Seeds of Yesterday

The fourth and (if the Lifetime network passes on the prequel Garden of Shadows) final chapter in the made-for-TV adaptations of gothic horror author V.C. Andrews's Flowers in the Attic series, this 2015 movie jumps ahead more than a decade to follow the lives of loving—read: incestuous—siblings Cathy and Chris (Rachael Carpani and Jason Lewis, reprising their roles from If There Be Thorns) and their now-adult children. Although mentally tainted by his traumatic experiences in Thorns, the debonair Bart (eye-candy James Maslow of the Nickelodeon former boy band Big Time Rush) is brittle, cold, and calculating. Not above bringing up his parents' embarrassing “little secret” to win every argument, Bart bides his time at his rebuilt mansion (a replica of the torturous Foxworth Hall where Cathy and Chris were trapped in Flowers) while waiting for his inheritance to come to fruition. Bring on the melodrama: talented danseur son Jory (Anthony Konechny) is all set to perform a ballet for Bart's birthday but is rendered paraplegic by an “accident”; Bart steals Jory's pregnant wife (Leah Gibson); trampy adopted sister Cindy (Sammi Hanratty) pushes everyone's buttons; and someone turns to violence. Creepy sex, over-the-top confrontations, and stilted acting ensue. But the author's fans will enjoy. Recommended. (J. Williams-Wood)