Graduation is approaching at Zebulon Oaks High School, and the competition is ferocious for valedictorian. In fact, the competition is so intense that a murder has been committed of one of the likely candidates.

The drama zeroes in on one of the finest minds of the graduating seniors, that of Nicole Ward. Like other high-achieving seniors, Nicole hopes to be admitted to Westbridge University. An error in judgment early in the film culminates in lowering the grade of one of her rivals. But after Victor receives the grade of B- due to the forging of one of his exams by Nicole and her bestie Sarah Elsworth, Victor is murdered. The hunt is now on for the perpetrator who is clearly one of students angling for valedictorian.

This well-crafted film not only had suspense, dramatic tension, but also a clever twist at the end. The true strength was in a well-developed protagonist with a conscience in the character of Nicole Ward. Slowly, she began to recognize that she was no longer capable of living a lie.

Through the assistance of her loving parents, Nicole moved forward to accept responsibility for her transgressions. There was the correlative theme that mistakes have the potential for providing value in life and assisting one in the discovery of a "true path."

Stylistically, there was a nice touch on the part of the filmmakers in a lightness of tone that never approached parody, yet kept the action from becoming maudlin. In this regard, the best line in the film was spoken by the oily English teacher, Mr. Jonathan Sheppard, when he uttered plaintively, "She seduced me!!!"

While he spoke in class about the pattern of betrayal in Shakespeare's plays, Mr. Sheppard was himself guilty of betrayal of the highest order. Some of the best scenes were those that demonstrated the opposite of betrayal in the steadfast love of a child by the two devoted parents, Rick and Donna Ward. The daughter Nicole followed their lead, especially when she recognized that redemption lay in the question of conscience.

This well-written movie tries to answer that and does so with a slow-boiler plot. Olivia and Victor both are vying for valedictorian along with 2 others. Olivia discovers that Victor wants to apply to a college that her parents went to. So, Sarah, Olivia's good friend, cooks up a scheme to start eliminating the competition for Olivia but why? You will have to tune in to find out. This movie really moves along at a comfortable pace and was quite enjoyable. Highly recommended.

Horrible movie about 17 year old highschool teenagers solving murder plot. Come on please. Teenagers always smarter than the Detectives incharge of the case. Right!!! Really far from reality LMN.

Parents telling their daught you only made a mistake honey. Burglarized a school. Breaking into a locked drawn and planting a fake test. Get real LNM.