Parent and child relationships through those difficult teenage years (and as they blossom through to adulthood) can be an awkward time and confrontational period for both parents and their children and sometimes one or both parties choose not to ask or answer the obvious and/or difficult question(s) about the child(s) relationship with their first boyfriend/girlfriend. In this case a young teenage girl named Sarah Collins (Matreya Scarrwener) develops a crush on an aggressive boy named Rob Tennison (Callan Potter) and when the opportunity to be away from their parents at a cottage is accepted both teenagers agree to have sex for the first time.
The story of the abusive relationship of the boyfriend/girlfriend who then wants to control his girlfriend's/boyfriend's every move happens time and time again. I am sure most of us can recall in our past lives a similar physical/mental abuse case that either ourselves, a family member, and/or a close friend experienced with their significant other. I myself recall back in the 1980's when a friend of mine who had a 20 something aged son who broke up with his girlfriend only to find that her son was responsible for spying on his ex-girlfriend as she slept with a new boyfriend and when the new boyfriend departed after his overnight fling, my friend's son went into his ex-girlfriend's house, murdered her out of rage and jealousy and stuffed her body into her parents freezer in the basement. He served a deserved life term in prison as a result of this enormous error in judgement . This young man's parents were kind and caring parents, and the son was polite but people do strange things and some of us react in a manner most of us would never think to do.
In the case of Rob Tennison who first physically abused his girlfriend Sarah and then later culminating by cowardly murdering his young teenage girlfriend who he felt he was losing "control over" allowed for early enough warning signs in their young relationship that should have, or could have been caught, by her friends and/or her own mother. I guess the message this film tries to resonate is "If you see something, SAY something"
More importantly there are thousands if not millions of wives/husbands who have stayed in a long term physical and/or emotional abusive relationship that they just cannot seem to get out of. Don't be another statistic in another abusive relationship that may lead to murder or even permanent damage. If you, your friend and/or a family member are involved (or know someone else who is involved) in a mental or physical abusive relationship then contact the appropriate authorities and STOP any further abuse before it is too late.
The acting in this made for TV film is very well done, and the story evolves as unfortunately expected. I hope many people take the time to watch this film and I would go as far as to suggest it may make for a good school curriculum in students preparing written papers that can be evaluated and graded by professionals to assist in determining those early signs of abuse before it is too late for both potential victims as well as their perpetrators who could get the early professional help that they so desperately need.
I give this educational and eye opening film a deserved 7 out of 10 IMDB rating.
