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Perfect Sisters

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Perfect Sisters
Theatrical release poster
Directed byStanley M. Brooks
Screenplay byFab Filippo
Adam Till
Based onThe Class Project: How to Kill a Mother
by Bob Mitchell
Produced byJuliette Hagopian
Damian Ganczewski
Starring
CinematographyStéphanie Weber Biron
Edited byRobin Katz
Music byCarmen Rizzo
Production
company
Julijette
Distributed byGravitas Ventures
Release dates
  • April 11, 2014 (2014-04-11) (Canada; limited release)[1]
Running time
98 minutes[2]
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Perfect Sisters (released in the United Kingdom as Deadly Sisters)[3] is a 2014 Canadian crime drama film directed by Stanley M. Brooks. It stars Abigail Breslin and Georgie Henley. The film was released on April 11, 2014, and was based on the novel The Class Project: How to Kill a Mother, which itself was based on the real-life murder of Linda Andersen.

Plot

Sandra Andersen, her younger sister by one year, Elizabeth (aka "Beth"), and their younger brother, seven-year-old, Robert "Bobby", live with their alcoholic 44-year-old mother Linda. Linda, every now and again, has boyfriends who are usually abusive towards her and her children, both physically and psychologically.

Sandra now is a senior in high school and Beth is a junior, and they cannot take Linda and her alcoholism. They plot to kill their mother, and plan to live with their friends after they kill her because they will get their mother's life insurance money. They tell their friends Justin and Ashley to make reservations at their favorite restaurant while Sandra and Beth get Linda intoxicated, drug her and later drown her in their apartment bathtub. Once they do all of this, Sandra feels guilty while Beth feels excited. Beth then convinces her that everything is going to be better with their mother dead.

The two are sent to live with their aunt, and Bobby is sent to live with their long-lost estranged father. No one suspects that Sandra and Beth have anything to do with their mother's death, as everyone just thinks that she drowned in her bathtub while being drunk and on drugs. Sandra and Beth begin to get popular at school after telling their friends that they killed their mother, and no one at school even thinks about reporting them.

An older friend of Sandra's begins to believe that Sandra and Beth had something to do with it after Sandra tells him that their mother's death might not have been an accident. He goes to the police and they tell him to wear a wire, pick Sandra up and see if he can find out more about the incident. After she tells him the truth, Sandra and Beth get interviewed by police and Beth remains calm while Sandra has a meltdown. When the police find all the evidence to prove that Sandra and Beth killed Linda, the two get sentenced to ten years in prison and can have no contact with one another.

Cast

  • Abigail Breslin as Sandra Andersen and Rachael Henley as young Sandra: the elder sister, who lies to her classmates claiming promiscuity.
  • Georgie Henley as Elizabeth "Beth" Andersen and Laura Henley as young Beth: The younger sister. She is a beautiful gothic, she dyed her hair black, and acts dark and broody.
  • Mira Sorvino as Linda Andersen: The alcoholic mother of Sandra, Beth, and Bobby. She typically dates men who are alcoholics like herself, who are often abusive towards her and her children.
  • James Russo as Steve Bowman: The abusive, alcoholic, boyfriend of Linda.
  • Rusty Schwimmer as Aunt Martha: Linda's rich elder sister.
  • Zoë Belkin as Ashley: Sandra's popular best friend.
  • Jeffrey Ballard as Justin Ross: Beth's boyfriend.
  • Jonathan Malen as David: Sandra’s childhood friend
  • Stephan James as Donny: Sandra's love interest
  • Zak Santiago as Detective Santiago Gates
  • Spencer Breslin as Cousin Derek: Sandra, Beth, and Bobby's stoner cousin and Martha's son.

Controversy

The film was scrutinized by the Toronto community for portraying the teenage murderers through a far too sympathetic lens.[4][5] Author and journalist Bob Mitchell stated, "I don't think the movie dealt with how cold-blooded and calculating they were", in an interview about the theater adaptation of his book.[6]

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 25% based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 3.86/10.[7] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 44 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "mixed or average favorable reviews".[8] Dennis Harvey of Variety criticized the film for being "ineffectual and cartoonish", and compared it unfavorably to the similarly-themed 1994 film Heavenly Creatures.[9]

References

  1. ^ Lauren Alvarez (February 11, 2014). "Abigail Breslin's 'Perfect Sisters' Gets Release Date". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  2. ^ "Perfect Sisters". Gravitas Ventures. Archived from the original on May 18, 2014. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  3. ^ "Deadly Sisters [DVD]". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  4. ^ Linda Barnard (March 11, 2014). "Perfect Sisters, based on notorious 'Bathtub Girls' case: watch the trailer". Toronto Star. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  5. ^ Natalie Paddon (April 8, 2014). "Chilling tale of the Perfect Sisters hits the big screen". Brant News. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  6. ^ Allison Jones (April 14, 2014). "Perfect Sisters based on true Canadian story". The Chronicle Herald. Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Canadian Press. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  7. ^ "Perfect Sisters (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 6, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ "Perfect Sisters Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 6, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ Dennis Harvey (April 11, 2014). "Film Review: 'Perfect Sisters'". Variety. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
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