When
it comes to the publishing industry, nobody has disillusioned as many readers
as the V.C. Andrews estate. Take My Sweet
Audrina. For years, it was known as one of her few stand-alones, but she will
finally release a sequel this summer—almost thirty years after her death. Everyone
understands it wasn’t spectral writing that generated her last sixty-some
books. That’s how it goes when something works. Apparently, V.C. Andrews
television movies have also been working for Lifetime. This time, they have
adapted her number one bestseller, My
Sweet Audrina (trailer
here), which
premieres on the network this Saturday.
Believe
it or not, Audrina Adare has had a really messed up childhood. She is actually
the second Audrina Adare. The first was her late older sister, who brutally
raped and murdered in the woods outside the stately Adare manor, Whitefern.
Audrina II was named after her, and groomed to take her place. Good luck with
that baggage.
Still
grieving Audrina I, Damien and Lucietta Adare tightly control Audrina II’s
life, forbidding her to step outside by herself. She never attends school and
boys, like the obviously interested caretaker’s son Arden Lowe are absolutely
out of the question. Yet, somehow they are never around when Audrina II is
bullied by her cousin Vera, who apparently thinks she is Audrina II’s
step-sister, so she probably is, this being based on a V.C. Andrews novel. For
some reason, Vera and her mother, Lucietta’s sister Elisabeth live with them in
Whitefern. That Vera will be tough to get rid of, even after her mother takes a
tumble down the grand staircase. Indeed, it will be quite a dangerous
architectural feature of Whitefern.
Look,
at least Audrina II and Lowe are not brother and sister—that’s not even a
spoiler, per se. All things considered, the Adares are pretty healthy in
comparison to other V.C. Andrews families. Audrina II will even start to grow
up and assert herself before shocking and scandalous stuff starts happening
again.
My Sweet Audrina is laughable in
obvious ways, but it is still a fairly competent production. It is just
impossible to take this luridly purple YA hothouse tale and transform it into
the Magnificent Ambersons. Still,
there are weird distracting elements, like the wealthy Damien Adare, who will
decide to renovate Whitefern on a whim, but cannot afford a Bic razor. Also,
Vera seems to have an enchantress’s powers of seduction, but it is lost on the
screen.
On
the other hand, India Eisley, whom probably nobody in the film’s target demographic
will recognize from the anime live action remake Kite, is appropriately lovely and delicate as porcelain doll. Even
if you are snarking at the film, you will sort of feel for her.
