Everyone seems to have that formidable childhood memory of going through your parents’ bookcase, looking for something new and interesting to read. And then you see it. Flowers in the Attic.
This could presumably be an innocent title for children’s eyes, but once you get to reading, you uncover a world of dark secrets, unlawful imprisonment, and — yes — incest. Wait, this wasn’t one of your core childhood memories? Never mind, moving right along.
V.C. Andrews was a gothic writer of the ‘70s who wrote a series of books about the Dollanganger family that has become even more popular due to a book ban push. Gothic is the right word because, in addition to dark family secrets, there is a large estate at stake and a brutal villain terrorizing young children. Whether you read it or not, Andrews made an imprint on a generation, which resulted in a flurry of adaptations. The first came in 1987, starring Louise Fletcher as the sadistic grandmother. There were no follow-ups until the Dollanganger Saga for Lifetime in 2014 that you absolutely must watch in order.
Flowers in the Attic
The story that started it all, Flowers In the Attic begins with a personal tragedy. After growing up in a loving home, four siblings are heartbroken when their father dies in a car accident. Oldest siblings are played by Sabrina enthusiast, Kiernan Shipka, and Mason Dye as Cathy and Chris respectively. After the event, their mother, Corrine (Heather Graham), brings them to live with their grandmother, Olivia, (Ellen Burstyn) in the illustrious estate of Foxworth Hall. But Olivia is anything but accepting. Soon, they get locked away in the attic and discover the dark family secrets that have followed them.
Their deceased father, Christopher (Chad Willett), was in reality their mother’s paternal uncle. After falling in love, they ran away and had four children, including Chris Jr. and Cathy. At first, it appears that their grandmother has locked them away from their mother. But as Chris and Cathy grow closer, they learn that their mother has agreed to the terms. If her children, products of incest, waste away, she will get the family inheritance. In a family melodrama of the highest proportions, Chris and Cathy fight to escape while giving into their carnal desires for each other.
Petals On the Wind
Petals On the Wind takes place a decade following the harrowing events of Flowers In the Attic. After learning that Corrine was poisoning her children to get her inheritance, Chris (Wyatt Nash) and Cathy (Rose McIver) escape with their surviving sibling, Carrie (Bailey De Young), to freedom. But that isn’t the end of their torment. Chris and Cathy still harbor feelings for each other that started in the attic, though they try to move on and live normal lives.
Trauma follows them, however. Even in adulthood, Chris and Cathy can’t reconnect with their mother. She disavows them, leading Carrie to end her own life with poison. This is the same method that killed her twin when they were still in the attic. Vowing revenge, Cathay seduces Bart (Dylan Bruce), her mother’s new husband. She reveals her mother’s crimes publicly, leading Corrine to mentally fall apart. She kills her mother by setting Foxworth Hall on fire and when Bart tries to save the old woman, he dies in the flames. After Corrine becomes institutionalized, Chris and Cathy move to California to begin a new life together.
If There Be Thorns
As long as Corrine is alive, it seems Cathy (Rachael Carpani) and Chris (Jason Lewis) will never know peace. Living together, they raise two sons together as a married couple. The oldest, Jory (Jedidiah Goodacre), is from one of Cathy’s previous relationships while Bart (Mason Cook) is — you guessed it — the product of Cathy’s union with her stepfather. The secrets of the family’s incest are being kept under wraps until Corrine moves in next door. She starts manipulating young Bart with the intent of raising him as her own.
Upon learning that his parents are siblings, Bart becomes mentally unstable. He reads the journal of his great-grandfather, Malcolm, which contains religious fanaticism about the evilness of the female gender. While ultimately Corrine makes amends with her children, the events of the film portends the dark designs of the final chapter.
Seeds of Yesterday
In the final chapter of The Dollangager Saga, an adult Bart (James Maslow) continues to inch toward madness. Set 13 years following the previous film, he continues to fixate on Foxworth Hall and his deceased great-grandfather. Estranged from his parents, he becomes sexually obsessed with his pregnant sister-in-law, Melodie (Leah Gibson), who becomes devastated when Bart’s brother, Jory (Anthony Konechny), is paralyzed. Bart uses this opportunity to seduce her. Melodie is only the first of several conquests Bart pursues, clearly only interested in satisfying his specific lustful urges. Only after Chris dies from being struck by a car does Bart realize the error of his ways.
Ultimately, time is a flat circle in The Dollangager Saga. Chris Jr. dies in the same way that Chris Sr. did, leaving Cathy a devastated reminder of the tragedy of her family. Though her children end up surviving the abuses of the Dollangager family, Cathy ends up in the series a sad victim who essentially dies of a broken heart.