Your mother has gone crazy and tried to kill you, you’re starting a new prep school and everyone knows about your mom. What could be worse? If you’re Molly Hartley, turning 18.
In The Haunting Of Molly Hartley That’s exactly what‘s going on. Molly (Haley Bennett – Marley and Me) is living in fear of her mother (Marin Hinkle – Two and a Half Men) who is locked away in a sanitarium, not that that fact comforts Molly, who keeps seeing her mom in moments of stress and in her dreams. Her dad (Jake Weber – Dawn of the Dead 2004, Medium) is as supportive as he can, but Molly’s panic attacks leave him skeptical.
School goes as expected, the new friend Alexis (Shanna Collins – Swingtown) is an outcast due to her religious fervor, Leah (Shannon Marie Woodward – The Riches) is the bad influence and a little to rough around the edges to be popular. Joe (Chase Crawford – Gossip Girl) is the boy everyone wants to be and wants as theirs, and Suzie (Annalynne McCord – 90210) is the jealous ex-girlfriend. Dr. Emerson (Nina Siemaszko – The West Wing) is the well intentioned but ineffective school counselor. But all is not as it seems for this cast, and especially Molly. Her 18th birthday is approaching and some people have a special present for her.
The Haunting Of Molly Hartley falls into the cotton candy syndrome, it’s enjoyable while you have it but when it’s gone you want more. This flick left me wanting more plot details, or less and let my imagination run rampant, more intrigue and less stereotypical friends. The only twist was dad’s role in the events and even that was confusing in the end. The flow of the movie was good, but at the end all I could think was “What just happened, and why did it happen that way?”
On a positive note, the majority of the cast gave outstanding performances, most notably Shanna Collins as Alexis the religious outcast who is completely comfortable with her situation.
This is not the worst movie I‘ve seen, but it could have been so much better. It’s worth watching if for nothing else than to see the up and comers.
ComicsOnline givesThe Haunting Of Molly Hartley 2 stars out of 5.
