''The Clique'' is a 2008 American

teen Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by

Michael Lembeck Michael Lembeck (born June 25, 1948) is an American actor and television and film director. Best known as Max Horvath in '' One Day at a Time'' (1979-1984). Life and career Lembeck was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Caroline Dubs and ...

from a screenplay by

Liz Tigelaar Rachel Elizabeth Tigelaar (born October 4, 1975) is an American television writer, producer, and author. She has worked on the series '' Brothers & Sisters'', ''American Dreams'', ''Once and Again'', ''Once Upon a Time'', ''Revenge'', '' Bates ...

, based on the

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

novel series of the same name by

Lisi Harrison Elyse E. "Lisi" Harrison (née Gottlieb; born on July 29, 1970) is a Canadian novelist. She writes young adult fiction and is well known for her three series ''The Clique'', ''Alphas'' and ''Monster High Monster High is an American multime ...

. The film was produced by

Alloy Entertainment Alloy Entertainment (formerly Daniel Weiss Associates and 17th Street Productions) is a book packaging and television production unit of Warner Bros. Television Studios. It produces books, television series, and feature films. Alloy Entertainment ...

and

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American television personality, model, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15, and was the first Africa ...

' company

Bankable Productions Bankable Productions (previously known as "Ty Ty Baby Productions") is an independent film and television production company founded by former model Tyra Banks who also serves as CEO of the company. According to Bankable Productions, the company str ...

, and was released on November 11, 2008. It stars

Elizabeth McLaughlin Elizabeth Sarah McLaughlin is an American actress. She is known for playing Massie Block in ''The Clique'' and Valerie McAllister in the ABC television drama ''Betrayal''. She recently played Alicia Hopkins in the Amazon Studios television seri ...

and

Ellen Marlow Ellen Taylor Marlow is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Claire Lyons in ''The Clique'' movie based on the books by Lisi Harrison. Life Ellen Taylor Marlow was born in Dallas, Texas. She moved to Austin, Texas at age 3. S ...

, with

Bridgit Mendler Bridgit Claire Mendler (born December 18, 1992) is an American singer and actress. In 2004, she began her career in the animated Indian film ''The Legend of Buddha'', later starring in the films ''Alice Upside Down'' (2007), ''The Clique'' (2008 ...

Samantha Boscarino Samantha Boscarino (born December 26, 1994) is an American actress from Ventura County, California. She is known for the film ''The Clique'', for her role as Molly Garfunkel on the Nickelodeon series ''How to Rock'', and for her lead role as Ell ...

, and Sophie Anna Everhard in supporting roles.

Plot

12-year-old Massie Block is the leader of the Pretty Committee, a clique of popular, wealthy students at her upstate New York all-girls private school, Octavian County Day. Much to Massie's chagrin, the Block family begins hosting the Lyons family, old friends of Massie's father who have recently moved from Florida and have a daughter Massie's age, Claire. Massie is immediately put off by Claire’s off-brand clothes and social awkwardness, and orders the other members of her clique - Alicia Rivera, Dylan Marvil, and Kristen Gregory - to join her in

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...

and excluding Claire. While horseback riding, Massie meets a boy named Chris Abeley and is instantly smitten with him, later becoming jealous when she sees him talking to Claire. Meanwhile, Claire befriends Chris' eccentric younger sister Layne and eventually makes plans with her. She later ditches Layne to attend the Pretty Committee's weekend

sleepover A sleepover is a social occasion where a young person stays at the home of a friend. Multiple people and/or friends may sleepover at the friend's home, typically a younger person will partake in a sleepover, however an adult or older person may s ...

that she has been invited to by Massie's mother, though she eventually leaves due to the other girls' hostile treatment of her. The next morning, Claire and Layne make amends. Claire visits Massie's room one night in an attempt to confront her, but Massie is gone. Seeking revenge, Claire logs onto Massie's computer and, pretending to be the latter, sends disparaging messages to Dylan, Alicia, and Kristen. The other three girls all angrily confront Massie the next day and invite Claire to take her place in their clique. Once they eventually realize the truth, they reconcile and continue conspiring against Claire. The girls tell Massie about an upcoming charity auction taking place on Chris' birthday, suggesting that she should jump out of a

pop out cake A pop out cake, popout cake, jump out cake, or surprise cake is a large object made to serve as a surprise for a celebratory occasion. Externally, such a construction appears to be an oversized cake, and sometimes actually is, at least in part. H ...

to impress him, to which Massie happily agrees. On a field trip to New York City, the Pretty Committee tries to sell a makeup line created by Kristen for a school project, but their recipe contains

peanut oil Peanut oil, also known as groundnut oil or arachis oil, is a vegetable oil derived from peanuts. The oil usually has a mild or neutral flavor but, if made with roasted peanuts, has a stronger peanut flavor and aroma. It is often used in American ...

, which triggers allergic reactions in their classmates. Amidst the panic, Massie anonymously texts Claire to use Layne's oatmeal snack to reduce the swelling, making Claire into a hero. At the charity auction, Claire reaches out to the other members of the clique, who all accept her apology and commend her on her efforts to stand up to Massie, revealing that they all secretly harbor disdain for Massie's cruel and controlling nature as well. Claire then learns that Chris has a girlfriend and prevents Massie from jumping out of the cake to save her from embarrassment. After the auction, Massie thanks Claire and admits that she had been bullying her because she saw her as a threat. As Massie types on her computer that night, she decides that Claire is now "in" the Pretty Committee.

Cast

as Claire Lyons *

as Massie Block *

as Kristen Gregory *

as Alicia Rivera * Sophie Anna Everhard as Dylan Marvil *

Vanessa Marano Vanessa Nicole Marano (born October 31, 1992) is an American actress. She has starred in television movies and had recurring roles in such series as ''Without a Trace'', ''Gilmore Girls'', ''Ghost Whisperer'', '' Scoundrels'', ''Grey's Anatomy'' ...

as Layne Abeley *

Keli Price Keli Price is an American film producer and actor. Price executive produced the feature film Bandit, which was #1 on Apple TV for Independent Film, and #5 of all films on Apple TV in 2022. Price is known for his role as Chris Abeley in the Warner ...

as Chris Abeley *

Dylan Minnette Dylan Christopher Minnette (born December 29, 1996) is an American actor, musician and singer. He is known for his role as Clay Jensen in the Netflix drama series '' 13 Reasons Why''. He has made guest appearances in several television series, su ...

as Todd Lyons *

Elizabeth Keifer Elizabeth Keifer (born November 14, 1961) is an American actress. Keifer was born in Pacific Palisades, California. She played the role of Christina "Blake" Marler on '' Guiding Light'' from August 1992 until the program ended in September 2009 ...

as Judi Lyons *

David Chisum David Chisum (born February 5, 1970) is an American actor. He portrayed Miles Laurence on the ABC Daytime soap opera ''One Life to Live'' from February 9, 2007, to April 22, 2008. Chisum and Rebecca Staab starred in eight 35-second webisodes airing ...

as William Block * Julie Lauren as Kendra Block * Boris McGiver as Isaac *

Angel Desai Angel Desai is an American actress. Early life and education Desai was born in Philadelphia, but grew up in Binghamton, New York. Her parents are physicians; her father is Indian and her mother is Filipina. She cultivated an early interest in per ...

as Nurse Adele *

Elizabeth Gillies Elizabeth Egan Gillies (born July 26, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She gained prominence for her starring roles as Jade West in the Nickelodeon series ''Victorious'' (2010–2013), and as Fallon Carrington on The CW revival of ''D ...

as Shelby Wexler * Neal Matarazzo as Jay Lyons * Camila Vignaud as Fawn

Production

Filming began in February 2008 in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

and ended in March 2008.

Reception

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

gave the film three stars, praising the acting while calling it "materialistic".

Soundtrack

The accompanying

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

was released on November 11, 2008, by

Razor & Tie Razor & Tie was an American entertainment company that consisted of a record label and a music publishing company. It was established in 1990 by Craig Balsam and Cliff Chenfeld. Based in New York City (with additional offices in Los Angeles an ...

. ;Track listing Songs that are not included on the soundtrack album: * "Heaven on Earth" by Free & Easy * "My Own Band" by Mellow Dee * "What You Say" by Mellow Dee * "Psycho 4 U" by CanDee Land * " String Quartet No. 18" by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clique, The The Clique (series) 2008 films 2008 comedy-drama films 2008 direct-to-video films 2000s American films 2000s English-language films 2000s teen comedy-drama films Alloy Entertainment films American direct-to-video films American teen comedy-drama films Direct-to-video comedy-drama films Films about teenagers Films based on Canadian novels Films based on young adult literature Films directed by Michael Lembeck Films scored by George S. Clinton Films set in Manhattan Films shot in Rhode Island Warner Bros. direct-to-video films