Penniless after the death of her husband, Corrine Dollanganger (Heather Graham) and her four children—teenagers Chris Jr. (Mason Dye) and Cathy (Kiernan Shipka) and 5-year-old twins Cory (Maxwell Kovach) and Carrie (Ava Telek)—are forced to move back with her estranged parents, Malcolm (Beau Daniels) and Olivia (Ellen Burstyn), in their palatial mansion. However, the children are immediately shut up in a bedroom just below the attic and forbidden to leave the room, play outside, or do anything that would alert their grandfather, or anyone else, to their existence. Meanwhile, Corrine is working hard to win back her father's love and regain her inheritance ...regardless of the lengths she might have to take.
Flowers in the Attic is a remake of a 1987 film, also titled Flowers in the Attic (1987), both of which are based on first novel, also titled Flowers in the Attic (1979) in the five novel Dollanganger series by American novelist Cleo Virginia "V.C." Andrews. The novel was adapted for this film by screenwriter Kayla Alpert. The movie was followed by two sequels: Petals on the Wind (2014) (2014) and If There Be Thorns (2015) (2015).
It's explained early in the movie that Corrine married her half-uncle Chris Sr (Chad Willett), younger half brother to her father Malcolm, and so Malcolm views her marriage as unholy incest and her stepmother Olivia sees her four children as abominations. Chris Sr. was only three years older than Corrine.
Besides Flowers in the Attic (1979), there are Petals on the Wind (1980), If There Be Thorns (1981), Seeds of Yesterday (1984), and Garden of Shadows (1986).
The carvings in the table read "Jonathan age 11 1864" and "Adelaide age 9 1896." This alerts Cathy to the fact that they weren't the first children in the attic. In the book, it's explained that there was a separate school room in the attic, and the children who carved their names were little Foxworth children who were taught by private tutors.
Just after the whipping, Corrine told Chris, "It's just a willow switching. My pride hurts more than my back." Apparently, the switching raised only red welts that were healed at the time of the party months later.
The book provides the answer to that question. After the tarring, Christopher found a small red mark on Cathy's arm, and they assumed that the Grandmother sneaked into the room late at night and drugged her with morphine. Cathy later has a nightmare where she smells tar and feels a hot sensation in her hair. She then wakes up to find what the Grandmother had done. Those who haven't read the book have also suggested that Olivia could have put something in their food the night before. That would explain why none of the other children were awakened.
Viewers mostly assume that Cathy cut Chris' hair as well as Cory's. In the book, there is a scene where Chris is feeling grumpy and frustrated and Cathy says a haircut will make him feel more manly. She takes careful time and effort to give him a haircut, and they are both surprised by how well it turns out. Chris is grateful and marvels that Cathy has made him look "like a blond Prince Valiant".
While rummaging through Corrine's bedroom looking for money and jewelry, Cathy sees a photo of her father along with Corrine's locket and Cathy's ring lying in the top drawer of her dresser. Cathy took her ring back at that time.
Remember that Olivia was Corrine's stepmother by her marriage to Malcolm. Even in "community property" states, where money earned and items purchased during the marriage belong equally to both spouses, there is usually a provision that states property owned before or inherited by one spouse is considered separate property. Because Malcolm inherited his fortune from his father Garland, Corrine would be considered Malcom's legal heir.
Because Malcolm added a codicil to his will stating basically that, if it was ever discovered Corrine had children during her marriage to Christopher, she would lose the inheritance, plus she would have to pay back any money already spent. It also stated that she was forbidden from having children during her second marriage to Bart or she would also lose everything.
Realizing that Corrine and Bart have moved out of Foxworth Hall and that their mother never means for them to leave the attic, Chris sneaks downstairs to find money and jewelry, anything valuable so that he, Cathy, and Carrie can escape. Olivia hears him in the hallway and bursts into their room demanding that he give her the key. Chris tosses the key to Cathy and tells her and Carrie to go up to the attic. Olivia tries to follow them but, when Chris closes the attic door and turns off the light, leaving Olivia alone on the stairs, she has a panic attack and begins yelling for help. Cathy reminds her that God sees everything and that she will be punished for what she did to them and to Cory. Olivia reveals that it was Corrine who was poisoning them, but the kids are beyond caring anymore. Chris tosses the rope out the attic window, and the three of them climb down to the ground. As they're running away, they are spotted by the butler who tries to stop them, but when Cathy tells him that they are Corrine's children, he lets them go and even offers to turn off the electric fence so that they can get out and head for the train station. Later, while sitting on the train bound for Florida, Cathy says in a voiceover, And for the first time in a long time, we felt alive...free. We had everything ahead of us. But someday, we'd see Mom again, and we'd look her straight in the eye. The children she once loved and all our shame and hopelessness would become hers. In the final scene, a figure can be seen standing in the attic, looking out the window.
Olivia was claustrophobic. When Corrine brought the children a box of paints and they worried whether it would make Grandmother angry, Corrine told them, "She's claustrophobic. She won't climb the stairs." In the books, you learn about an incident when Olivia was first married to Malcolm and first brought to Foxworth Hall. While exploring, she discovers the attic and has a panic attack while up there. After that, she never returns and experiences anxiety even while climbing the stairs.
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What is the broadcast (satellite or terrestrial TV) release date of Flowers in the Attic (2014) in Australia?
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