Although Poison Ivy does not maintain much tension before approaching its last scenes and sacrifices some of its runtime for awkward erotic scenes between Drew Barrymore and Tom Skerrit, this movie is still pleasant to watch. It just has a mysterious atmosphere and makes the viewer feel surrounded by a certain calmness and nostalgia (even when you see the movie for the first time). The soundtrack also helps set this mood. Barrymore's personality at this time is very well reflected in her role as Ivy and the same could probably be said about Sara Gilbert in her role as Sylvie. This makes it feel as if it is two real friends with different personalities interacting, instead of just actors.
The audience is confronted with the question of whether rooting for Ivy to get through with her plans is the right thing to do or not, and in the end, there is no definite answer. Sure, Ivy is highly manipulative and does not seem to really care about Sylvie unless it is for personal gain but she also seems misunderstood, fundamentally lonely and merely looking for a place to belong to.
