YMMV / A Friend to Die For

• Hilarious in Hindsight: Second in command of Stacy Lockwood's Girl Posse, Meredith Ladd, is played by Jenna Leigh Green. Two years after this film premiered, she would go on to play Libby on Sabrina the Teenage Witch who was a (mostly) Played for Laughs version of Stacy.^note And for added hilarity, her main target, Sabrina Spellman, was also an outcast who she thought was a freak and a witch, like Stacy did of Angela and Monica, respectively
• Hollywood Homely: Angela is considered pretty blasé in the looks department in comparison to the high school goddesses that she attends school with and is routinely overlooked by her male classmates and even her social climbing principal, in spite of being portrayed by the attractive and cute as a button Kellie Martin.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Stacy is seen as being rather unpleasant throughout the film, especially with her singling out Monica every chance she got, but she truly hit it when she decided to read Monica's diary to the other girls on the ski trip whilst she was in the shower. Additionally, not only did she mock the fact that she was suicidal, but she also turned on Angela when she broke up the ensuing fight between her and Monica.
  • Angela obviously reached that point when she stabbed Stacy to death and then kept quiet to both allow Monica to be blamed for the crime and enjoy her newfound popularity.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • An early role for Marley Shelton (back when she was still spelling her first name as Marlee) as Jamie, Angela's Catholic school friend and fellow Lark who feels conflicted about Stacy.
  • "Weird" Goth chick Monica is portrayed by Kathryn Morris, years before her big break as Det. Lilly Rush on Cold Case.
  • Angela's older sister, Theresa "Terri" Delvecchio, is portrayed by Christa Miller, the same year she was cast as a lead on The Drew Carey Show.
  • Beta Bitch Meredith Ladd is portrayed by Jenna Leigh Green, two years before she played Alpha Bitch Libby on Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
• She Really Can Act: Tori Spelling did a wonderful job as the doomed Alpha Bitch Stacy. In particular, she did well during her death scene, accurately portraying how a mortally wounded murder victim would react as they lay dying.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Granted, Stacy doesn't have much sympathy from fans, but neither should Angela. While it's admirable that she tried to make something of herself, the fact that she was so obsessed with popularity and was jealous of Stacy that she felt killing her to stop her from telling people how weird she is doesn't justify her actions, especially in letting Monica initially take the blame for the crime and enjoying her newfound elevated social status. Even the FBI agent felt no sympathy towards her and demanded the police detective feel the same way.
• The Woobie: Monica is a lonely goth girl at the cutthroat, social-climbing Santa Mira who is routinely targeted for bullying by Stacy and her Girl Posse. Then when Stacy is murdered, she is blamed for it and is so traumatized by the harassment, that she drops out of school.

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