Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
After the sudden death of their father, four children face cruel treatment from their ruthless grandmother.
This Lifetime TV adaptation of V.C. Andrews' gothic novel benefits from a reasonably faithful rendition of the source material's dark, melodramatic plot, but the execution is hampered by uneven acting and flat TV-movie production values. The cinematography is serviceable but unremarkable for the medium. The story itself retains its inherently transgressive and lurid appeal, but the adaptation adds little new to differentiate it from the 1987 theatrical version or the novel. The ending delivers enough dramatic payoff to satisfy fans of the book, though it feels rushed and somewhat anticlimactic.