New Best Friend

Synopsis

Meredith Monroe is the rich girl who’s been breezing through life. Mia Kirshner is the poor girl for whom life is a struggle. Thrown together for a sociology project, they find that each has something the other needs, and dangerous wheels are set in motion. All of this is recounted in flashback, as Sheriff Taye Diggs (looking a bit young for the role) investigates the cause of Kirshner’s near-fatal drug overdose.

Audio

Good, crisp sound, with decent surround for bo…h the music and sound effects. Music takes pride of place here, with the effects good when present, but this isn’t a total immersion experience. Still, a solid effort.

Video

You’ve got your choice of formats here: fullscreen and 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The flesh tones are a bit on the pale side, but otherwise the colours and contrasts are very nice, with verdant greens (for instance) on the campus.

Special Features

The menu is scored on the main page, but is otherwise basic. As for extras: trailers for New Best Friend, Not Another Teen Movie, Cruel Intentions, The Sweetest Thing, Enough, and The New Guy; filmographies for director Zoe Clarke-Williams, Kirshner, Diggs, Monroe and Dominique Swain; and commentary by Clarke-Williams. The director is, by her own admission, only a few years older than the characters, which creates an interesting connection. Though she gives us a lot of nuts-and-bolts information, she allows herself to wander off onto other topics (such as the effect of filming in what appears to have been a haunted brothel).

Closing Thoughts

New Best Friend, Cruel Intentions and their ilk invite further study of the developments of this type of thriller. Is it just me, or are we seeing the kind of web-of-deceit thriller become the province of young casts?

Special Features List

• Theatrical Trailers
• Director’s Commentary
• Cast and Director Filmographies