"New Best Friend" is an interesting though somewhat retro story about young women in college that gets muddled by the filmmakers' decision to tell the story within the confines of the mystery genre. Throw into the unstable mix of the requisite drugs, sex and bad behavior associated with campus life in American movies -- along with hints of Southern-style political corruption -- and you get a film that loses sight of its own story. An attractive cast led by Mia Kirshner, Meredith Monroe, Rachel True and Dominique Swain and energetic direction by Zoe Clarke-Williams keep the melodramatic surfaces bubbling.

Subscribe to the Hollywood Reporter and see the entertainment industry from its best angle: the inside looking out. Complete access to real-time news and exclusive analysis that goes behind the scenes from film to television, home video to digital media.

   Subscribe now.