. For someone so obsessed with social media as Grace, it makes no sense. It's not a deal breaker and doesn't ruin the movie however.
It's a watchable movie, so watch and judge for yourself. The music, as per usual, is too loud and present. Music should compliment scenes like in Psycho or Jaws or Rear Window. Even in Dark Victory, Bette Davis told the director that either the music was going up the stairs or she was. The intensity of the music here is much more appropriate when the climax actually happens.
Would I watch again? Maybe not because it's hard to care about Grace. I was more worried that Bella would pay for her friend's stupidity, which reminds me that I appreciate that there's no body count in this movie. Lifetime still can't help but make non-villain men bad guys in some way, so that's annoying. This movie also shows how cringe living your life on social media is. So props for that.
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