Lifetime airs disturbing drama Flowers in the Attic

MANILA, Philippines - At the outset, Flowers in the Attic unfolds as another presumably syrupy take on the all-American fairytale. The Dollanganger family lives in ’50s suburbia, and is on the verge of an even better life as the patriarch Christopher (Chad Willett) has just been promoted to head the sales efforts of the “entire East Coast.” Naturally, wife Corrine (Heather Graham), along with kids Cathy (Kiernan Shipka), Chris Jr. (Mason Dye) and twins Cory (Maxwell Kovach) and Carrie (Ava Telek) are ecstatic. Everything just sounds, well, perfect.

“We are perfect,” declares Corrine — big words that soon prove to be harbingers of sorrow. Things start on a downward spiral with the tragic death of Christopher due to a car accident, and the sun simply blinks out of view on this American family. This is where things start to get creepy — and I mean creepy.

Based on the novel of the same title by late American novelist Virginia “VC” Andrews, Flowers in the Attic has now been reworked into a movie for the second time via Lifetime. Megged by Deborah Chow, this latest interpretation also stars Academy Award winner Ellen Burstyn as her mother, Olivia Foxworth. It’s US cable’s most watched original movie since 2012, according to Lifetime Asia — and this is unsurprising due to the controversial matters dealt with in the film.

Graham’s wide-eyed acting suggests something else is afoot when Corrine smiles at her kids and tells them everything will be okay after their father’s demise. There’s a surreal Stepford Wives feel of foreboding as she takes the kids to the Foxworth mansion — which might as well be haunted.

But there are more terrifying phantoms within the walls — dirty secrets, physical and emotional pain aplenty. It is here where we first meet Grandma Foxworth — an individual obviously full of bitterness, anger and resentment. Instead of love and adoration for her grandchildren, she eyes them suspiciously and says: “Well, look what the cat dragged in.”

Shortly thereafter, scabs are picked at, and the wounds bleed profusely on the otherwise perfect complexion of our protagonists. We wonder why the grandmother despises her daughter thus, and why the kids are kept behind locked doors in the huge house. Sadly, the four kids are left to their own devices, with a full attic substituting for the inviting outdoors.

There are underlying abominations at play here, and they gradually reveal themselves with the puzzling way Corrine deals with her kids. Additionally, Grandma Foxworth is full of spite and consternation, and never warms to the children despite their efforts.

“I just hope there’s no hidden defect or affliction. I didn’t agree to run a circus here,” she warns Corrine, and addresses the kids: “God sees everything. God sees what evil you do behind my back.”

The days stretch into weeks, months, and years. The kids remain locked in the room and the now-famous attic — hidden from the view and awareness of their ailing grandfather. But Corrine’s myriad of explanations on why Chris, Cathy and the twins have to stay locked up in the house starts to crumble in concert with her reasons for not seeing them for long periods of time.

The quartet’s prolonged confinement predictably makes them grow closer as a micro family unit without parents. Inevitably, Chris and Corrine then hit the confusing throes of puberty without proper guidance and sans outside socialization — cooped up in a Petri dish not of their machination. What happens next? You can figure this out for yourself, because I don’t want to spoil the discovery.

Ultimately, we learn that it’s not the kids who are the “abominations” but the choices of the adults around them. Mom and grandmother, motivated by various demons, consequently make life a living hell for the wards that they should be taking good care of and showering with love and affection. Left to their own devices, where else can confused and persecuted kids turn to?

The first installment in Andrews’ five-part Dollanganger Series, Flowers in the Attic will soon be followed by Petals on the Wind.

As Cathy says at the end of Flowers: “Someday, we’d see mom again, and we’d look her straight in the eye — the children she once loved — and all our shame and hopelessness would become hers.”

(Flowers in the Attic airs on Lifetime on the following dates: Tonight at 11; tomorrow, Aug. 16, 10 p.m.; and Aug. 21, 11 p.m.)