"Sea Change" Lifetime's greatest missed opportunity! 7 out of 10 ⭐

 

Great Teen Fantasy Flick!

Short review:

This movie is a guilty pleasure. I give it 7 (out of 10) stars within its genre (teen, fantasy, TV movie). It's about a teen girl who never knew her mother, and after her father dies suddenly, she is thrust back into her mother's life. Her mother lives on an island, and there are strange things going on, bizarre divisions among the island folk. She begins to realize her father kept her from this world, and from her mother, because of the dangers that lurk from certain people, and maybe even from herself. There are mystifying things (beings?), beneath the ocean waves, but are they friend or foe? I don't want to give too much away. I will say that I have never read the book this is based on, but I liked it well enough that I might now. Also, everyone's main complaint (mine too) is that the ending is left open ended, so that a sequel can be made. I think this needs to be made into a TV series. There are so many great characters in this movie, that a TV series could run on for many seasons. I hope they listen to their fans, and create more!

If you like teen fantasy/horror, then you'll probably like this.

Longer Review:

WHAT WORKS:

*GREAT ATMOSPHERIC  The setting is FAN-TAS-TIC! If you're a fan of atmospherics, give this a chance, it would have been a great supernatural teen drama. Mad props to the location scouts for finding the exact right places to set the stage, for this engaging story.

*EXCELLENT PACING There's never a time in this movie I was bored, or wished things would hurry along. The story was laid out in just the right way, always leaving the viewer wanting more. Great pacing and story development from Liz Sczudlo and Adam Giaudrone.

*PERFECT CASTING Kudos to David Rapaport for perfect casting! Everyone here is just as they should be, excellent!

*BEAUTIFUL FILMING I can storyboard almost the whole movie through gorgeous stills, and that my friends, is the mark of great filmmaking. This is a beautiful watch, even if you're not into the story. If you like to see how low budget, doesn't have to mean low quality, this is it! Kudos Chris Grismer (director) and Jackson Parrell (director of photography)

Skyler Maxon as Leo

*LEO'S COMEBACK'S are classics! His incisive and sardonic retorts to the "Heirs," are hilarious, and he replies with a straight face, giving them more weight.

BOBBY: "No, I asked for the hot, slutty McLeod," 

LEO: "Ask and you shall receive."

WHAT DOESN'T WORK:

*THE FREAKING CLIFFHANGER ENDING, WITH NO SERIES!!!! What were you people thinking?! This had all the makings of a great supernatural teen drama, like the first few seasons of Legacies. Why oh why didn't this continue into a series?! Someone really should get fired over letting this one go!

*ALL THE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS really piss me off  (and everyone else too, according to the other reviews). Greg will keep my baby safe? Is Miranda a half breed? What is going on here? BUT WE'LL NEVER KNOW, BECAUSE SOME DUMBA** EXECUTIVE DIDN'T PICK IT UP INTO A SERIES! DAMN IT!

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION:

*This is a fantastic made-for-tv, paranormal, teen scream. If you like mystical creatures, island life, magical stories, nyads, or imaginary universes (think Legacies for the first few seasons), you'll probably like this. The only problem? It was clear this was supposed to be a pilot for a TV show, and for whatever reason, nothing came of it. It will piss you off, simply because of the cliffhanger ending, but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying the rest of the movie. It's a sad, missed opportunity, because I would have loved to watch this along side Legacies and Supernatural. WTH LIFETIME?!

For all the info about the movie you could ever want, including images, videos, actor/actress, check out The Lifetime Movies Wiki's Sea Change page (full disclosure: I'm the admin & creator of the wiki)