Evergreen MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +1 1/2 Content: -1 1/2

Kate (Cara Seymour) and her teenage daughter, Henri (Addie Land), have a history of moving from one miserable situation to another. Now they are forced to move in with Kates mother in a rundown shack outside of Seattle. Henri attracts the attention of Chat (Noah Fleiss), a boy from a well-to-do family. When he invites her to his house to study with him, his parents, Frank and Susan Turley (Bruce Davison and Mary Kay Place), make her feel welcome. While Chat has a car, his own room, cash in his wallet and a respectable family, Henri and her mother sleep on a broken-down sofa under a leaky roof. Its no wonder she becomes obsessed with the Turleys and rebels against Kate. Its not long, however, before the bitter teenager discovers that things are not as perfect as they seem in the Turley household.

Written and directed by newcomer Enid Zentelis, this honest, independent film about family relationships, love, dignity and class division will not attract a wide audience, but its subject matter could be used for discussion groups. Henri learns that Kates poverty doesnt mean shes a poor mother. When she realizes Henri is slipping away, Kate fights back, making it clear that Henri means everything to her. Chats social status doesnt guarantee happiness hes just as lonely as Henri. With all of the trimmings of luxury, his mother has psychological problems that alienate her husband who turns to alcohol and gambling. Chat tries to seduce Henri on her first visit to his house, telling her that if they dont have sex, it could make him sick. Later, in a fit of frustration, Henri becomes the aggressor, and the two have sex, completely covered and without passion or affection. Bad language also mars the dialog. Explicit sexual conversation between Henri and Chat plus the sex scene contribute to Previews negative rating of Evergreen.

Preview Reviewer: Mary Draughon
Distributor: Evergreen Films