'Cyberbully' Film Review

Although not based on a true story, Cyberbully is unfortunately based on a very true topic. Cyberbully is the story of Taylor Hillridge (Emily Osment), a teenage girl who falls victim to online bullying, and the cost it takes on her and her family. Taylor is a pretty 17-year-old high school student with an over protecting mother (Kelly Rowan). When her mum gives her a laptop for her birthday, Taylor is excited by the idea of going online without her mother always looking over her shoulder. However, Taylor soon finds herself the victim of betrayal and bullying while social networking, and afraid to face her peers at school, including her best friend Samantha Caldone (Kay Panabaker), she is pushed to a breaking point. Taylor’s mum decides to take on the school and state in order to make sure others don’t go through the same ordeal as her daughter.

In this role Emily Osment if far from her witty comedic acting in Disney Channel’s ‘Hannah Montana’ she plays a serious role and one with raw emotion and I think she carried the film amazingly. At some points she had me in tears (and I’m not a crier) and at other points I was so enthralled that I was screaming at the TV for her not to be doing something.  Kay Panabaker plays Taylor Hillridge’s best friend; Panabaker also shows off her amazing acting ability and, without trying to spoil anything, when the ‘twist’ happened I had to pause the TV just to compose myself from the shock. The whole cast is great and each one brings something different to the film.

The Story is good and although there is some stereotyping amongst the characters (A group of mean girls is suspected to be behind the bullying, and some victims include a gay teen and overweight girl), there are also a few twists in the plot that leave us shocked and surprised. Cyberbully is not a film that you can sit and predict what’s going to happen the whole way through, but it is a film that has you gripped from the very beginning.

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Ellie X