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Lifetime Review: 'High School Lover'

James Franco must save his daughter from an obsessed actor in this decent enough drama.

By Trevor WellsPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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Lifetime's recent release and the subject of my last review, Stalked by a Reality Star, drew comparisons in my mind to another film in Lifetime's repertoire, so I decided, "Why not give that one a review as well?" Released in 2017, High School Lover drew in viewers with the appearance of James Franco, who made a splash on the channel the previous year with the network's remake of Lifetime classic Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? While Franco was sadly relegated to a minor role in his first trip to Lifetime, he appears in a much larger role for High School Lover.

Franco plays Rick Winters, a director who has recently begun dating again and has two daughters in Kelley (Paulina Singer) and Rachel (Ashley Aufderheide). Kelley, along with her friends Allison and Larry, sneak into a Hollywood party one night, where the three teens cross paths with actor Christian Booth (François Arnaud). Handsome and charismatic, the shy Kelley is more than surprised when Christian seems to take an interest in her. Initially, despite a few bumps due to Christian's celebrity status and Kelley's attempts to keep her relationship with Christian a secret, Kelley finds herself charmed by Christian and likewise.

But soon, as Rick finds out about his daughter's affair and attempts to keep her away from Christian, things go from fairy tale to nightmare. Christian begins stalking Kelley and harassing her friends. He attempts to sabotage Rick's work in retaliation. And in a nice little touch up from the usual stalker movie format, Rick's girlfriend Samantha (Julia Jones) is shown to have past ties with Christian that intensifies things for the Winters—and shows just how far Christian will go to have Kelley for himself.

Overall, High School Lover was your average Lifetime film. It's the standard "young woman meets charming man who turns into an obsessed stalker" flick, with likable protagonists going up against an entertaining villain. François Arnaud is convincing as both the crazed stalker and the dashing celebrity who initially charms Kelley. Kelley, despite her initial brattiness, is an accurate portrayal of a star-struck teen getting her first taste of (what she believes to be) romance, and her behavior takes a 180 upon learning what Christian is truly like. Her friends are similarly portrayed, and their unfortunately brief subplot about having a three-way tryst with Christian's bisexual friend is a fairly progressive move on Lifetime's part that I personally hope to see more of.

James Franco, as most reading probably won't be surprised to hear, also gives a genuine performance, effortlessly portraying a concerned father who, when the time comes for it, is willing to fight to protect his family. Julia Jones is also sympathetic and likable as his girlfriend, with there being moments where her struggle to connect to Kelley and dissuade her apprehensive attitude toward her father dating again.

But for all of the acting talent within it, High School Lover doesn't offer anything new for its cast to work with. As mentioned before, the film's basic plot is a standard one in Lifetime's library, and it's done with little deviation from the basic formula. Most Lifetime movies that follow an often tread format find ways to breathe new life into its' material to keep the audience entertained, but High School Lover fails to do that in a substantial way. Apart from a well-shot and genuinely suspenseful climax, High School Lover follows the formula set for Lifetime's stalker films in a dry, paint-by-numbers fashion.

In a nutshell, High School Lover was a good movie that could've been much better had more thought been put into how to spice up its' well-worn plot. But great characters, acting, and a well paced story keep the movie from being a chore to sit through. It's a good movie to watch over a lazy Sunday, but nothing that you'll dedicate multiple viewings to.

Score: 6 out of 10 gossip magazines.

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About the Creator

Trevor Wells

Aspiring writer and film lover: Lifetime, Hallmark, indie, and anything else that strikes my interest. He/him.

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Twitter: @TrevorWells98

Instagram: @trevorwells_16

Email: [email protected]

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