Genre: Drama/Thriller/Erotic
Director: Sam Levinson
Writer: Roy Horne
Based on the 1992 film
Cast: Kyle Chandler, Sydney Sweeney, Maude Apatow, Jennifer Carpenter, Emile Hirsch, Desmond Harrington, Jared Harris
Plot: Talent executive Dan Cooper (Kyle Chandler) offers to drop his daughter, Sylvia (Maude Apatow), off at school for the first day of her junior year. Dan's wife and Sylvia's mother, Georgia (Jennifer Carpenter), encourages Sylvia to accept the ride, suggesting her father just wants to spend some time with her before she's all grown up. Dan and Sylvia drive away from their modern cliff side home with views of the ocean toward the posh private school Sylvia attends. Dan tells Sylvia that he's worried about her mother and he's afraid she might try to hurt herself again. Sylvia tells her father to be more optimistic as they pull up in front of the school.
In English class, Sylvia notices a girl she's never seen before, Ivy (Sydney Sweeney). She can tell that Ivy is different than the majority of the students and doesn't appear to come from money. Ivy notices Sylvia staring at her. Sylvia quickly looks away. The teacher, Mr. Osterman (Desmond Harrington), asks Ivy to read from the syllabus. As she reads she unbuttons a button of her uniform shirt. Osterman loses his train of thought as the bell rings. At the end of the day, Sylvia walks away from the school and notices Ivy get into Osterman's car before he drives away. Ivy spots Sylvia and smiles at her.
At work, Dan's boss, Clive Henderson (Jared Harris), informs Dan that his only chance at making partner at the agency is to sign a up and coming singer, Wyatt Holmes. Clive gives Dan three backstage passes and tells him to do what it takes to sign him, hinting that if Dan can't sign a major talent not only will he never reach partner, but he could find himself without a job.
The next day, Dan drives to the school to pick Sylvia up. Ivy shows up and asks if she can get a ride. Sylvia and Dan both reluctantly agree, and Ivy hops into the front passenger seat. Ivy puts her feet up on the dashboard, revealing her legs. Dan notices this and becomes uncomfortable and asks her to please put her feet down. Dan asks Sylvia if she's ever heard of Wyatt Holmes. She becomes excited, saying he's the next big thing. Dan says he has some extra backstage passes to the show and has been tasked with wooing him over to the agency. Thinking Ivy is a new friend of Sylvia, Dan offers her the third pass to the show, which she happily accepts. As they drive to Ivy's house in a lower class L.A. neighborhood, they listen to one of Holmes' latest songs. Sylvia and Ivy sing along and dance in the car.
When Dan informs Georgia that he is taking Sylvia and her friend to a show that night for work she becomes visibly upset. She reminds Dan that her therapist thinks that they need to spend more time together to help maintain her mental health. Dan stresses how important the show is as it may be his last chance to make partner before they replace him with a younger, cheaper model.
At the show, Ivy and Sylvia dance to the musical stylings of Wyatt Holmes (Emile Hirsch) while Dan takes notes on his phone. After the show, the three head backstage. Dan gives Wyatt his pitch, but Wyatt says he isn't quite sure. Dejected, Dan thanks Wyatt for his time and gives him his business card. Ivy witnesses this and begins flirting with Wyatt. Sylvia is curious, impressed and even slightly disturbed by Ivy's ability to bend men to her will. Ivy and Wyatt head into his dressing room. Dan finds and tells Sylvia he's ready to go and asks her where Ivy is. Sylvia tells her father that she'll find Ivy and they'll meet him at the car.
After the show, Ivy spends the night at the Cooper house. Ivy and Sylvia get to know each other. Ivy talks about her rough upbringing and how she had to bust her ass in order to earn a scholarship to the private school. Sylvia tells Ivy how her mother tried to kill herself recently and now she feels like has to walk on eggshells around her mother to keep from upsetting her.
Dan is informed by Clive that Wyatt Holmes has agreed to sign with the agency. Clive also informs Dan that Holmes wants Dan to throw a party at his house to celebrate the signing. Dan is put off by the idea of throwing a party at his house, but Clive insists that it is part of the deal with Holmes, so Dan agrees. Dan calls Holmes to figure out the details for the party, and Holmes mentions Ivy's name, indicating she had something to do with the signing. When he gets home, Dan tells Sylvia to invite Ivy to the party so he can thank her for whatever she said to Holmes as she clearly made an impression on him. When Dan tells Georgia about the party, she is perturbed and says she refuses to attend as she doesn't want to get too anxious around a large group of people. Dan is annoyed but tells Georgia that she can stay upstairs and he'll keep all the festivities downstairs.
At school, Mr. Osterman pulls Ivy aside after class. He tells her that he needs to end their affair. Ivy grows angry and demands to know why. He says that if anyone were to find out he would be fired and no school would ever hire him again. She tells him that maybe he should have thought about that before. Osterman reminds Ivy that she came on to him and walks away.
Dan's party is a success. Clive commends Dan for a job well done as Holmes appears to be happy. At the end of the night, Sylvia goes to take out a bag of trash. While she is out, Ivy gives Dan a hug, which Georgia walks in on. Georgia storms back upstairs. Ivy goes up and apologizes to her, explaining that she's been having some troubles at home and Dan was just letting her vent. Georgia tells Ivy she understands as she grew up in a turbulent home as well and offers to listen to Ivy anytime she needs to vent. Ivy hugs Georgia and thanks her for listening. Dan gives Ivy a ride home after the house has been cleaned up following the party. When pull up in front of Ivy's house, Ivy climbs into Dan's lap, seducing him into having sex with her.
In the morning, Georgia looks at her phone and notices a video message from an unknown number. When she plays the video, she watches Dan and Ivy having sex in his car. She then goes into the laundry room and finds a lipstick stain on the shirt Dan wore the night before. Upset, Georgia takes an entire bottle of her anti-depressants and draws herself a bath. When the pills begin taking effect, Georgia submerges herself under the water.
Sylvia finds out at school that Mr. Osterman has been fired for allegedly sleeping with a student. Sylvia looks over to Ivy, who appears to be happy with the news. Sylvia asks Ivy if it was her, but Ivy doesn't give a direct answer to Sylvia's questions, making Sylvia suspicious of Ivy's behavior.
When Dan and Sylvia return home, they don't see Georgia anywhere and begin looking through the house for her. Sylvia finds her mother in the tub and screams for her father. Dan rushes into the bathroom and pulls Georgia out of the tub. He tries to perform CPR while Sylvia calls 9-1-1, but it's clearly too late to save her as Georgia's body is cold and blue. Police and an ambulance arrive on the scene. Dan explains to the police that his wife had previously tried to kill herself a couple months prior, but he thought she was doing better. He then breaks down crying. After the emergency workers leave, Dan notices a message on Georgia's phone of a video. He plays the video out of curiosity, and it turns out to be of Dan and Ivy having sex in his car the night before. Dan deletes the video.
After Georgia's funeral, Ivy practically moves into the Cooper house. She begins acting like a surrogate mother to Sylvia and a wife to Dan, who is too distraught to really notice the peculiarity of the situation. Ivy drugs Sylvia's drink at dinner. When Sylvia wakes up, she finds Ivy and her father having sex. Dan pushes Ivy away and gets up to follow Sylvia, but Ivy hits him over the head with a lamp, knocking him out. Ivy chases after Sylvia, who demands to know what Ivy wants. Ivy says she wants this life - the house, the cars, the pool, she wants all of it - everything Sylvia has grown up to take for granted. Sylvia asks if Ivy had anything to do with her mother's death. Ivy says that she didn't know for sure if Georgia was going to kill herself, but it turned out all she needed was a little nudge in that direction. Angered, Sylvia chases Ivy outside and tackles her into the pool. The two struggle in the pool. Dan comes to and hears the struggle. Ivy gains the upper-hand over Sylvia and begins trying to drown her. Dan dives into the pool and rescues Sylvia and pulls her out of the pool. Realizing there is no place for her in the family, Ivy tells Dan and Sylvia she loves them. She jumps over the railing and falls down the cliff side to her death.
No comments:
Post a Comment