Perfect Sisters

Sandra Anderson (Abigail Breslin) has her older sister Beth (Georgie Henley) as her best friend. Their alcoholic partying mother Linda (Mira Sorvino) moves the family once again into another lower class neighborhood. Linda loses her job and can't keep her sobriety. Her mother's boyfriend is abusive. Nobody is willing or able to help. So the sisters and their friends plan to kill the mother for the insurance money. It's loosely based on a true story in Toronto.

It's an amateurish attempt from producer turn director Stanley M. Brooks. The girls are reasonable but it doesn't rise any higher than a TV melodrama. The story gets a little bit interesting as the kids plan the murder. The dialog is pretty bland bordering on awkward with some weak narration from Breslin at the start. Another problem is the lack of interesting style from the movie. Obviously they're using Breslin's star power to sell this but she can't save this project.

Inseparable sisters, Sandra and Beth Anderson (Abigail Breslin and Georgie Henley) have had a hard life. Their mother (Mira Sorvino) is a hopeless alcoholic, dragging her kids through her world of blackouts and chronic unemployment.

Mum is a truly maddening individual, especially when it comes to her disregard for the welfare of her children, leading to violence and sexual abuse by her idiot boyfriends.

When things finally reach a breaking point, Sandra and Beth decide to take drastic, irreversible measures to remedy the situation.

PERFECT SISTERS is a mostly grim, sometimes humorous movie, loosely based on true events. It goes to great lengths to show not only their mother's outrageous behavior and inability to control / live her own life, but also the cold, heartless attitude of the sisters themselves. Their friends are equally disengaged from humanity, choosing to help with the scheme for "fun".

Picture the girls from HEAVENLY CREATURES, merged with the sisters from GINGER SNAPS, hanging out with the kids from RIVER'S EDGE, and that comes close to this film's overall atmosphere.

The ironic ending will probably pi$$ off many viewers! Others will be moved by it...

This is based on a true story and on real life people. That might raise some red flags with some. But if you don't mind that, there is quite the drama unfolding. Not easy to watch at all, but really good performances. Also not really characters in this one that you should be able to identify with much (at least not if you are stable generally speaking).

Having said, there are some horrific things happening (if you've read what it's about you already know what I'm hinting at, if not I won't tell/spoil) ... so not for the faint hearted or easily offended. But life can be hard and we are not all the same. While I would not condone many of the things happening, the structure of the movie makes it easy to understand how everything build up ...

I had such high hopes for this movie. I love Abigail Breslin so I figured this movie would be good. It was definitely NOT good but it wasn't necessarily the worst movie ever. The acting wasn't very good at all. So overly dramatic. Im not sure if it was the actress though since she is actually very talented. Maybe a bad director? The other actress was just plain bad. I don't even remember her name. I believe she was the little girl from Narnia but I'm not sure. I really liked the plot I just couldn't get pass the horrible acting. I'm giving this movie 4 stars because even though the acting was awful (except for the actress who played the mother she was excellent!) I really liked the storyline. The movie didn't feel dragged out or rushed. It was put together nicely. It's worth at least one watch. Don't think I'll ever watch it again.

The Canadian version of 'Heavenly Creatures'. The director admits he inspired by the Peter Jackson's movie. But you must know that this film was also based on the real sisters who were fed up with their irresponsible and alcoholic mother and her abusive boyfriend. So they plot to set free themselves from the messed up life as they think they deserve better.

It was supposed to be a television movie, but later it saw a limited theatrical release and a mixed response from all quarters. I liked the film, for its strong content, but the weakness lies in the first half. The beginning was a very poor quality of presentation, the next half was the reason I favoured it where it erupts while the narration nearing the conclusion.

Since no one knows the details about the real sisters, the characters were altered in the movie as the cast desired to attack few things to complete it. Both, Abigail Breslin and Georgie Henley were not bad, but it's hard to believe these child actors are all grown up. In a few years, they will be in the lead! Anyway, this film is worth a watch, especially true stories like this fascinates me. We could learn about our world and its society, what other people went through in their lives and the reason behind those stuffs.

7/10