Jane – Movie Review
Director: Sabrina Jaglom
Writer: Sabrina Jaglom, Rishi Rajani (Screenplay)
Cast
- Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale)
- Melissa Leo (Prisoners)
- Kerri Medders (The Runner)
- Chloe Bailey (Last Holiday)
- Nina Bloomgarden (Fatherhood)
Plot: Olivia is a young woman who gets deferred from her dream college and experiences frightening panic attacks. In an attempt to regain some sense of control, she embarks on a social media-fuelled rampage against those that stand in her way.
Runtime: 1 Hour 23 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Jane starts as Olivia (Petsch) has returned to school after her best friend’s suicide. She is back on focusing on her dream college Stanford, however, she finds herself deferred. Olivia reconnects with another one of her friends Izzy (Bailey) as they deal with their college preparations.
When Olivia and Izzy discover a laptop still connected to Jane’s account. They start using it to get what they want moving people who have been blocking their dreams. Olivia starts to become obsessed with using her friend’s profile, using social media to fuel her rampage.
Verdict on Jane
Characters
Olivia lost one of her best friends before her senior year. She is trying to put her life back on track, by attending Stanford. Olivia finds her place deferred and worries about her future. Along with her other best friend, she finds a laptop logged in as their best friend. Olivia being angry at her rejection decides to use the account to get her revenge on the people who got in her way. This sees her starting to question her own sense of reality putting her future at a bigger risk.
Izzy is the other best friend that rebuilds their relationship after what happened. She does get into Stanford and joins Olivia in creating the pranks on the social media page. Izzy is happy to join in the prank side of everything, but once things spiral out of control, she wants nothing to do with it.
In the supporting characters, we get to meet different classmates and teachers that could cause problems for Olivia. Even if some are offering to advise her through the college application process.
Performances
Madelaine Petsch is brilliant in the self-centred leading role in the movie. She shows the young woman that would risk everything to get exactly what she wants in her life. Chloe Bailey as the best friend is great too, even if her character tends to fall into a supportive and concerned best friend. The whole cast is good throughout the film, as we see how the lives unfold.
Story
The story follows an ambitious high school student preparing her college application in the aftermath of her best friend’s suicide. However, when her plan doesn’t come together, she sets out on a dangerous path to get everything she wants.
The best way to describe this movie would be a social media vision of Election. As it follows the same path as one high school student that will do anything to get their demanded future. It doesn’t matter how many people they step over to get there too. There is a social media discussion to be had with the story, however not enough focus is placed on that.
The story gets to place a lot on seeing how social media can ruin lives in an instant. One of the biggest examples is how the student treat one of their teachers. There is a warning about the subject matter, which is important because any movie that tackles the aftermath of suicide is important.
Where to Watch: Jane is available in Digital on the 13th of February.
Final Thoughts – Jane is an excellent look at the dangers of social media as a weapon.
