Petals on the Wind (2014)

Amateur movie with Big budget

A Disappointing Continuation

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

it is the first impression. and the last. because, after the story from the first part, the expectations are not little. but the choice of director is far to be inspired or clear. the best solution seems be a kind of soap opera, few beautiful actors with a not too large chance to do more than decent work, with a sketch of revenge not real credible, with crumbs of stories and good intentions. and that is all. the result seems be an improvisation. not thriller, not drama. only a story without chances to give memories. confuse, unrealistic, a collection of crumbs who reminds another stories but only in delicate manner. it is not a bad film; only a disappointment for the public of the first part. because the story is interesting and the possibilities to use it many.

After watching LIfetime's attempt at the second novel to screen, it seems as if they are improving...Since I read petals on the wind first, it is my favorite book of the series, mostly because Cathy is brilliant at her revenge plotting against her mother! Unfortunately the movie doesn't pay enough homage to characters like Paul Sheffield but thats alright since we get to see Heather graham portray Corrine exquisitely! She has now proved to be the right choice to play this character, she was wicked and charming and nutty in all the right proportions! Nash and McIver were wonderful, their creepy chemistry was enthralling to say the least. I didn't enjoy the addition of Sarah too much but it was a wonder to see the adoration and torture in the eyes of Christopher for his love of Cathy. Julion was disappointing but entertaining nonetheless. Carrie's character though short lived was done quite well even though her death didn't really tug at my emotional strings.In conclusion I think that Nash, McIver and Graham were a delight and they are the main reason that I gave this movie a 7. I am intrigued to see how they will bring Jory and Bart's outlook to the screen in If There Be Thorns...

This is so morbid. It is so depressing. After the prequel, "Flowers in the Attic," the author should have stopped there.Everything is depicted as being so negative here. Lust, incestuous relationship between brother and daughter, cruelty abounds and one tragic sequence after another. Even at the end, when things look like they have resolved themselves, one begins to wonder what else is new.After all, we have witnessed a brother and sister in love, the youngest sister taunted by classmates and locked in a closet. Anyone notice how quickly that issue was resolved? The latter about to marry a minister but finding rejection once again by her mother commits suicide. This drives the oldest sister to plot revenge by getting involved with the mother's new husband and becoming pregnant from him. If that isn't enough, the oldest daughter enters into an abusive relationship with a ballet dancer who also went after the younger sister.Not missing are illegitimate children. Where is the morality in this wayward writing?

It's 1970 ten years after the attic. The siblings Cathy (Rose McIver), Christopher (Wyatt Nash), and Carrie Dollanganger (Bailey Buntain) escaped to a better life with Dr. Paul Sheffield. Corrine (Heather Graham) has married Bart Winslow (Dylan Bruce) who still doesn't know the existence of her children. Olivia Foxworth (Ellen Burstyn) is bedridden and is at the mercy of Corrine. Cathy and Christopher are still attracted to each other. Cathy is dancing ballet and runs to possessive abusive fellow dancer Julian Marquet (Will Kemp). Christopher has sweet Sarah Reeves (Whitney Hoy), the daughter of his mentor. Meanwhile Carrie is getting picked on at the private school and desperately wants parental guidance. Cathy has a son with Julian but he's killed in a car crash. Minister Alex Conroy (Ross Philips) proposes to Carrie but she has great doubts about herself. Carrie invites Corrine to her wedding but she rejects her. Carrie can't take it any more and eats a rat poison donut just like her twin brother. That's the bullet points for the first half.As with most novel adaptation, it is difficult to boil everything down and come up with a flowing story. This TV movie feels abrupt and jarring. It hits on the bullet points and has very little connective tissue to tie everything together. The actors are very capable led by Rose McIver. She carries most of this well. Wyatt Nash is not as compelling and comes off as wooden. Heather Graham has a lessened role and Ellen Burstyn has even less to do. Burstyn is reduced to a few scenes in bed with heavy makeup. As a TV movie, it's reasonable but not that great.