Reviewing VC Andrews' Dawn (Part 2: "Secrets of the Morning")

You know, I found myself already enjoying this latest VC Andrews installment while I was halfway into the first film. I still say the Ruby series is the best one, though if Dawn comes out on DVD like Ruby did, well, I may be buying that as well. So there's my endorsement. Now for the brief recap.

When we last left Dawn Longchamp and the festering pile of tumors known as the Cutler family, it was quite hellish for the former. Dawn was now part of a biological family who she knew nothing about, nor did any of them really want to get to know her. Well, Phillip did, but his methods were...ugh. Anyway, Dawn learns that she was the product of mother Laura Sue's affair, and Lillian Cutler, the soulless matriarch that she is, pawned her off on the Longchamps, but Dawn, now having known everything, used the info against Lillian, which led to not only being referred to as Dawn, but also going to New York to study music.

That's where Part 2, Secrets of the Morning, takes place, in New York in 1973, where Dawn Cutler begins her musical journey. And yes, that's the full name she's using, Dawn Cutler. I guess it's a compromise, which is a long word for "surrender." Anyway, Dawn instantly becomes friends with fellow student Trisha Kramer, and when she mentioned movies, the film buff in me knew what was coming. Trisha mentioned the hit new movie, The Exorcist. Yes, 1973 was the year that the head-turning (yes, that's a pun) horror film came out, and Trisha talked about how scary it was. No need to start a new friendship on a lie, Trisha.

Of course, Dawn is under the watchful eye of Agnes Morris, who amused me when she went into Blanche DuBois mode (it's only because of The Simpsons that I know about Streetcar), but the amusement stopped when Agnes brought out that uber-strict demeanor, and even threatened to return Dawn to Lillian if she didn't comply with her rules. We also see Dawn dining with the rest of the Cutlers, coming after Trisha puts Clara Jean in her place, and we see Laura Sue being a tone-deaf Karen. My thoughts on her later, I promise.

Which brings us to this guy, Dawn's music teacher, Michael Sutton. We see Dawn and Trisha basically boast about him, and I'll be honest, when I first saw him, I thought, "He has to be Dawn's bio dad." This was after Dawn asked Laura Sue about who her father was, but Laura Sue refused to do so, so yeah, I was trying to put two and two together in that regard. It did not equal four, however, as we see Michael and Dawn actually...hook up. Squick. It results in a pregnancy as well. Even more squick. Of course, Dawn believes that all will go well for herself and Michael, and their baby, but he leaves her in the dust, because of course. Joey McIntyre played Michael Sutton in this film, and it's fitting that he's played by a boy band member because the biggest misogynistic pricks in music are the boy band guys (i.e. Timberlake and Harry Styles, to name a few). They're who racists falsely think rappers are.

Dawn's struck by a car upon last seeing Michael, and as she's hospitalized, she sees Granny Dearest herself, Lillian Cutler, who informs Dawn that she'll be out of New York and sent to this place called The Meadows, and under the "care" of Miss Emily, a backwards-thinking, misogynistic old crone who does everything in her power to browbeat Dawn and destroy her spirit, as well as cause a miscarriage, while Dawn is only left with Charlotte (a victim of Emily's "care") as a companion. She's finally rescued by Jimmy Longchamp, who we learned had joined the Army, and right before they both leave, Dawn had these beautiful parting words for Emily:

"You're gonna die one day, Emily. And I feel bad for the Devil. Imagine spending forever in Hell...with you."

My beam was brighter than it was on the day that the Colorado Avalanche reached the Cup Final last year, but karma wasn't done quite yet. Dawn and Jimmy return to the Cutler home, where Randolph reveals that his "dear" mother suffered a terrible stroke and is on her deathbed. Lillian is shocked to see Dawn, who revealed that her baby was alive out there somewhere, a girl named Christie. Her pleas for her daughter's location was only met by Lillian...well...dying. So Lillian's on her way to Hell to kick the Devil off his throne, but the insanity does not end there.

The funeral takes place, and after we see Laura Sue donning Lillian's brooch (I would say the body wasn't even cold yet, but it was never really warm in the first place), we get the reading of the wills. That is not a typo. Not only was Lillian's will read, her long deceased husband William Cutler's was read as well. The latter gave us the answer we had been waiting for: William Cutler was Dawn's father; he's the one who had the affair with Laura Sue. In addition, the addendum in William's will stated that 60% of the estate would go to Dawn, while the rest of the family will share Lillian's 40%. So Dawn is the head honcho, and after this, she gives Laura Sue a well-deserved verbal lashing.

Secrets of the Morning, Part 2 of VC Andrews' Dawn series, aired on Lifetime on July 15, 2023, and one of the reasons I was looking forward to this film was the appearance of Fran Drescher as Agnes Morris. I actually learned about these films about a month ago and beamed when I saw that Fran Drescher was in this. Ever since I saw her in one of Lifetime's holiday films, I've wanted Drescher to appear in a Lifetime thriller type, mainly as a villainess, because she'd really nail it like she does everything else. Agnes wasn't villainous, but she wasn't exactly beneficial to the protagonist either. I know this much, Agnes was quite the character, I'm quite disappointed that she didn't get more screen time. Of course, the timing of this is quite amazing. Fran Drescher is the President of the Screen Actors Guild, and the actors and writers strike has been in the news this week--with Drescher's impassioned speech gaining headlines.

And now, I must fulfill my promise.

I can't stand misogynists. I can't stand tone-deaf people. Laura Sue Cutler is both. The sickening thing about misogyny is that women are acting that way as well. That's right. Women can be anything, and that is a beautiful thing, but sadly, that anything just happens to include being immensely self-serving and disrespectful when it comes to the needs and rights of women. I've said this many times before: "The devil you know is better than the devil you don't know." Now to be fair, Dawn didn't know either Laura Sue or Lillian, but when it came to the latter, Dawn found out what Lillian was all about from jumpstreet, and Lillian never hid it. Laura Sue put on every mask she could to hide her true colors, but they all came out in spades in Part 2 of this series.

Laura Sue allowed her insane mother-in-law to basically sell her daughter to cover up the truth, and then, when the truth comes out, so do the crocodile tears. She deserves no sympathy. I think Dawn was too nice to her. For every Stanley Cup that the Canadiens have won in their history, that's how many times Laura Sue should have been slapped by Dawn. Hey, I'm actually being generous. I could have said the Yankees, and I could have said their pennants, because 40 is more than 24.

Part 2 was amazing, and from what I've seen in the promos, Part 3, Twilight's Child, will be quite delicious!

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