Rivals

Rivals (2000)

Genres - Drama  |   Sub-Genres - True Crime  |   Run Time - 120 min.  |   Countries - Canada, United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Mark Deming

Most girls would be thrilled to discover the most popular boy in school is attracted to them, but it leads to danger for one teenager in this thriller. Laurie Show (Jennifer Finnigan) is a teenager who moves with her mother Hazel (Mary-Margaret Humes) to a small town in Pennsylvania after her parents split up. Laurie finds it easy to make friends with her new classmates, but while covering the junior prom for the school's yearbook, Laurie discovers that Butch Yunkin (Rel Hunt), a popular boy who has been elected prom king, is especially fond of her. However, this seems to bring out mixed feelings in Michelle Lambert (Marnette Patterson), Butch's girlfriend, who is quite proud of her status as half of the school's most popular couple; Michelle seems to go out of her way to make friends with Laurie, but she occasionally betrays her jealousy over the fact Butch is attracted to Laurie. One night at a party, Butch begins flirting with Laurie, but after he kisses her, she actively protests his further advances; he responds by raping her. Michelle walks in as Butch is attacking Laurie, and immediately blames Laurie for seducing Butch. Michelle's version of the story soon sweeps though the school, and Laurie is widely considered a tramp who has tried to steal Butch away from the girl who loves him. Laurie's reputation is ruined, but this is hardly enough for Michelle, whose twisted obsession with destroying Laurie soon escalates into violence. Sally Jessy Raphael served as executive producer for this made-for-cable drama, which was inspired by actual events.