Love Is the Drug - Actual Plot Synopsis
It surprises me that this movie has had limited to no press, buzz & release around the US. The distributors/studios should have had more faith, as what was produced & filmed is a powerful drama. With more promotion & buzz, it could have played strongly for its targeted audience - teenagers.
I managed to come across this movie as it was released on DVD here in Australia earlier this year. I rented this film on the basis it starred Lizzy Caplan (Mean Girls, The Class) & was written by Wesley Strick (True Believer, Cape Fear). I also noticed familiar names such as D.J. Cotrona (Windfall), John Patrick Amedori (Vanished)& Daryl Hannah (Splash, Kill Bill). After having watched it, I was shocked about the twists in narrative and character identification. All I can say the movie is a cross between The OC and Mad Love but with much better handling of the material.
This may not be the best film I have seen but it certainly deserves much better than its obscure status. Anyways, the IMDb plot synopsis is wrong. Below is a better description of the film (might contain minor spoilers);
The story of five recent high school graduates filled with the verve of youth and the apprehension of the issues that confront them during the summer before college. The film takes a candid look at how desire, excess and truth collide to reshape their lives, and how easily situations spin out of control. At a party celebrating the graduating class of Harvard High School, we meet Jonah Brand (John Patrick Amedori) one of the few students allowed to attend Harvard on scholarship. To this end, Jonah has always been somewhat of an outsider unable to compete with such wealth and privilege. However, on the last day of school, by lucky coincidence, Jonah manages to catch the eye of the beautiful and popular Sara Weller (Lizzy Caplan). She is part of a very tight, hard partying circle of friends that include the elitist yet raunchy Lucas Mitchell (D.J. Cotrona), consummate playgirl Erin Sutherland (Jenny Wade) and Sara's rich kid boyfriend Troy Daniels (Jonathon Trent). When the group learns that Jonah works at a pharmacy, their interest is piqued. Jonahs adulation for Sara and desperate attempt to gain acceptance into the group lead him down a path of lies, deceit and larceny, desolating his judgment and ripping open the lives of all those in his course of destruction.