'Flowers in the Attic' (2014).

I've always wondered why someone didn't remake 'Flowers in the Attic' properly, the 80s movie version felt so outdated and it left out some of the biggest twists from the popular novel. But this new tv version... well, let's say it could have been a lot better.

I was excited about the cast, Ellen Burstyn is a magnificent actress whose performance in 'Requiem for a Dream' remains one of my favourites, but here she wasn't on point. The grandmother is supposed to be really mean and evil in the book but in this adaptation she was kinda soft in comparison. Which was a huge let down because Burstyn could have done so much better (not that it was her fault but the direction they gave her). Heather Graham was simply ok and Kiernan Shipka more of the same, no stellar performances here. It felt like if everything was low budget, no extra efforts were being made and it felt all so cheap.

(Spoilers)
As for the plot, yes, they included the incest between brother and sister but they romanticised it way too much. The first time they had a sexual encounter it was rape, Chris forced his sister and she eventually let him do what he had to do, but didn't agree to that. I'm guessing that was way too much for the network to show, but if you're going to adapt something twisted like this novel, do it right. Another key element was the reveal of the doughnuts towards the end. Halfway through the book you know that the grandmother is powdering them each day with what it seems sugar but it's really arsenic, and more importantly, later it's their mother doing that as well, so revealing that at the end, without the anticipation of knowing that the kids are eating them and getting sick day by day, was also a mistake in the adaptation.

Other important things were left out as well, and it makes me wonder if the news of adapting the sequel 'Petals in the Wind' is a good idea but i have to admit i will watch it no matter what. That second book was flawless as well, and while it's less twisted, maybe this time they will do it right. Still, one can dream of a 'Flowers in the Attic' movie version directed by Sofia Coppola (as the book is one of her favourites) which would include everything but oh well, we'll always have the novel to re-read and still get twisted by all the darkness it contains.

sources: tilty