Annette Haywood-Carter directs Hedy Burress, Angelina Jolie and Jenny Lewis in this Joyce Carol Oates adaptation about a beautiful drifter who a group of small town girls form a gang around. 

A quite watchable teen rebellion pic with a stick of rock exciting cast; from attention grabbing freshman Jolie to old hand cult character actors filling out the parent roll call. The lesbian romance is coy but gritty, the girl gang plot line soapy (in a good way). It stumbles off into histrionic tragedy in the last act but the female empowerment message washes away the unbelievable cliffhangers / neat conclusions that hobble the finale.

5