V.C. Andrews' Dark Angel (2019) - Film Review

The sequel in the Casteel family saga continues with Dark Angel – which picks up almost immediately after the events of its prequel, as Heaven goes to Boston to stay with her maternal and wealthy relatives. As this was personally my favourite book in the series, I was personally looking forward to this adaptation. The pacing of this script flowed more naturally than “Heaven”, it didn’t feel as rushed – as these are quite lengthy books, but the little details that were missing and the inconsistencies between the book and film prequel coming into “Dark Angel” were noticeable at times. Even though Shapiro and Lacey returned as director and screenwriter, this one felt different despite the duo collaborating again. The ending also was a bit anticlimactic and I had misgivings about it being written into “Fallen Hearts” instead.

Annalise Basso reprises her role as Heaven and again she does a great job embodying the character and as this film is her character’s maturity into a young woman and the varying emotions her character goes through. Her chemistry with Jason Cermak really shone through in this production, it was good to see the build-up of their romance which made the revelation towards the end the more devastating. This arc was played particularly well and I thought both actors were perfectly cast in those roles. Again, as this book was a revenge story, I was disappointed that we didn’t get that in this film, especially considering Heaven goes down a considerably dark path – however, I am optimistic that Basso will play this storyline well in the third instalment.

The returning cast also did a great job in reprising their roles, especially Jessica Clement, Chris William Martin and Todd Thomson. Clement and Basso were absolutely superb in the scene where Heaven and Fanny reunited, they portrayed the conflicting emotions of how drastically their lives have changed in such a short space of time brilliantly. Matthew Nelson-Mahood and James Rittinger were even better because there were more layers to their scenes. I am still sceptical of the Heaven/Logan chemistry on screen, but it was much better in this production and more believable. I also liked the small scene between and Basso and Kathryn Mott’s Mrs Stonewall – the tense and two-faced politeness was played very well.

Now, I am disappointed to say this – I was not a fan of Jason Priestley’s portrayal of Tony Tatterton. In terms of acting, I thought he was the most wooden and forced performer and it just came across as unnatural. I was also confused by how the creatives chose to approach this to this character, but they made Tony creepier and more inappropriate than he was – especially in the novel counterpart of this film, Heaven and Tony clearly had a complex father/daughter dynamic and as flawed and despicable as his character is, in this story there was a clear line in their relationship. Instead of the complexity of that relationship, it crossed into inappropriate pretty much straight away. Kelly Rutherford as Heaven’s grandmother was a perfect casting, but again the character was taken in a different direction creatively. The Jillian we see in this film at the start is the Jillian we see at the end of “Dark Angel” and during “Fallen Hearts” – instead of an obnoxious and shallow perfectionist who has a dramatic breakdown when the sins of her past are revealed, Jillian is already broken and lashes out due to being so vulnerable while downing scotch. As surprised as I was by this different take on the character, Rutherford still did well.

Again, it was the little things that took me out of the story and the inconsistencies that made little to no sense – like Heaven suddenly using her mother’s surname despite being a Casteel or completely removing the ending. Although I recognised the house from Seeds of Yesterday, I was more disappointed that the cinematography did not capture any of the Gothic Horror undertones (although the lighting and cinematography was better in this one) or even using an actual maze for a crucial narrative arc – the hedge maze was just disappointing. This was a story of coming-of-age, regret and revenge and sadly the revenge part was crucial and missing.

My original rating: 3 and a half/5 STARS