After being severely bullied in middle school, and going through EXACTLY what those girls put Vanessa through, this movie definitely hits home. Here are the basics- Acting; yes, in some parts, the acting could use a little work. Mostly from the kids at school, rarely from Emily, and occasionally from Stacey's mother. But I believe that Vanessa and her mother portrayed the emotions that would be there in this scenario. During the movie, I wasn't thinking "hmm, where else have I seen this actress?" or even "alright, I could've read that line better", I was thinking "wow, she is going through such a hard time".The plot; some other reviewers have stated that the bullying was TOO harsh. Unfortunately, they are wrong. All of this bullying may not happen to someone all at once, but this kind of stuff DOES happen, and it can make high school a living h*ll. Others have also said that her reactions to everything and her relationship towards Stacey is unrealistic. Knowing from experience, I believe that Vanessa was under a deep state of depression and her view on her life caused her to make not-so-good choices, like taking the pills and cutting her hair. I also think that her desire to still be friends with Stacey was not abnormal. Her low self esteem gave her a false hope that she was still friends with Stacey.Overall, it was a great movie and i suggest it for anyone who has a teenager, or is a teenager. This movie helped me face the bullies and learn that I am special, no matter what anyone says!

This movie tells a true message of how high school life is. Straight and to the point, people who think things like "Oh, that could never happen to me" will think differently after they see how the movie conveys it's hard but important lesson. The brutality of girls in high school are finally shown to everyone, and their horrible bullying and harassing pushes one lone girl into a great spiral of depression and misery. When you see how ruthless the girls in the movie are, you'll wonder how things like this really happen in the real world. And you'll see, in the end, how the girl who has suffered so much learns one of the most important lessons of her life.And it also makes me grateful that stuff like this doesn't tend to happen to guys as much. Like one of my favorite quotes from the movies says: "Girls are brutal. They hurt each others' feelings and tear each other to bits over the smallest things. Guys smack each other, and then go get a beer."

This is no ordinary movie it deals with real life situations, hence it being on lifetime. In all, this movie brought me to a deeper understanding on the teenage life sequence and teaches you who your real friends are.It begins on an ordinary day at school, Vanessa played by Alexa Vega hangs with her 'friends' Stacy and Nikki. The beginning defines the whole movie; people are on their cell phones and the internet, spreading whatever rumor they could for their own amusement. We are then introduced to Tony, a potential love interest for Vanessa, involved in a fight, the girls are seen as popular as Stacy calls Tony out to talk to him, but he only shows interest in Vanessa.This movie deals with jealousy, popularity and control, and Nikki wanted to take control and push Vanessa out of the picture; Vanessa was good at soccer, a straight A student and even got the guy, Nikki obviously felt threatened. Fifteen minutes into the show and already you would be hooked.Vanessa is your ideal school sweetheart and can be very gullible at times, obviously if you believe someone to be your best friend would you tell them all of your secrets, Stacy used that to her advantage to bring Vanessa down. I think subconsciously Stacy had it out for Vanessa until her moral kicked it. This movie shows you how truly mean girls can be.Soon enough, Tony, remember the guy whom liked Vanessa, asked her out, after Stacy asked her to put in a good word for her. That was when they began to turn on Stacy and where Nikki saw it as an opportunity to bring her down *hmmm what are friends for right*. That was the first time the word 'slot' in reference to Vanessa was made. Nikki began her tantrums and pretty soon Vanessa was eating lunch at what was seen as the loser table, and Tony no longer spoke to her anymore. Still Vanessa thought that maybe she had said something or done something to offend Stacy, hence making the disturbing situation her fault, finding means to justify her 'best friends' actions. What I like about this entire plot is that all the characters are kept realistic, even though Vanessa still holds on to hope that maybe Stacy has a justified reason for being mean, no friend should have a justified reason for calling you names and condoning it for the entire school's benefit, but how could a best friend hurt you so deeply, easy, they are not your best friend or even a friend at all.Vanessa's true friend, Emily, was right in front of her the entire time, but she was labeled as being an outcast and even Vanessa saw that as being uncool even when she was uncool. Still, the people saw as her friends continued to betray her and threat as if she were nothing at all.Soon enough Vanessa went from being a high school sweetheart to having a broken heart. What was upsetting was still she confronted Stacy, hoping that if she caught her alone, things might be different, and Stacy pretended, lied, manipulated and deceived her again, her justification; it was probably pay back time for Vanessa for stealing a boyfriend that wasn't hers to begin with, or it was probably because she 'could' hurt Vanessa. The teasing continued and what broke Vanessa into pieces was that she still trusted her 'friend' but it crushed her when Stacy knowingly invited Vanessa to a party she knew no one would go to. Vanessa's mother was very moving as well. This movie also shows the value of parenting and what a parent would do for their child.What amazed me was the fact that Stacy felt bad for Vanessa and she still continued to bring her down, even when she was on the ground, she just mashed her some more. Vanessa also gave the school a lot more to talk about when she cut her hair and Over Dosed in her bathroom.The Internet and cell phones that were shown in the beginning were being used against Vanessa. Horrible emails, messages and video manipulations was being distributed across the school base. Why? All because she got good grades and was genuinely a good person. Wow that just shocked me, it made me realize how teenage cruel girls can be to others. I even asked the question, did Nikki feel like the better person even after every thing had gone as planned? Because it seemed like she planned this scheme from the start.After Vanessa Over Dosed, the only person that came to visit her was Emily the same 'outcast' mentioned earlier. she gave Vanessa the hope she needed to survive another day in school until graduation. Vanessa's pride was not crushed enough, at least not in Nikki's mind. After Vanessa returned to school, she began to trust Stacy again and even the apology she gave was not as heart felt, she was automatically returned to 'best friend' status. They spoke to each other online and Stacy's idea of a sweet laugh-off was to send it to Nikki, she took the next leap to embarrass Vanessa one last time on graduation day. Nikki read the email out for the entire school in front of Vanessa, and this time she did not run away crying, she faced her main opponent, Stacy.The end was sweat, but I did not get that feeling of relief, it showed the step's in Stacy reclaiming her life with her true friend by her side, but it ended too soon. They spent the entire movie demeaning Vanessa, but took the last few minutes to uplift her and it wasn't that satisfactory. I would still recommend this movie to anyone willing to watch this kind of true life story, you would not be disappointed.

I watched this film and was reminded of junior high/high school for myself and nearly every other woman that I know. I would be surprised to find that any woman has not been a part of the bullying process (either giving or receiving, and usually both). This movie was well done in that it shows how cruel young girls can really be, and hopefully shows real life teens how to deal (and how NOT to deal) with this situation.I did have some nitpicks with the film - I thought the mother's role was a bit too "hands on" and I didn't like how the movie tried to be about her even moreso than her daughter in some places. I also thought the Emily character was a bit out of place - I didn't buy any of her lines or actions.